Led light types

[sirlandsalot]

Hello again everybody,

I am 6000 miles away from my boat trying to get my orders done for the winter maintenance. Does anyone know what type of led light I would order to replace my steaming and marker lights on a 09 26m?


Also I am looking at a anchor light on amazon, does anybody recommend any? Or recommend any spreader lights?
I have found a few options that are real cheap with good reviews...however I always get nervous ordering cheap items....


Thanks in advance.

David

[Russ]

I used these in my nav and steaming lights.
http://www.amazon.com/LEDwholesalers-Na ... toon+bulbs

You need the warm white in the bi color bow light.

LED next to the original bulb.


LEDs photograph differently. Here you can see the light shadow of the LED is much bigger.


Anchor lights. Whatcha looking at? There isn't much to them. A bulb and some plastic to hold it.

[sirlandsalot]

Thanks Russ, as usual, a awesome answer. Does it matter the original bulb has pointed ends? I have never even looked under my lens.

The anchor light is twenty bucks, led. Pretty simple.

[Russ]

Nope. End shape is not important. The lens pops off by pressing up on a tab on the bottom. Inside are two metal tabs that are spring loaded that pinch the bulb and make contact. The bulb is held in by this pressure. You can bend the metal tabs to add more pressure if necessary. It's a very simple design.

I don't remeber if the bulb requires proper polarity. If it doesn't light, flip it over.

My anchor light LED does some diode wizardry and lights with polarity either direction. Goes against LED wisdom.
The reason this matters is that I use the same pair of wires to drive the steaming light and anchor light. By reversing the polarity, I can toggle the other light. I had to install an actual diode in my anchor light.
Mine was probably cheap (because I'm cheap). Mounts on top of the mast cap nicely. The M has foam inside the mast which makes fishing a wire up there a challenge. It's doable.

--Russ

[Tomfoolery]

Doctor LED has replacement bulbs that are 'approved' by the manufacturers of navigation lights (not every one, of course), as they've been put through the independent tests with the nav lights that are required for 'USCG approval' (USCG doesn't test - an independent lab does that, on the manufacturer's dime). Or so they say on their site. Worth taking a look at least.

http://www.doctorled.com/Dr_LED_PRESS_RELEASE_0612.pdf

http://www.doctorled.com/crossref.htm

Oh, and I personally wouldn't spend the money to replace the masthead (steaming) light bulb with LED, as the only time it's used is when the engine is running. But all the others are used without engine power, so I would replace them if sailing at night is what you do. And the anchor light for sure.

There are some very nice low-profile anchor lights out there, but I would stay away from those with Fresnel lenses, as they focus the light in a relatively narrow radial band, and it will be 30 ft in the air or so. Hard to see when you start getting close. Just my opinion.

[Highlander]

U should not use a white led bulb for the tri light lens the red side will shine as a pinkish red instead instead of a red red so it will be illegal

U have to buy the tri coloured led bulb & make sure the red side is shining through on the red lense , just install it & rotate it to line it up
Just saying !

J

[sirlandsalot]

Great! Will do.

I also found these spreader lights, so cheap, but high ratings!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EER ... KYG6XLQLVJ


and a bit of topic...what do you think of this?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BQ4 ... ETD7HT5MQY

[Russ]

U should not use a white led bulb for the tri light lens the red side will shine as a pinkish red instead instead of a red red so it will be illegal

U have to buy the tri coloured led bulb & make sure the red side is shining through on the red lense , just install it & rotate it to line it up
Just saying !

J

Not necessarily true. It is true the colored lens fixtures (Red/Green) cannot use the standard white LED. The color temp is too hot. When I installed a standard white LED, my bow light was pink and lime colored. Not good.

The warm white bulb (above link) works well and generates the proper red/green colors. It's VERY bright and sips power. All my bulbs on the boat are LEDs. I can have all lights on and use less power than one single incandescent bulb.

RE: Steaming light. Interesting thought Tom brought up. While engine is running, power reduction isn't important because our outboard is cranking juice back into the system (unless you have a small outboard sans alternator).
For me, it's not just about power, but reliability. LEDs are more durable to vibration and last the lifetime of the boat. For $10, I have less worries. I don't carry any spares.

--Russ

[sirlandsalot]

That is how I see it too. At this stage of the game, I will have all LED, and won't need to think of changing them again. LED are priced so reasonably these days.

Russ.....you changed your prop on your df 70 recently? What did you go with, I can't get past 4200 rpm on mine.


David

[Russ]

That is how I see it too. At this stage of the game, I will have all LED, and won't need to think of changing them again. LED are priced so reasonably these days.

Russ.....you changed your prop on your df 70 recently? What did you go with, I can't get past 4200 rpm on mine.


David

That was my experience. I blame it on a heavy loaded boat and 5,000' altitude.
I had a 13 3/4 x 13 prop

This year I put on a 14 x 11 (smaller pitch, slighly larger diameter)
http://www.boats.net/parts/detail/props ... 40-11.html

I'm still not getting rated top RPMs, but I'm satisfied with it. It's close enough and with ballast in, we got around 16mph speed.
If a dealer will let you return it, give it a try. It's super easy to change the thing out. Remove cotter pin, unscrew nut and prop slides right off.

[Russ]

Great! Will do.

I also found these spreader lights, so cheap, but high ratings!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EER ... KYG6XLQLVJ

I like the slim profile. Cheap enough to give a try. Hook 'em up to a 12v power source and see if they are bright enough. Amazon's return policy is generous if you aren't satisfied.
I've been tempted to install spreader lights, but honestly haven't found the need to light up the deck. My night vision seems to adjust enough for me to get around. If I was at the dock at night, it could be useful for lighted boarding.

and a bit of topic...what do you think of this?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BQ4 ... ETD7HT5MQY

One review
Ordered and installed on my MacGregor 26M. So much easier to single-hand now. Was very easy to install, but no hardware is included. I used rivets. The reason for only 4 stars is because what I got is different from what's in the picture.

Price is reasonable. May have to put this in the wish list for the Admiral to buy me for Christmas. If you get it, post your results.
I've been very tempted to install lazy jacks, this might make it happen.

--Russ

[raycarlson]

For nav lights up front I switched to a 30 inch LED strip on each side, they make a REALLY bright green and red now that will light everything with in 30feet up in a nice red or green glow, and you can trim the strips to any shorter length you want from three feet to about 3inches, they come premounted to a high tech 3m adhesive backing with 10inch wire leads for 15 bucks apiece, I mounted them right below the rub rail so the light source is not visable from on the boat, all you see is the glow out to the sides if anything gets close to your boat.

[Russ]

For nav lights up front I switched to a 30 inch LED strip on each side, they make a REALLY bright green and red now that will light everything with in 30feet up in a nice red or green glow, and you can trim the strips to any shorter length you want from three feet to about 3inches, they come premounted to a high tech 3m adhesive backing with 10inch wire leads for 15 bucks apiece, I mounted them right below the rub rail so the light source is not visable from on the boat, all you see is the glow out to the sides if anything gets close to your boat.

Very interesting. Got pictures?

[raycarlson]

Sorry no pic's, not literate enough to post pic's. But you can check them out at Digitaldynamics.com , under the LED strips, in my application of powering 60 LEDs they are definitely for under power motoring only as I'm using more power than one incandescent bulb does for sure.

[raycarlson]

Sorry that is Diodedynamics.com not digital..................................................