I'm finally getting Rainbow Chaser back in usable shape. I need to replace the deck/steaming light. Anyone got a suggestion of one that is similar? I need to replace a couple of interior pieces of that plywood with the white covering, like the engine cover. I have no idea what to call it. What should I call it, and where can I get it? Has anyone used something else that is a good substitite? thanks, Gene Gruender Rainbow Chaser
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Steaming light should not be a problem.
Gene: The steaming light should not be much of a problem. The existing one should have some markings on it or you should be able to upgrade that. The interior material that you are talking about is probably Melamine. It is basically a vinyl coating on the wood. The counter tops are plastic laminate. You may also want to consider going to something a little higher quality by using formica (aka Plastic Laminate) on plywood instead of melamine. Doing formica is not rocket science. You just need a router to finish the edges and a roller to roll the bubbles out of the material. You can purchase this stuff at Home Depot.
Gene: The steaming light should not be much of a problem. The existing one should have some markings on it or you should be able to upgrade that. The interior material that you are talking about is probably Melamine. It is basically a vinyl coating on the wood. The counter tops are plastic laminate. You may also want to consider going to something a little higher quality by using formica (aka Plastic Laminate) on plywood instead of melamine. Doing formica is not rocket science. You just need a router to finish the edges and a roller to roll the bubbles out of the material. You can purchase this stuff at Home Depot.
Aqua Signal?
Hi Gene. At Tom Hadoulias' suggestion I just purchased a combination tri-color/anchor light for the masthead. Tom's point was that if I then replace the steaming/foredeck light(link below) all the bulbs will match. Hope that is right. My H37C does not have the white panels, its all varnished teak. But I have been on H37Cs that do have that covering and always thought it was regular f/g and gelcoat. Not so I guess.
Hi Gene. At Tom Hadoulias' suggestion I just purchased a combination tri-color/anchor light for the masthead. Tom's point was that if I then replace the steaming/foredeck light(link below) all the bulbs will match. Hope that is right. My H37C does not have the white panels, its all varnished teak. But I have been on H37Cs that do have that covering and always thought it was regular f/g and gelcoat. Not so I guess.
What I used...
Gene, The original deck/steaming light on my 37 was a Forespar - I believe you can still get them at West Marine. I replaced mine with an Aquasignal Series 25 unit. You could also go to the Series 40 unit (same as the tricolors) but it is quite a bit more expensive. I am happy with mine but have come to the conclusion that spreader lights (as my previous boat had) do a better job of illuminating the deck.
Gene, The original deck/steaming light on my 37 was a Forespar - I believe you can still get them at West Marine. I replaced mine with an Aquasignal Series 25 unit. You could also go to the Series 40 unit (same as the tricolors) but it is quite a bit more expensive. I am happy with mine but have come to the conclusion that spreader lights (as my previous boat had) do a better job of illuminating the deck.
parts sources
I have to agree that spreader lights do a much better job.I am just waiting for mine to go bad so I can replace it with spreader lights. This is the first boat I have had that did not have them and the difference is very noticeable, especially when you really need them..
I have to agree that spreader lights do a much better job.I am just waiting for mine to go bad so I can replace it with spreader lights. This is the first boat I have had that did not have them and the difference is very noticeable, especially when you really need them..
Am I correct, on H37C. . .
spreader light wiring would be exposed? I took my spreaders off before the mast was put on the winter rack. Now I see that the brackets are solid. How would you get the wiring inside the spreader to connect to the lights? Could you achieve the same brightness and coverage by mounting them on the mast? I thought my deck was pretty well lit with the foredeck light. Why do you feel you need better lighting? Oh, and Jim, did you decide not to sell or still awaiting a buyer?
spreader light wiring would be exposed? I took my spreaders off before the mast was put on the winter rack. Now I see that the brackets are solid. How would you get the wiring inside the spreader to connect to the lights? Could you achieve the same brightness and coverage by mounting them on the mast? I thought my deck was pretty well lit with the foredeck light. Why do you feel you need better lighting? Oh, and Jim, did you decide not to sell or still awaiting a buyer?
more details
Covering several questions that came up: I have both the original deck/steaming light and spreader lights. They each have a purpose, and unlike some, mine are wired so that each can be controled independently. The steaming light is old and all the plastic is falling apart, the socket is shot, so it needs to be replaced. I didn't realize there was a series 40 light for that, so I will look into it. On mine, the spreader lights go into the spreader through the light fixture, then come out through a grommet just before the mast. They then go into the mast through another grommet. My surveyer pointed out that I should have made drip loop in the wire there. If you get the small round lights that are held in with a wire clip, they can be replaced with a tractor headlight from the auto parts store instead of a marine light at about 1/4th of the cost. If we're anchoring somewhere that there is a lot of traffic, we illuminate the entire deck with these lights, not just with the anchor light. Call me paranoid!
