I thought it made great sense to replace my battery-depleting 10-watt anchor light with an LED bulb, and with some help from the forum found what seemed to be the right bulb for the Aqua Signal 25 fixture. I ran up the mast, broke the fixture trying to open it, and then ran a new one up and wired it and mounted it, to find that the LED bulb (which you should know is polarized or something; only works in one direction) only worked in half its diameter, so gave good bright light for a 180 rather than a full circle. I had bought two of the bulbs ($16 each at batteries plus) and they both did this. I grudgingly installed the incandescent that came with fixture. Maybe a whole new fixture?
LED at the anchor light
- Thread starter Frank Cahill
- Start date
by base, do you mean the metal base (maybe 1-1/2-in. dia) that the fixture attaches to? Or the inside of the fixture? These Aqua Signal 25's are pretty common and cheap ($21 at the local shop in Seward); I thought I had the appropriate convex (pointy, right?) tips on the light bulb. at least, it seems the same as the OE bulb which I eventually installed.
Something doesn't sound right. I replaced my Aqua Signal 25 with an LED from Marine Beam and it worked very well. I didn't know that it had to go in a certain direction to work so I must have been lucky on the first try, and I had bright 360* visibility.
I would question the quality of the LED you used, I think I paid close to $25 for the one I purchased. Definitely better than the incandescent.
I would question the quality of the LED you used, I think I paid close to $25 for the one I purchased. Definitely better than the incandescent.
You can test the bulb without it being installed in a fixture by holding the base casing against a battery ground post and touching a piece of wire from the battery positive post to the bulb base contact. If the entire bulb doesn't light - take it back. When getting another have them prove it for you in the store using a similar method.
Could be the bulb was meant for a car dome light, the bases are the same but the car only needs 180 deg of light. I bought LED bulb on Amazon fit about $5, and it works perfectly. Those Aquasignal housings get brittle with age. Mine broke too.
Sorry if I wasn't clear. I mean the part that actually emits light, and its base would be the electrical contacts that are a part of the LED bulb.
Sounds like you've got a festoon-type bulb.
http://shop.macgregorowners.com/cu/detail-led.php
This link describes all the different bases available.
The older Aquasignal lights had dimpled ends, they recently changed to pointed ends. Probably cheaper to make as the contacts just have a hole instead of the old bump. The bulbs are now the same as car dome light bulbs so they're cheaper as well. I had some of each on my boat, so I converted my older lights to the new bulbs by drilling out the bump to make it a hole. Now they all use the same bulb.
Marine Beam LED bulbs are not polarity sensitive. Sounds like the one you bought was. May not be an issue in a car but when installing one on the top of the mast having a 50/50 chance of getting it right is a bit of a pain.
Check out their site. Once you know what base type of bulb you need, you can choose the degree of viewable light.
Check out their site. Once you know what base type of bulb you need, you can choose the degree of viewable light.
Not really a pain, just turn it on before you insert the bulb. If it doesn't light, turn it around.
I certainly should have checked the bulb while down on the deck; too lazy to search for accessible 12-volt power, I guess. I'll look for the Marine Beam bulb. I will note for others interested that Aqua Signal says no LED bulb is approved for their fixture. Thanks to all.