I just got a boat used 1979 Shakespere witha 20hp Mercery ...

The thing runs great and is awsome little boat for my first one

but i got a question reguarding the lights - I have 2 poles that go in the front and in the Right Rear.

They dont work.... they dont have voltage so im assuming they have a bad wire somewhere ... I want to go out on it tonight as i work days... Does anyone know how i can RIG cheep Lights that will work ... or do i need them in NC? My  buddys jon boat doesnt have any lights but at the boat ramp a guy asked me if i was gona light up before heading out ....

I assumed that ment therei s a law i need lights on my boat?

I dont want to get in trouble on my first few outings - Can a Flashlingt or a LED light work if i mount one from walmart that is battery powered?

By law here in Pa we need bow (red and green) and Stern (white) Navagation lights. If you didn't already I would check the battery connections to see if their secure. Then I would move on to see if you have in-lines fuses, see if any are blown. With the tester see if you have power there at the fuse if that's ok, Check you're switch and see if you have power there. After that I would see if the sockets are just bad.

        hope that helps at all.

I wouldn't go out without lights, just to be safe

Nope just one MAIN wire headed to the main battery Negative and Posivtive - I think there is a short somewhere but i ordered some wire and gona run a wire from the torlling motor to the front to light up the GReen Red light.

I hope this works - thanks for the support

Go on line and check your state laws.  99% most likely they will be required after sunset and before sunrise.  The front will need to be the red and green, the rear will need to be white, a certain distance above the boat and visable for certain distance.   It's normally a pretty healthy fine, plus just plain stupid to run in the dark without them.  

There is a good chance you the power wire is not hooked to the battery.  Look around and see if you see some small wires with eyelets on them laying around back in the battery compartment.  Also look for a fuse.  If all that's good, check the switch, then the wiring.  The wires on the bottom of the light sockets may have broken off.

There are federal laws governing lights on boats.

http://www.nyss.com/federal.html#3G

Your asking for trouble to go out without lights even if it was legal. Nobody else on the lake will see you, and you don't want that if someone is headed towards you at a high rate of speed. Good luck getting em fixed.

Like every one else stated, do not go out without the lights working.  It is dangerous for you and for the other people on the water.  I would not want to be responsible for someone else's injury or death beacause they ran into you due to you not being lit up.

Everyone here has pretty much covered it, but think of the situation this way.  For a few bucks you can correctly fix the lights on your boat, or one day another boat and you can collide because it did not see you.  When this happens there is a chance that you or someone else has gotten hurt or worse.  Is your life or another persons life worth a few bucks?  I know mine is.  You wouldn't drive a car without headlights at night would you?

Seems really simple, but this is how I think about whether or not I will correct something that is potentially harmful.  

You will end up doing the right thing and fix the lights.  Then you will be happy you did and not have to worry about the ticket or the other situation.  Keep them lines tight.

Spray something like WD40 in the light switch and turn it on and off several times.  If that don't help, take the switch out so you can get to it and jump across the switch with a jumper wire.

There is probably a fuse block under the  console. Get down in the floor and look up and you will probably see it.  Not only do you need to check for a blown on, but also be sure they are making contact on both ends(assuming they are the old long type).  You can also keep shaking and following the wire from the light switch until you see which fuse is the one for the lights.

Someone else already mentioned that it may be an in-line fuse.  Be sure and check that.  It may have somethings on in-line fuses and others on a fuse block.

Another option for you is using dry cell battery powered lights. They use AA dry cell batteries. You can get the red/green unit for the bow and the white unit for the stern from West Marine or any on line boat supplier. Lights are a federal law and you will get cited for violation :'(.     Happy fishing.

~B.A.S.S.~N.A.F.C.~BoatU.S.~

Nope just one MAIN wire headed to the main battery Negative and Posivtive - I think there is a short somewhere but i ordered some wire and gona run a wire from the torlling motor to the front to light up the GReen Red light.

I hope this works - thanks for the support

If your going to run power from your TM make sure you Atleast have a fuses from your battery to the TM and then one to your lights. Then just keep some extra fuses on the boat for when your out on the water. Nothing ruins a day more than not having an extra fuse when your on the water.

                               Joe

The wall mart battery powered stern light works fine.  Mine failed after a year though (cheaply made).   So I took a good L.E.D. water proof flash light and glued the white cone on it and stuck it in my rear pole holder.  Super easy maintenance from here on out.  $2 for batteries once a year.