I want to replace the steaming light on my 1988 Hunter 33.5. Since the boats laid up for the winter, I have no way of accessing the old one until spring. Does anyone know the type or model # for this light, and if there’s an LED equivalent I could find somewhere?
Steaming Light Replacement
- Thread starter ChuckH
- Start date
I replaced both the steaming and anchor light on my 1983 H 30. I wanted to go to an LED to reduce the power draw. I could not find a reasonably priced unit from any othe regular manufacturers. If found one in Good Old board magazine form Bebi (Bebe?) electronics In New Zealand. The price including shipping was about $100 for both. The lights are built like iron and I bet will last another 30 years. They took a little thought to mount them but I'm very happy. Just remember that LEDs are sensitive to polarity. I'd you hook the - side to the + wire the light won't work. Other than that there're great. If I go down to the boat this week and can find the mast in the rack I'll snap pic for you.
Recommend not spending the extra $$ on a LED steaming light since you only use it while under power.
In general I would agree but the mast was down for service an the lens of the existing was so crazed it didn't make sense to replace the bulb in a fixture that was well below par. The cost of the Bebe fixture was only a few dollars more than he comparable standard so what the h..... The boy for a new toy.
Steaming light is a steaming light.
Nelson, remember that most parts on production boats are whatever works best during the given production run. It's not like a car, with which you can walk into Pep Boys and ask for a water pump for a '65 Skylark 340 and it's always the same part for every car. A steaming light is a steaming light. Buy a good one and call it done.
Most production boats these days use the Aqua Signal foredeck-light/steaming-light combination unit (see the WM catalogue). I'll bet this is what your boat has. I chose the Forespar one because it's better looking, especially where it aligns along the sides of the spar. Also, I know the guys at Forespar and am not worried about getting spares, at any time in future-- like for the steaming-light lens, of which it's good to have a spare from the start, because flailing pole lifts, errant spinnaker halyards and the leech of the jib have been known to remove it for you.
Dr LED (sailorssolutions.com) can supply replacement bulbs for just about any 12vdc application; so don't worry if the fixture is initially meant for incandescents. The bulbs can be remarkably cheap (like $39, in some cases, for something that lasts 7-10 years). I was in Batteries Plus today (weirdly, it's right next door to West Marine-- how did Big Blue allow that?) and they have LED bulbs for automotive ('RV') applications. They're priced at half of what the Dr LED ones are. It made me wonder how long a non-marinized bulb would last in a boat lamp; but I'll be sure to try one in a lamp I can afford to lose (like maybe the foredeck light) before I risk it in something I'd much rather not do without.
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Nelson, remember that most parts on production boats are whatever works best during the given production run. It's not like a car, with which you can walk into Pep Boys and ask for a water pump for a '65 Skylark 340 and it's always the same part for every car. A steaming light is a steaming light. Buy a good one and call it done.
Most production boats these days use the Aqua Signal foredeck-light/steaming-light combination unit (see the WM catalogue). I'll bet this is what your boat has. I chose the Forespar one because it's better looking, especially where it aligns along the sides of the spar. Also, I know the guys at Forespar and am not worried about getting spares, at any time in future-- like for the steaming-light lens, of which it's good to have a spare from the start, because flailing pole lifts, errant spinnaker halyards and the leech of the jib have been known to remove it for you.
Dr LED (sailorssolutions.com) can supply replacement bulbs for just about any 12vdc application; so don't worry if the fixture is initially meant for incandescents. The bulbs can be remarkably cheap (like $39, in some cases, for something that lasts 7-10 years). I was in Batteries Plus today (weirdly, it's right next door to West Marine-- how did Big Blue allow that?) and they have LED bulbs for automotive ('RV') applications. They're priced at half of what the Dr LED ones are. It made me wonder how long a non-marinized bulb would last in a boat lamp; but I'll be sure to try one in a lamp I can afford to lose (like maybe the foredeck light) before I risk it in something I'd much rather not do without.
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