While looking to replace my spreader light with an LED bulb I ran into several problems. The existing fixture has a BA15D socket for a globe type incandescent bulb. The advertised LED replacement will not work because even though the base is correct, the "bulb" portion is cylindrical and longer than the original glass globe bulb, so it does not fit under the lens. That's when the fun began. I ultimately found 2 possible LEDs from a physical dimension standpoint, but neither gave enough information to tell if they were bright enough to meet USCG visibility requirements for a boat under 12 meters in length, which I am now confused if that's 2 or 3NM for a steaming light, and wondering how you can tell anyway.
Things like "really bright" are not much help, and most product specifications are just as bad. Many only say something like "equivalent to or replaces an X watt incandescent bulb." A few do mention lumens, but that didn't help all that much either. I ended up finding several incandescent bulbs that mentioned USCG visibility rating, and some other spec like its wattage, but usually not lumens. I started cross referencing various incandescent bulbs that mentioned their wattage and their lumens to get a rough watt to lumen chart, then found an LED that far exceeded what appeared to meet acceptable visibility in terms of lumens. I settled for an LED of 150 lumens (compared to 90 lumen incandescent bulbs that claimed to meet USCG requirements) and lots of user comments like "much brighter than the original" or "can be seen by everyone on the lake."
You would think marine products suppliers would be better at giving some useful specification, but not only did I find that's not the case, I found that many promoted products that I'm convinced are inadequate.
Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, how did you resolve it?
Things like "really bright" are not much help, and most product specifications are just as bad. Many only say something like "equivalent to or replaces an X watt incandescent bulb." A few do mention lumens, but that didn't help all that much either. I ended up finding several incandescent bulbs that mentioned USCG visibility rating, and some other spec like its wattage, but usually not lumens. I started cross referencing various incandescent bulbs that mentioned their wattage and their lumens to get a rough watt to lumen chart, then found an LED that far exceeded what appeared to meet acceptable visibility in terms of lumens. I settled for an LED of 150 lumens (compared to 90 lumen incandescent bulbs that claimed to meet USCG requirements) and lots of user comments like "much brighter than the original" or "can be seen by everyone on the lake."
You would think marine products suppliers would be better at giving some useful specification, but not only did I find that's not the case, I found that many promoted products that I'm convinced are inadequate.
Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, how did you resolve it?