Covering several questions that came up: I have both the original deck/steaming light and spreader lights. They each have a purpose, and unlike some, mine are wired so that each can be controled independently. The steaming light is old and all the plastic is falling apart, the socket is shot, so it needs to be replaced. I didn't realize there was a series 40 light for that, so I will look into it. On mine, the spreader lights go into the spreader through the light fixture, then come out through a grommet just before the mast. They then go into the mast through another grommet. My surveyer pointed out that I should have made drip loop in the wire there. If you get the small round lights that are held in with a wire clip, they can be replaced with a tractor headlight from the auto parts store instead of a marine light at about 1/4th of the cost. If we're anchoring somewhere that there is a lot of traffic, we illuminate the entire deck with these lights, not just with the anchor light. Call me paranoid!
Gene...
I went with the large Aqua Signal steaming/foredeck light. It's actually for vessels over 60' but it uses the same bulbs as the original Hunter Aqua Signal lights do except for the foredeck bulb. This is a larger light but doesn't look like the toy's that are on most of the boats. The foredeck light illuminates extremely well and the light fits perfectly on the kenyon mast. The only problem may be that the existing wiring is 16 ga as supplied from hunter and it's not possible to replace wiring without removing the mast as the wire bundle is riveted in place. If your wire is in good shape you should be OK with the existing setup even though 14 ga is the recommended minimum wire size. You'll love the light. I'll find the model number if your interested but it's the larger of the two that Aqua Signal makes and costs around $146.00, ... don't choke, it's one of the few items I've bought that I actually felt was worth it. Tom
I went with the large Aqua Signal steaming/foredeck light. It's actually for vessels over 60' but it uses the same bulbs as the original Hunter Aqua Signal lights do except for the foredeck bulb. This is a larger light but doesn't look like the toy's that are on most of the boats. The foredeck light illuminates extremely well and the light fits perfectly on the kenyon mast. The only problem may be that the existing wiring is 16 ga as supplied from hunter and it's not possible to replace wiring without removing the mast as the wire bundle is riveted in place. If your wire is in good shape you should be OK with the existing setup even though 14 ga is the recommended minimum wire size. You'll love the light. I'll find the model number if your interested but it's the larger of the two that Aqua Signal makes and costs around $146.00, ... don't choke, it's one of the few items I've bought that I actually felt was worth it. Tom
Support for More Wattage
Last summer on my trip to Alaska there was an event that chnged my opinion about navigation lights in favor of going to more wattage. Early on a cold morning at the brake of twilight under a heavy overcast sky a small sailboat departed Dundas Island in Canada to cross Dixon Entrance toward Alaska. The couple were well up in their 70's and they were on a 23 foot trailerable boat, a Person or something like that, built in the early 1970s. It was still mostly dark and the skipper saw some lights on a boat which he took to be a fishing boat. He stood up in the cockpit to look for the fishing net and realized the light(s) were quickly approaching him. He took immediate evasive manuvers and waved and yelled to no avail. The boat was an aluminum 25 foot charter boat taking some tourists out for fishing and the skipper said he never saw the sail boat. He hit the sailboat amidships so hard it caved in the hull, coach roof, and rode up over the top of the boom breaking the boom. The skipper of the sailboat sustained minor injuries and his wife was down below also sustained minor injuries. The running lights on the sailboat were the very small chrome teardrop style that was in vogue back then with about a 3/4-inch wide lens and the plastic was crazed with age. I'm shure this was a contributing reason why the powerboat didn't see the sailboat. If the sailboat had better running lights this accident MAY have been avoided. Our H-35 has Aqua-Signal Series 25 running lights which I replaced while on the trip this summer. In fact, replaced one of them while in Prince Rupert near where this accident occured and the other in Ketchikan, which is another story, one connected to corrosion. After seeing the accident, though, I'd much prefer the Series 40 running lights and if I had to do it over again that's what I'd use. I've used the deck light as a means to identify myself to other boaters. For example, while