LED Light Conversion for Nav/Anchor

[typhoon411]

I went to West Marine today and purchased LED replacement bulbs for my Nav and anchor lighs and I'm very pleased... I had a pesky socket in my Nav light, hwere when I'd hit a few rough waves it would get loose and go out... Since I went LED I was able to just solder it in there

Joe

 

[Grady_bob]

I have a Tournament 192 and would like to replace the incandescent bow light bulb with a LED too.
I called the local West Marine store and got the usual idiot-treatment from them, they had no idea what I was referring to. Can you post a link for the retrofit LED you purchased from West so I can walk into the store with the web page and just say- "get me that!".

 

[Curmudgeon]

Did you know the # of your present bulb? All bow lights are not created equal, even when installed by Grady ... :?

 

[Grady_bob]

I'll pull the enclosure tomorrow (Saturday) to get the bulb number....

 

[Grady_bob]

Took a look at the bulb, it's a Perko Fig.71
A little research shows it's 12v 10watt 1-1/8" long x 3/8" dia festoon type bulb.

 

[jimintheair3]

Buying LED

Great place, they manufacture and stand behind their products. Have your bulb in hand when you call.
http://www.doctorled.com/

 

[30marlin]

I went to West Marine today and purchased LED replacement bulbs for my Nav and anchor lighs and I'm very pleased... I had a pesky socket in my Nav light, hwere when I'd hit a few rough waves it would get loose and go out... Since I went LED I was able to just solder it in there

Joe

They have replacement bulbs that have to be soldered in ????
I was looking at replacement LED's but I figure if they just make contact in the socket like the old bulb then you would still have the same problems with a loose connection.

I was figuring on installing a whole new lamp assembly that was sealed.
Let us know who makes the bulb.

 

[Grady_bob]

Re: Buying LED

Great place, they manufacture and stand behind their products. Have your bulb in hand when you call.
http://www.doctorled.com/

Thanks Jim,
I found the doctorled site Saturday, but didn't find a suitable replacement LED for my incandescent 29mm festoon bulb- the festoon LED's have the disclaimer: "White LED bulbs should not be used behind colored lenses in nav lights, as they will not produce the required brightness. Only the corresponding colored LEDs should be used in nav lights with colored lenses."
My current bow light does indeed have a red/green lens so it seems there is no legal/proper drop in replacement LED for that Perko bow light assembly that I can find. Other sites also have festoon LEDS- but they also have disclaimers like "not for use in navigation" or "for interior lighting only- not for navigation"
Looks like I'll have to replace the whole bow light assembly if I want to be safe/legal with LED. BTW- a simple cleaning got the OEM incandescent fixture working once again. After fixing the bow light- I found the stern light receptor socket was bad, and the pole contacts were kind of dodgy too- so I replaced the receptor on the gunwale and bought a nice new Atwood 54" tall LED stern light from West Marine.
Maybe I'll replace the bow light assembly sometime in the near future....

 

[typhoon411]

I only soldered it in because my socket was all mangled and I didn't feel like ordering. A new socket. disclaimer: this was on my 03 Chapparral boat, what I was pleased about was the brightness for a navigation light. I just took my bulb and matched it with a led equiv at west marine.

I'll be replacing all of my grady lights with LED versions this winter during my overhaul.

 

[seabob4]

Check these guys out as well...
http://www.ledlight.com/festoon-auto-led-lights.aspx

 

[gradytom]

Check these guys out as well...
http://www.ledlight.com/festoon-auto-led-lights.aspx

I'm still wondering if these are a legal replacement for traditional festoons behind colored lenses for nav/anchor usage.
The website says for "marine applications" but nothing about legal navigation.
When I get some time I'm going to research the comparative lumens, unless someone else already has ???
Thanks
gt

 

[seabob4]

Tom,
What I have found with using LEDs is that the lights themselves are much brighter than traditional incandescents, but there light pattern, or dispersion, is much more concentrated. Given the 2 NM requirement for nav lgts, I would think they would work just fine...

Interestingly enough, I just installed a pair of LED spreaders from coastalnightlights.com (my friend, ScarabChris on THT), and was concerned as to how well they wold light op a cockpit on the HydraSports 21WA of one of my customers. Well, as you can see from the pic, I was very pleased...

 

[gradytom]

I contacted ledlight.com via email and asked them if their super white led festoons would comply with USCG 2nm
requirement if used behind a colored lens.

http://www.ledlight.com/festoon-smt-3-led-light.aspx

They quickly responded back with . . .
"That part is a very bright light, i would suggest you purchase a few to sample and see how they perform in that enviroment."

They offer a 30 day return policy and are not expensive so I just might check it out, but not until the shrinkwrap comes off in March.

While LEDs are very bright, I'm more concerned with the directional nature of the light.
I would like to convert but don't want to replace fixtures, if it ain't broke blah blah blah.

I just don't want to open up a can of worms.

Anyone have any other experience or coastie friends who could chime in??
Does anyone offer an LED with an actual "meets USCG navigation regulations" claim?
Thanks
gt

seems that Atwood and Perko make led festoon bulbs but they are not USCG approved because of the optic limitations of leds.
The alternative is a fixture replacement, I think I'll stick with filiments for now.

 

[Berry Papay]

A new socket. disclaimer: this was on my 03 Chapparral boat, what I was pleased about was the brightness for a navigation light. I just took my bulb and matched it with a led equiv at west marine.






--------------------------
led strip lights
LED Light Bars
flexible led strip

 

[jimintheair3]

Why would you replace your running lights with expensive LED ? Your motor is running, you do not need to conserve amps ! Anchor lights, the LED is brighter and uses less amps. DUH, change it for all the reasons.

 

[jimintheair3]

I have the original Grady deck lights and LED deck lights. When I'm running, Halogen. When at anchor, LED to save my batteries.