Man that really sucks, been there myself. How about bringing a small power strip with you to test it? You need to see if it gets any light at all. A multimeter is the real way to check, but that takes some know how. Honestly, for parts only consoles, you just have to expect some are totally dead.

Yeah, that'll make you change your tune fast. Always figured the old hands knew best with the eyeball method too, until a similar thing happened on a gravel bar up north. Not a bent shaft, but we chewed up a set of cutter teeth in about twenty minutes. Now that little digital gauge is my best friend before the pump even turns over.

Yeah, I feel you and @ivan82 on that helpless feeling. My bank's app crashed right when I was trying to split a dinner bill, and I had to awkwardly tell my friends I'd pay them back in IOUs and good vibes. It's wild how a single line of bad code from some far-off server farm can turn you into a deadbeat for a day.

Honestly, that placement sounds pretty smart to me. It keeps the panel out of sight in a dedicated utility space, not some ugly hallway.