Blown circuit breaker?

[bbrackman]

I just let a friend of my daughter spend a few nights in my '87 25' Sovereign and when I took possession again I noted that my CD player wasn't working. A quick look at the manual indicated that the CD player is on the same circuit as one of the lights over the sofa and the outside step light. Sure enough, neither of those lights are working either.

The manual states that the circuit breaker should reset automatically after it trips. When I take the cover off the 12 volt main panel I can see the breakers but there doesn't appear to be any way to turn them on or off or to reset them. For that matter there doesn't appear to be any way to replace a breaker without drilling out a couple of pop rivets.

What am I missing here? How do I deal with this electrical problem?

[jimmickle]

The breakers are self resetting after the overload that made them open is removed. Here are some suggestions for trouble shooting.

Using a volt meter or test light, check to see if power is getting to and thru the breaker. If the breaker is getting power, but it is not getting thru, try bypassing the breaker with a 20 amp fuse. If everything works, replace the breaker. If the test fuse blows, you have a short that will have to be fixed before replacing the breaker. A short finder, available at JC whitney and good auto parts stores, can be a great help in finding shorts. If you have a short, all may be well after you eliminate it. If not the breaker will have to be replaced.

Hopefully, the failure is just a bad breaker, and can be easily repaired by replacing it.

Good luck on finding your problem.

Jim Mickle