talking to a tug one night, which from his vantage point had me in front of the city of Nanimo, the deck light was handy to show where I was, even though he could see me on radar. So deck lights can be useful. Installation suggestions: Use silicone dielectric grease on all the electrical connections (those little brass cubes with the small screws where the wires attach) including the festune sockets to help keep corrosion at bay. The festune socket is a "weak link" in running light light fixtures. The long skinny screws that hold the lens in place go into a captive nut; coat the threads of the screw with Lanocote (Forespar; http://www.forespar.com/catalog/misc/lanocote.htm) or one made by Blue Sea). Ditto the stainless steel screws that attach the deck light to the mast (can use Never Seze sold by West Marine). If the wires have to be lengthened use marine grade butt connectors and heat shrink tubing. Dielectric grease can also be put into the butt connector although a better grease would be Ox-Gard (avail at Home Depot) which is designed for use with aluminum conductors but would be ideal on SINGLE conductors on boats (it's a conductive grease whereas the dielectric grease is non-conductive). Execuse me for the long write-up; got carried away. And good luck in your project. It'll be a good improvement to the boat. The schedule 40 sounds good to me and I'm shure it's available at a good discount somewhere.
Last summer on my trip to Alaska there was an event that chnged my opinion about navigation lights in favor of going to more wattage. Early on a cold morning at the brake of twilight under a heavy overcast sky a small sailboat departed Dundas Island in Canada to cross Dixon Entrance toward Alaska. The couple were well up in their 70's and they were on a 23 foot trailerable boat, a Person or something like that, built in the early 1970s. It was still mostly dark and the skipper saw some lights on a boat which he took to be a fishing boat. He stood up in the cockpit to look for the fishing net and realized the light(s) were quickly approaching him. He took immediate evasive manuvers and waved and yelled to no avail. The boat was an aluminum 25 foot charter boat taking some tourists out for fishing and the skipper said he never saw the sail boat. He hit the sailboat amidships so hard it caved in the hull, coach roof, and rode up over the top of the boom breaking the boom. The skipper of the sailboat sustained minor injuries and his wife was down below also sustained minor injuries. The running lights on the sailboat were the very small chrome teardrop style that was in vogue back then with about a 3/4-inch wide lens and the plastic was crazed with age. I'm shure this was a contributing reason why the powerboat didn't see the sailboat. If the sailboat had better running lights this accident MAY have been avoided. Our H-35 has Aqua-Signal Series 25 running lights which I replaced while on the trip this summer. In fact, replaced one of them while in Prince Rupert near where this accident occured and the other in Ketchikan, which is another story, one connected to corrosion. After seeing the accident, though, I'd much prefer the Series 40 running lights and if I had to do it over again that's what I'd use. I've used the deck light as a means to identify myself to other boaters. For example, while talking to a tug one night, which from his vantage point had me in front of the city of Nanimo, the deck light was handy to show where I was, even though he could see me on radar. So deck lights can be useful. Installation suggestions: Use silicone dielectric grease on all the electrical connections (those little brass cubes with the small screws where the wires attach) including the festune sockets to help keep corrosion at bay. The festune socket is a "weak link" in running light light fixtures. The long skinny screws that hold the lens in place go into a captive nut; coat the threads of the screw with Lanocote (Forespar; http://www.forespar.com/catalog/misc/lanocote.htm) or one made by Blue Sea). Ditto the stainless steel screws that attach the deck light to the mast (can use Never Seze sold by West Marine). If the wires have to be lengthened use marine grade butt connectors and heat shrink tubing. Dielectric grease can also be put into the butt connector although a better grease would be Ox-Gard (avail at Home Depot) which is designed for use with aluminum conductors but would be ideal on SINGLE conductors on boats (it's a conductive grease whereas the dielectric grease is non-conductive). Execuse me for the long write-up; got carried away. And good luck in your project. It'll be a good improvement to the boat. The schedule 40 sounds good to me and I'm shure it's available at a good discount somewhere.
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