Marinebeam online store..

[s2sailorlis]

Anyone here do business with them? The have an interesting assortment of LED bulbs and fixtures. Half the price of Dr. LED. Yes, Dr LED uses high quality CREE led’s, but if there’s a better alternative...

https://store.marinebeam.com/

[gonesail]

i'm not proud of helping Bezos finance his super yacht. but amazon has the best return policy in the business. and they have a decent assortment of 12V LED lights and bulbs. unless you are looking for something really obscure .. check it out.

[John Stone]

Several years ago USCG put out notice on LED interfering with VHF/DSC transmission. Check article in practical sailor about three years ago. Many LED tested for interference. Dr LED lights tested and cause no interference. That's also my experience with my DR LED bulbs as well as the lights made by Alpenglow.

[Jim Walsh]

Something which is rarely mentioned is that once you have modified your USCG approved fixture by replacing the incandescent bulb with LED’s you no longer have a compliant fixture. I know it is unpopular but it is something which should be taken into consideration. There are USCG approved LED fixtures on the market.

[John Stone]

Something which is rarely mentioned is that once you have modified your USCG approved fixture by replacing the incandescent bulb with LED’s you no longer have a compliant fixture. I know it is unpopular but it is something which should be taken into consideration. There are USCG approved LED fixtures on the market.

I have read all the info on lights in the COLREGS many times and I'm still a little fuszzy what "approved" actually means. I don't know if lights have to be "approved." I don't think the USCG tests anything. They set standards and USCG approved laboratories test them and certify they meet the standards. I have read you can get ticketed for using lights not "approved" but that does not mean violation would hold up in court. (I am not an admiralty lawyer nor do I play one in TV). I think the requirement is to meet the standard. You might be using lights that exceed the standard but are not "approved." But I am just surmising.

What annoys me are "approved lights" installed in such a poor manner by boat manufacturers they clearly don't work properly. By that I mean the arc is off because the are on flared bows or hidden behind obstructions. And what about cruise ships...they have so many white lights on them at night I can't see their running lights. It's crazy.

Anyway better to have certified lights than not. What a hassle it would be to try and fight them in court.

[sgbernd]

I purchased a steaming/deck light from MarineBeam three years ago and could not be more pleased. It replaced the AquaSignal which was OEM and had been replaced a couple of times previously by myself and possibly the previous owner. The MarineBeam quality for the steaming light is a significant step up from the AcquaSignal, whose poly cabonate lenses went cloudy and the metal socket of the exposed deck light corroded badly enough to stop it from working after 6 or 7 years.

The MarineBeam unit was a drop in replacement using the same screws, and entirely sealed. I purchased it from their online store. It is very robust and well made. I am going to try their anchor light next time I pull the mast.

Amazon sells some very inexpensive marine lights. I purchased an anchor light, a knockoff of the old masthead Davis type, which was highly rated and cost around
$20. The OEM Davis type served for 40 odd years with only lens replacements. The Chinese knockoff lasted a bit over a year, now the contacts in the socket are intermittent. So while you may not get what you pay for, you will certainly pay for what you get.

Steve

[s2sailorlis]

Thx all for the input. They sound like a potential alternative to Dr. LED. Worth trying….

[Cathy Monaghan]

FYI the following can be found on the Marinebeam web site regarding replacement bulbs:

“… NOTE: As an end-user, and a private boat owner, there is no federal or USCG-requirement for you to have certified fixtures on your vessel. This is strictly a requirement for boat builders. Additionally, the USCG, COLREG and EU test agencies do not approve or certify light bulbs, and can only certify that a specific fixture complete with a specific light source meets the requirements. While our bulbs are the brightest LED replacement bulbs available, and will easily exceed the 15 Candela ISO EN 14744 requirements for 3nm visibility requirement for masthead anchor lights 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. Additionally, we don't recommend using the Warm White bulb behind bi-colored or tri-colored lenses on boats greater than 12 meters (39 feet). The transmittance of LED wavelengths through the red lens may attenuate the output below the requirements for yachts greater than this length. …”

If you’re planning to replace the entire lighting fixture, these products meet USCG requirements:

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

Something which is rarely mentioned is that once you have modified your USCG approved fixture by replacing the incandescent bulb with LED’s you no longer have a compliant fixture. I know it is unpopular but it is something which should be taken into consideration. There are USCG approved LED fixtures on the market.

[John Stone]

FYI the following can be found on the Marinebeam web site regarding replacement bulbs:

“… NOTE: As an end-user, and a private boat owner, there is no federal or USCG-requirement for you to have certified fixtures on your vessel. This is strictly a requirement for boat builders. Additionally, the USCG, COLREG and EU test agencies do not approve or certify light bulbs, and can only certify that a specific fixture complete with a specific light source meets the requirements. While our bulbs are the brightest LED replacement bulbs available, and will easily exceed the 15 Candela ISO EN 14744 requirements for 3nm visibility requirement for masthead anchor lights 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. Additionally, we don't recommend using the Warm White bulb behind bi-colored or tri-colored lenses on boats greater than 12 meters (39 feet). The transmittance of LED wavelengths through the red lens may attenuate the output below the requirements for yachts greater than this length. …”

If you’re planning to replace the entire lighting fixture, these products meet USCG requirements:

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

Something which is rarely mentioned is that once you have modified your USCG approved fixture by replacing the incandescent bulb with LED’s you no longer have a compliant fixture. I know it is unpopular but it is something which should be taken into consideration. There are USCG approved LED fixtures on the market.

Exactly Cathy. The USCG does not approve or certify. They set the standard. That's why I am surprised boaters have gotten ticketed for a lack of lumen brightness. Probably more about obstructions to the arc.

Perhaps a little outside the thread intent but another thing I learned from Dr LED is they recommended to me to replace the white festoon bulb in my red/gree nav lights with the colored LED lights rather than white bulbs in the colored lenses. Apparently brighter that way.