Lookin for LED Bow and Stern Lights

[Steve A]

I've been trying to minimize our electrical uses and have been considering using LED's for both inside and outside lighting. I've found the Aqua Signal 43 series, looks like they meet Cloreg requirments and replace the 41 series. Has anyone sourced any other bow stern and tri-color lights ? Defender wants 299.00 for the 43 but I've also seen some for 16.99 pretty big price range. I'm also interested in the cabin lighting on our 36 they are dual contacts, are there any that still offer that warm glow for most areas and a white for the galley and Nav ? Thanks Steve

[Paul D.]

Steve,

I'm a big fan of LED's. For interior lights I recommend the Sensibulb - especially for dome light applications, but in berth lights too. Bright and warm light and, according to the battery monitor, only .1 amp hours vs the 1.5Ah of my old incandescent bayonet bulbs. I needed this adapter below for them to fit the old indexed bulb sockets.

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?pa ... &id=865730

I have replaced just about all my cabin lights with these over the years. The newer ones are brighter and warmer. As good in every way as incandescent. A really good upgrade and now I never worry about power usage regarding the lighting.

Running lights are a little more complicated. I recently upgraded my bulbs using Dr LED ones. You could replace the whole navigation light fitting like you mentioned if your originals are shot. Mine are still solid and the lenses clear so I cleaned them up and went with these replacement bulbs. I have Aqua Signal 25 housings and used these Dr LED replacement bulbs for the anchor and stern lights.

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?pa ... id=1809351

And this for the bi color up forward.

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?pa ... id=1440341

Now I use >.3 Ah instead of 3.1 Ah for sailing at night and I generally use under one amp to anchor out all night instead of 12, and none of my LED's have burned out over the years. To me that is a good deal.

Hope this helps,

[Jim Walsh]

I replaced mine last year because the lenses had spiderwebbed. I looked into just replacing the lenses but the whole new assembly was only a couple more bucks. I'd wanted to get LED replacement bulbs but never got around to it. Now that Paul has been nice enough to to provide a link to the proper LED replacement I'll be ordering a set tonight. Thanks Paul.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Steve, Paul and Jim and all:

Would you happen to know if a 1982 Cape Dory 25D has the same original light fixtures as the larger Cape Dory sailboats

I am interested in "upgrading" to LED lights but I am not sure if I can use the same parts, etc. that Paul installed.

On S/V Bali Ha'i there are really only three (3) significant light fixtures. One is over the stove/nav table. I am hoping to find a way to install an LED there that is red/white so that I can use it at night without losing night vision. The other two are small "lamps" on the forward bulkhead that are essentially "reading lights".

Thoughts and recommendations much appreciated.

[Maine_Buzzard]

Switched to the Aqua-Signal 33 series last year. A bicolor hockey puck on the bow with a bent and redrilled bracket, and a simple redrilling of the stern bracket for the aft white.

Easy to run wires, I wish manufacturers would include a 6' pigtail rather than a 6" one, but some splicing and glue lined heat shrink ensures waterproof connections.

$72 and $54 for the sealed lights at Hammies down the road.

http://store.hamiltonmarine.com/browse. ... 49474.html

http://store.hamiltonmarine.com/browse. ... 41553.html

These are plenty bright, and ditching the annual greasing and deciding if the lenses are toast process is gone for the next ten years...

I am uncertain if the drop in LED bulbs are truly legal, and they still suffer poor connections and corrosion. Dr. LED says they have certification (for AS 25 only), but no links to any real documentation. Drop in bulbs are $44. Bite the bullet.

Hella wants you to buy one of their shiny new fixtures.

http://www.hellamarine.com/en/news/retr ... lamps.html

[Steve A]

Great replies and thanks for the links, that makes things so much quicker. We all appreciate your sharing your knowledge and experience , lotsa people don't post but (they/we) bookmark the link which makes everybody's life so much easier !

[Maine Sail]

Jeff at Marine Beam has developed a line of LED navigation lights that are reasonably priced and Meet USCG/ABYC A-16 requirements and are certified. His "economy" LED's, I do not believe have USCG certification, but the ones that do will say it in the product description.

Marine Beam
https://store.marinebeam.com/uscg-certi ... av-lights/

[Cathy Monaghan]

I've been trying to minimize our electrical uses and have been considering using LED's for both inside and outside lighting. I've found the Aqua Signal 43 series, looks like they meet Cloreg requirments and replace the 41 series. Has anyone sourced any other bow stern and tri-color lights ? Defender wants 299.00 for the 43 but I've also seen some for 16.99 pretty big price range. I'm also interested in the cabin lighting on our 36 they are dual contacts, are there any that still offer that warm glow for most areas and a white for the galley and Nav ? Thanks Steve

Hi Steve

We replaced the deck level navigation lights on our CD32 with the Aqua Signal 43 Series LED nav lights. They were designed for larger boats so their footprint is larger than the original nav lights on your boat. Bruce made new bases for them which he bolted to the old bases so that we could attach the new lights. Anyway, they look good and are very bright.

Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[Sea Hunt Video]

Steve:

Hopefully, I am not impinging on your post too much. If so, I apologize.

Has anyone who has/had a Cape Dory 25D replaced the cabin lights and/or nav lights with LEDs

If so, can you share the mfg., model, etc. of what you installed that is compatible with the original lighting fixtures

Thank you.

[Astronomertoo]

Steve:

Hopefully, I am not impinging on your post too much. If so, I apologize.

Has anyone who has/had a Cape Dory 25D replaced the cabin lights and/or nav lights with LEDs

If so, can you share the mfg., model, etc. of what you installed that is compatible with the original lighting fixtures

Thank you.

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If you have fixtures that use the typical automotive old style incandescent bulbs as used in both cars and RVs, you will find a large variety of new LED replacements with the same bases at truck stops. I have switched over to all LEDs in my RV and boats for both my red and white light fixtures and no longer have burn outs.. You need to take samples of your bulb types with you, and there is a lot of variation in brightness to choose from, and ask for help if needed.
Bob C

[Paul D.]

Don't forget that if replacing nav lights there are pretty strict rules for visibility under USCG regulations. Listed here:

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=na ... ent#rule22

or

http://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/N ... ight-Rules

Rule 22 - basically says:

(c) In vessels of less than 12 meters (39.37 feet) in length:

(i) a masthead light, 2 miles;
(ii) a sidelight, 1 miles;
(iii) a towing light, 2 miles;
(iv) a white red, green or yellow all-round light, 2 miles.
[(v) a special flashing light, 2 miles.

This is important. If you were to have a collision at night, any legal case outcome could come down to the visibility of your navigation lights. That is why I didn't try to make my own lights up but used a specific product made to replace the bulbs I had in there in order to get the needed visibility. I work with too many lawyers! And marine law (International coastal waters and federally managed navigable rivers/Great Lakes) is even more particular and stranger than landlubber law. So I think this is an area, like standing rigging, or plumbing below the waterline, that deserves particular attention to detail.

Of course I would check any replacement bulb brightness, possibly one right after the original bulb, just to eyeball it and be sure the brightness seems similar in reality. I was pretty impressed with the new LED replacement bulbs brightness.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Bob C.:

Thank you. I will follow your advise.

[John #126]

The advantage of an LED fixture vs. putting LED bulbs in an existing fixture is that the LED fixture is generating pure red, green or white light, not white light through a tinted lens. The cost is greater but the bulb should never burn out and you don't have to worry about changing bulbs or cleaning contacts down the road (think hanging over the bow on a dark and stormy night). The fixtures are sealed so you don't have to worry about water intrusion, either.

On my 25D, I replaced the old, funky Aqua Signal bow and stern lights with MarineBeam lights, which meet USCG requirements. The lights are slightly larger than the brackets welded to the bow and stern rails so I fabricated small stainless plates that fit the fixture (probably overkill). The lights are unbelievably bright and come with a 6' lead.

Bow light: LED Bi-color N1-112-RGN; stern light: LED Stern N1-135-CLR

MarineBeam also carries LED bayonet bulbs that fit perfectly in the reading lamps, in either warm white or red: G4 LED BP-G4-06 WW or RED.

Probably overkill all the way around, but just replacing the crazed, dirty lenses on my Aqua Signal fixtures didn't seem like a cost-effective solution.

John

[Steve A]

Well here is what I've found so far...
https://store.marinebeam.com/led-bi-col ... ion-light/ Replaces the bow light Bicolor and says it meets Colregs.
https://store.marinebeam.com/led-stern-light/

My original lenses were pretty much shot here are the lenses for the 41's if you go that route
http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?pa ... id=1464727
http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?pa ... &id=849133

Here are Aqua signal bulbs that are Led replacements for the 41's
https://store.marinebeam.com/aqua-signa ... placement/
https://store.marinebeam.com/bay15d-rep ... -40-50-55/

You can read their disclaimer on aftermarket led bulb installs.

NOTE: The USCG, COLREG and EU test agencies do not approve light bulbs, and can only certify that a specific fixture complete with a specific light source meets the requirements. While there no requirement for end-users to use certified fixtures on-board, our bulbs are the brightest LED replacement bulbs available, and will easily meet visibility requirements for yachts up to 65 feet, they don't have any sort of certification as stand-alone bulbs, or within any specific fixtures. These bulbs have not been tested in your specific fixtures, and we have no control over how you will use this product. Therefore, it must be the user's decision alone whether to use this product to retrofit existing fixtures which will be used for navigation.

[Sea Hunt Video]

John:

Thanks very much

Any chance you would have available the part numbers for the http://www.marinebeam.com cabin light replacements and/or the nav light replacements