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Old 12-20-2019 | 11:51 AM
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Could also be a combination of a few things. Lens clouding from time, needles and numbers fading, mediocre wiring from new which has now built up resistance, contacts inside switch corroding and adding resistance. I've had the contact points between the spring clip and glass fuse get oxidized and needed to clean it to get the bilge pumps to run at full speed. Lots of basic but easy troubleshooting. Odds are they make an LED replacement bulb that will be considerably brighter than a filament bulb
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Old 12-20-2019 | 06:22 PM
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[QUOTE=Jojoegen;4719171How do I test for a bad ground? I guess I could start there[/QUOTE]

I would run a 14ga or larger test wire from the batt ground terminal and connect it to the dash ground and see if the lamps get any brighter.
Look for wiring that doesn't look original. When I first got of of my boats, found someone had powered the cigarette lighter from the clock with ~22ga wire. Spot light didn't work very well.
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Old 12-20-2019 | 09:51 PM
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Originally Posted by bck
Could also be a combination of a few things. Lens clouding from time, needles and numbers fading, mediocre wiring from new which has now built up resistance, contacts inside switch corroding and adding resistance. I've had the contact points between the spring clip and glass fuse get oxidized and needed to clean it to get the bilge pumps to run at full speed. Lots of basic but easy troubleshooting. Odds are they make an LED replacement bulb that will be considerably brighter than a filament bulb
The lens seems to be clear but it’s the amount of light being omitted around the sides of the gauge. You might be right about there LEDs. I will look into that. How do I test for bad ground because there are so many ground wires . I have checked the Perko switch and it doesn’t matter where it is, the probably still remains whether it’s one battery, two batteries or both. I do not see anything lit up In the trim tab meter.either. As I said the light coming into the ground from the sides just don’t pray enough
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Old 12-21-2019 | 11:09 AM
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I'd get a digital multimeter capable of volts/ ohms which can be found cheaply and will allow you to check everything out. See what the voltage is right at your battery, see what it is at the fuse block and at the gauge itself and anywhere else. There is likely a strip of metal in or near the dash wiring with lots of black wires going to it. Frequently smaller black wires coming directly from the components with one or two larger black wires running back the battery/ engine compartment area. You should be able to check all your grounds right at that strip. Use the ohm meter or a test light to check them.
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Old 12-21-2019 | 11:49 AM
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Here's mine. The black wires are all my grounds. I expect you have something similar. I find it easiest to test them with a test light. If anything seemed suspect I'd switch to the meter.
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Old 12-22-2019 | 08:50 AM
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Thank you my friend. I will attempt this this week and see where I go from there again thank you very much for your display and you exclamation I do have a multimeter then I will let you know the results
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