Panel Lights INOP

loyolacub68loyolacub68
in General Discussion

Hi all,

I have a Cherokee 6 300 where the panel lights all of a sudden stopped working. The rheostat dimmer doesn’t seem to have any effect on the lights. We had upgraded from the post lights to Nulites a couple years ago and they’ve been working great since. Where should I start to look for the problem?

Comments

  • empanninempannin

    Assuming it is not a blown fuse and that none of the lights work I would suggest tracking down the transistor tied to the rheostat and inspecting/replacing.

    If you have had recent work done it is also possible someone has grounded the lighting circuit. This might not blown the breaker to make it more confusing...

    If you can access the area of the rheostat you might also be able to unplug some of the lighting circuits. I helped my A&P track down an issue this way. and in my case it was a panel screw clipped the lighting circuit. I was very motivated as lighting circuit troubleshooting is a big fishing expedition that is $ and time consuming and no fun for the owner or the A&P.

    Eric Panning
    1981 Seneca III
    Hillsboro, OR (KHIO)

  • jacobsjajacobsja

    Is the dimmer control now an On / Off rotary switch?

    If so, check to see whether there is a secondary device such as a transformer in the circuitry. I know that the newer PA-32s are setup this way where the dimmer knob actually controls the transformer.

    And, what about the dimmer control itself? Still test good?

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