LED Navigation Lights

[Rob & Karen]

I have been considering the following bulbs as replacements for the navigation lights (red and green...not anchor) on my boat.

[url=http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|65136|296901|743570&id=674932&cartId=1510318]LED Bulbs[/url]

Defender lists this as a cross reference to the Ancor 529104 incandescent bulb, which I think is the original bulb, but I have not been able to confirm this anywhere else. There is also a note about these not being for navigational use, but they seem to be much brighter (48 cp vs. 8 cp) than the incandescent. I am assuming that using white LED's behind the red and green lenses will work ok.

Does anyone know if this is all correct? Has anyone else changed out the navigation light bulbs (not the whole fixture) to LED's?

Thanks,

Rob

Ps. I tried to make it a short url, but it did not work. Maybe someone can point out my syntax error. If you copy the link, it does work. It is Defender item 200086 at www.defender.com.

[journey on]

The anchor light on Journey On burns all night, whilst the side navigation lights only burn when when we're going somewhere and the motor is running. Therefore I searched for a LED anchor bulb, not wanting to replace the whole fixture. And I do turn on that light every night we're anchored, having missed being run over by a Mexican shrimper one night in Puertocitos when I didn't have an anchor light. I got religion that night with his lead weight just missing my boat and everyone screaming, both at me and the shrimper skipper.

I looked at a number of LED anchor replacement bulbs, but only found one that met Coast Guard requirements: GE90 Star LED Replacement Bulb for Anchor Lights It's at West Marine and it ain't free, but in an accident it's a legal light. AND, instead of 10 amp-hrs/night, it uses 1 amp-hr. So now I can leave the anchor light on whenever we're anchored, day and night, and not worry about the juice. And I think it's wonderful. It's made by Dr. LED who has a lot of navigation light bulbs

So, I guess a moral to this story, is get a legal light. Then If you're hit you're legal. And we did get hit in the Chesapeake, and we were legal and the other guy (finally) paid. I know there are cheaper bulbs out there but the lawyers are looking for a loophole, especially the insurance company.

Boris

[JamesTXSD]

Hi Boris,

I agree with you about the use of LED for an anchor light... no real advantage to conserving power while running (red/green nav lights), but it can make a difference when at anchor. A question for you: is your anchor light fixture one or two bulbs? Ours is two bulbs (foreward/rearward facing), with the tapered tips (not a bayonet). Just wondering if you changed out the fixture or if yours came with one bayonet type bulb?

Best wishes,
Jim

[C-Green]

I replaced my running and anchor lights with LEDs because 1) low draw when anchored 2) running lights always burn out when its dark, windy, wavey, and raining - not a time to go on deck to change a bulb but precisely the time you need a working light 3) I won't live long enough to see the LED anchor light burn out but as a previous post implies if one burns out (very likely with an incandescent) it may be the end of your life. 2 and 3 are saftey matters and justify the cost (to me). For the anchor light I used the GE90 Star mentioned but felt it was not as advertised; the distance from base to light source is different than the GE90 incandescent. To correct this I raised the plastic lens with a modified abs plumbing fitting which moved the center of the Fresnel lens back in line with the light source. This might not pass muster with the lawyers but just hold the lens over the bulb at night and move it up and down and the difference is dramatic when the lens and bulb centers line up. As for the running lights whatever I bought (just as expensive) was advertised as meeting USCG 2 mile specs but said you need a red bulb for the red lens and a green one for the green lens which is what I got; to me this implies white bulbs won't make the cut; I will say the bulbs I got seem brighter than the original incandescents and were a perfect fit.

