Changed, or changing, nav and anchor lights to LED bulbs – GEE, BUT LED UNITS ARE EXPENSIVE!!! – and this seems to be my cheapest way out looking for reduced DC loading. Anyone done this, or have comments or suggestions?
In the FWIW department, I have had problems with my 2003 Hunter 306 anchor light this last season. When I bought the boat (2003 Hunter 306) and had a survey done in Jan 08 while at the dealers, it was noted that the anchor light was inop. That was corrected by the dealer, and I wasn’t told if it was corrosion or a burned out bulb. I stayed on the boat a few times until weather got good enough and tides were favorable (and I could line up a crewmember for company) to sail from Deltaville, VA to my home port marina at Mount Vernon – a 3 day trip. The anchor light worked post-survey (Feb and Mar), but when I was ready to take the boat to her new home (Apr), it was again inop. The yard (Norton’s) fixed it again, saying this time the bulb was bad. The anchor light worked most of the summer – 5-6 nights on the hook (May to Aug) when I needed it – but by late August, it was again not working.
[An aside: In case anyone doesn’t know – Hunter explained this one to me – the masthead combo anchor and steaming light is an Aqua Signal series 40 unit, but it’s not one you will find in their US stateside catalog listings…I’ve seen it on NauticalExpo.com in the international Aqua Signal catalog!...and it takes a 25 watt 12V Aqua Signal bulb on top for the steaming light, and a 10 watt 12V bulb for the bottom anchor light. Thank the Swede’s at Selden for this European part.]
So, anyway, after a very nice summer cruising in the Potomac and on the Chesapeake a few times, the boat’s now back on the hard in Deltaville for the winter, and in the spring we’ll replace both masthead lights with LED units. I want to make sure it’s not a contact corrosion issue, of course, and for the LED units, I have bought 2 Dr. LED Polar Star 40 units – replacement for the series 40. Note that these say they are 2 nm rated, and current draw is 0.9 amps. Meets CE standard, and should satisfy USCG requirements. Both are replacement for the 25 watt and 10 watt bulbs. (Prices BTW, for comparison, at WM standard 10 watt and 12 watt bulbs are $19 and $20, and the Polar Star 40 LEDs are $50…though with a little searching you can find them for about $44 elsewhere (Svendsen’s).) Oh, and the festoon bulbs for front bicolor and aft white Hella series 3562 nav lights have already been changed to Mastlight.com 44mm festoon-type LED units. (You can use the bright white unit in the aft white lens, but they recommend you use the “warm white” unit for the bicolor lens.) Costs for these units were about $25 each, as opposed to the $2-3 for the standard festoons, but current drops significantly – to about 0.2 amps. Oh, and life is estimated to be 50K+ hours for these LEDs, though I still have to worry about contact corrosion. We’ll see…:bang:
In the FWIW department, I have had problems with my 2003 Hunter 306 anchor light this last season. When I bought the boat (2003 Hunter 306) and had a survey done in Jan 08 while at the dealers, it was noted that the anchor light was inop. That was corrected by the dealer, and I wasn’t told if it was corrosion or a burned out bulb. I stayed on the boat a few times until weather got good enough and tides were favorable (and I could line up a crewmember for company) to sail from Deltaville, VA to my home port marina at Mount Vernon – a 3 day trip. The anchor light worked post-survey (Feb and Mar), but when I was ready to take the boat to her new home (Apr), it was again inop. The yard (Norton’s) fixed it again, saying this time the bulb was bad. The anchor light worked most of the summer – 5-6 nights on the hook (May to Aug) when I needed it – but by late August, it was again not working.
[An aside: In case anyone doesn’t know – Hunter explained this one to me – the masthead combo anchor and steaming light is an Aqua Signal series 40 unit, but it’s not one you will find in their US stateside catalog listings…I’ve seen it on NauticalExpo.com in the international Aqua Signal catalog!...and it takes a 25 watt 12V Aqua Signal bulb on top for the steaming light, and a 10 watt 12V bulb for the bottom anchor light. Thank the Swede’s at Selden for this European part.]
So, anyway, after a very nice summer cruising in the Potomac and on the Chesapeake a few times, the boat’s now back on the hard in Deltaville for the winter, and in the spring we’ll replace both masthead lights with LED units. I want to make sure it’s not a contact corrosion issue, of course, and for the LED units, I have bought 2 Dr. LED Polar Star 40 units – replacement for the series 40. Note that these say they are 2 nm rated, and current draw is 0.9 amps. Meets CE standard, and should satisfy USCG requirements. Both are replacement for the 25 watt and 10 watt bulbs. (Prices BTW, for comparison, at WM standard 10 watt and 12 watt bulbs are $19 and $20, and the Polar Star 40 LEDs are $50…though with a little searching you can find them for about $44 elsewhere (Svendsen’s).) Oh, and the festoon bulbs for front bicolor and aft white Hella series 3562 nav lights have already been changed to Mastlight.com 44mm festoon-type LED units. (You can use the bright white unit in the aft white lens, but they recommend you use the “warm white” unit for the bicolor lens.) Costs for these units were about $25 each, as opposed to the $2-3 for the standard festoons, but current drops significantly – to about 0.2 amps. Oh, and life is estimated to be 50K+ hours for these LEDs, though I still have to worry about contact corrosion. We’ll see…:bang: