I added a single 12v LED to my head light on a separate switch. It's current draw is not detectable. We leave it on all night so there is no need to ever turn on the full head light when using it during the night.
Hi Duane, do you remember the output of the LED you installed or which one it was? It's a great idea and one little-ole-me could actually do.
It was just a inexpensive one Boaters World had on the shelf a few years back. Nothing special other than it was made to connect directly to a 12v source. At night in the dark head there is no need for high output or other special LED's. The directional nature of the LED works great in this application giving a nice, but not too bright pool of light that does not flood out into the cabin when the door is open. The switch is just a Radio Shack push button on and off. I just drilled holes for the switch and LED in the body of the stock light and soldered it up to the same source wires that feed the normal switch.
I built the new navigation lighting using Luxeon III LEDs I used the 4 red led LXHL-PD09 and 3 green LXHL-PM09 for the bow, and 3 white LHXL-PW09, which are1 watt lambertian diodes. I soldered the surface mount LED to a hobbyist PWB in serial with a 33 ohm LED and added about 8 inch leads. Since the 4 Red LED have the same voltage drop as 3 whites or greens it works out well. This should give 66mA at a battery voltage of 11.8V, and 109mA at 13.2V. Each diode should burn 0.3 to 0.4 watts. (Data found by googling Luxeon III or Lumiled)
The Stern light I just covered the PWB in RTV leaving the clear lenses of the LEDs exposed then disassembled the fixture an RTV the PWB in place. I soldered and shrink sleeved the connection in place of the crimp connections.
I wanted to remove the Bow light to make room for an anchor roller. So I cut a couple of 2 by 3 by ½ inch poly blocks (Starboard would be good), then with the router table rounded the edges and then hollowed out the back to make room for the LED PWB. I drilled mounting holes and cut a slot for the LED to be visible RTV he PWB in place. I mounted them to the black strip below the rub rail about 6 inches back. I was able to get to and solder the new connections by pulling the old and new wires out the hole where the old fixture was mounted. I estimate the new lights are now 4 to 5 times brighter than the original equipment.