Jay

[Rob & Karen]

Jay,

What red and green LED running light bulbs did you buy? Where did you get them? When you removed the original bulbs, were they the same as in the link below?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NUYY9A

Thanks,

Rob

[C-Green]

Rob,

My notes show that the red nav light (an incandescent festoon bulb) is a West Marine #297384, Anchor #529200, Perko #70-DP1-CLR, generic #71 Red. I purchased two Dr. LED "Festoon LED Bulb for Series 25 and Other NAV Lights" - one red and one green. I also got festoons for my interior lights which were much cheaper; I think newer models don't use the same lights anymore. The interior light works well (much different color tone - more harsh) and was also a perfect fit. Ordered all from www.fisheriessupply.com . Signing off now to hit the hay. Will answer followup questions tomorrow.

Jay

[Dave@Carpinteria]

LEDs are noted for long life, but mounting socket can become corroded over time. I pack my lamp sockets with bees wax. (cheap and available from any hardware store that carry toilet floor seals). Be sure to clean the socket connections very well first before packing.

This also works well with trailer lights, especially when they are still new..

There may be other material that works just as well but this probably the cheapest.

Dave@Carpinteria

[C-Green]

Rob,

Your amazon link goes to a 10 watt Ancor bulb. My Perko bulb pack says 15 watts; so I would guess that the 10 watt ancor bulb won't meet the 2 nm spec. You might check the Perko website and see what bulb numbers and/or wattages they give, if any. You'd think bulbs would be a no-brainer but not so!

Jay , now I'm really signing off

[Rob & Karen]

Thanks Jay. I guess I may have to take one of mine apart to see what kind of bulb is in there now. Shown below is a picture of my nav light (Perko 120 or 170). Is that what kind you have?



The Dr. LED bulbs look big. I am not sure that they would fit in the existing fixture.



Rob

[C-Green]

Rob,

Looks like my NAV lights and the LEDs look to big (especially when I saw in my hand) but there was room for them; the contacts stick way out allowing the big round light not to hit the back of the NAV light housing (at least on my 2002 CD22).

To bed, Jay

[jstates]

The large round Dr LED LED with adjustable contacts posted by Rob - works great -just barely fits in the Perko Navigation lights They are very bright. I got tired of replacing bulbs after rough weather rides at dusk.

I coat the contacts with big gob of I think its called dielectric grease to reduce corrosion -it lasted two years on prior CDory

If bulb doesn't light - as other have said before on CBrats- flip it over - also you will want to adjust the bulb height to match the center of the lens of the Perko case by using an adapter tip [either top or bottom to get the best position.

Consider replacing the soft metal bolts that hold on the lens with a stainless allen head bolt - that is easy to thread in and out. I have had to drill out the tops of a couple of the stripped bold heads on both boats so far. Sorry I can't recall the thread count - I think its metric but Tacoma screw had them -and it makes getting back in easier to replace the grease - or check for corrosion.

Jim

[Rob & Karen]

Hi Jim,

I appreciate the confirmation that the bulbs will fit. In the picture of the Perko light fixture above, there are only two screws visible. Are these screws for removing the lens and bulb, or are they to remove the fixture from the boat so that you can access the rear of it? My boat is 1.5 hours away or I would check myself. Thanks.

Rob

[jstates]

The bolts I am talking about are accessed from the outside of the light in two deep holes - and they hold the lens and black shell onto the Perko base that is secured internally to the boat with different ?screw or bolt that should not need changed.

I had an old Perko unit I took with me to Tacoma screw - sorry I didn't get the bolt dimensions - its not a traditional American thread, available at West Marine, Lowes, Home depot, Ace hardware. WMarine told me Perko would not sell a replacement bolt without selling a whole new unit. Next time into Olympia I will get the dimensions for future CBrat reference. You will need metric allen wrench - like used for bike repair but smaller -about 3 mm or so.

Jim

[Catch 22]

i replaced my original 1981 nav lights (red/green) with LED's, by that i mean i took out the white bulb and replaced it with red leds on one side and green leds on the other, devided by white sheet metal in the original housing. it is much brighter and only cost a fraction of the price of a whole new unit, so far so good...

[Socrateur]

<<i replaced my original 1981 nav lights (red/green) with LED's>>
That's good service from the bulbs. I would save those puppies as backup in case the LEDs fail.