Carver Owners Forum

Appreciate your reading.
355 Aft Cabin. Electrical panel. Two polarity indicators/lights; red green.
Couple of boat electricians came out...did some buss and wiring repairs. 2 separate companies.
Here's where they don't agree. One says the indicators should flicker green meaning correct connections. Other guy says no...should be solid bright green always and these indicators should be replaced...old and worn out.
Been looking for replacements to no avail. Great Lakes Skipper..none. West Marine none, Boat Owners Wearhouse none..da da da..wanted to buy the same ones...plug and play and no drilling a larger opening.
So.. should the green light flicker or be solid green?
If solid...then apparently a flickering green means...what...issues?? Possible causes? All ground wires replaced. All buss connections replaced. Any corroded wires replaced. No bonding issues apparently according to the electricians.
Appreciate your thoughts and leads where to buy...

I don't know exactly on that boat, but I'd bet they were neon bulbs. These can develop a flicker after years. It would probably be hard to find replacements like that, but they might be out there somewhere.** The green should be solid on, but if it's flickering it's not really a big issue, you just have to adapt to that. You really want to know if the RED is working, as that's the indicator that shows there's a PROBLEM. You could do a test by intentionally miswiring a plug but you want make sure you know what you're doing (or have someone who REALLY KNOWS what they're doing) and verify the red light works correctly. The red indicator light by itself could be tested to make sure it works, but it would have to be disconnected to do that. Did either electrician actually directly test that?

The boat really should have the mains wired so that they TRIP if it senses that there's a reverse polarity condition. Did either electrician mention that?


** If you'd want to be really enterprising, you could probably repair the light by figuring out how to open it and just replace the neon bulbs inside. I'm sure you can still get neon bulbs somewhere.

Ya they flicker because they're neon and that's just their nature after a number of years. Those indicator assemblies are still available because I ordered some a few years back but unfortunately I can't remember where I got them from. If I come across the info, I'll post it. I think I may still have one, I'll see if there are any markings on it that would indicate where they came from or a manufacturer.

See if this will work, don't think this is where I got them before but they might do the trick...

https://www.lvelectronics.com/details/item?itemid=SOLICO%203450-4-50-19314#

Thank you for the replies! And ordered replacements.