[C38] LED Bulbs

[Peter Lagan]

Hi,

 

This carries on from last month's topic on LED Bulbs. I'm finally getting
around to changing the anchor light bulb to LED, with consideration on
replacing the entire fixture. It's a bit of a read but as I dig deeper, I
have more questions, and it's probably worth sharing. Personally I love the
long reads as they provide great detail, and enjoy the knowledge shared by
you all. We're lucky to have the history provided by Joe Launie, and the
mechanical skills provided by Tom Troncalli. I also love all of your blogs!

 

Back to LED's, Captain Jeffry Matzdorff had posted an LED replacement chart
some time ago. Unfortunately I cannot see these attachments so apologize if
I'm duplicating information. Chuck & Anders are helping sort this out.

Firstly, the cheap $1 LED bulbs that I was buying from China are apparently
not the best for the boat. This is because voltage ranges on the boat can be
from 11 to 14.5 volts, depending on how low we let our batteries discharge,
to how high the solar panel regulator charge. The cheaper LED bulbs use a
fixed resistance to provide a voltage drop for the LED. Since the range of
voltage is large, the current can vary and could overdrive the LED's PN
junction causing it to overheat, which can be dangerous. We need the LED's
with Constant Current Drivers included that rate the bulb for say 10-30vdc.
Here's a good web site that explains this:
http://store.marinebeam.com/whyounetokna.html

So, our masthead light fixture, the original Perko 1196 which I've also seen
on another C38, is supposed to provide 225 degrees of 3nm white light
forward as a 'Steaming' light, and 135 degrees of 3nm light reward that when
combined with the forward light, provides an anchor light.

Ours was likely installed backwards from the factory, thus providing 225
degrees rearwards, and the forward bulb is not lit when the anchor light
switch is on...not good. Correct installation is shown here:
http://www.perko.com/images/catalog/pdf/Figs%201183%20to%201197%20Inst%20(11
83INS1).pdf The setscrew or holding screw on ours is facing forward. Has
anyone else experienced this? It might be a good idea to check it out with
binoculars. When you anchor, do you turn on both the steaming light and the
anchor light switches, or is there some sort of Double Pole, Double Throw
combination you use on the anchor light switch to energize both bulbs?

For LED replacements, I'm leaning towards two marinebeam bulbs designed
specifically for the Perko 1100 series?
http://store.marinebeam.com/perko-31mm-anchor-light.html . The lens kit is
reasonably priced, so those would get replaced also. Is the key element in
replacing bulbs to maintain the specifications set forth by the collision
regulations and ABYC? I think the marinebeam products exceed the specs, but
don't mention approval. By the way, I'm not trying to plug their product,
but I do trust what they have to say. They indicate that it's because it's
the only luminaries (fixtures with bulbs) are certified against the Colreg
requirements. Does this mean that if we're hit at anchor and it's determined
that our light is not approved, are we liable for both vessels? Will our
insurance cover us?

Being a huge Peregrine fan, I love to follow the upgrades made by Steve
Smolinske who has a 225 degree steaming light combined with his spreader
light part way up the mast, and a tri-color, strobe, with anchor light on
the masthead. I looked at the possibility of doing this, namely moving the
steaming light down to the spreader light, and then obtaining an all-around
anchor LED approved light. I later discovered that the Sea-Dog anchor light
was using the cheap LED bulbs. So, unless the voltage range is specified
10-30vdc, they're not constant-current. www.lopolight.com
<http://www.lopolight.com/>  makes nice lights, but they're out of our price
range. With the mast in place, how hard is it to intercept & pull the
steaming light wire down from the top to the spreader light location? Can it
be intercepted at the spreader light or should it be pulled down to the
bottom, then pull the spreader light wire down with a string attached to
pull them both back up?

 

I'd love to hear some comments on this. It's been a couple of weeks since
I've tried posting this, and now our decision is made. We're going with the
common practice of replacing our bulbs in existing fixtures with
constant-current LED's that exceed requirements set out by the collision
regulations. Perhaps when we service our mast, we'll make some changes
depending on how industry and regulatory bodies accept the LED movement.

 

On a final note, having gone up & down the mast a couple of times, I noticed
a loose rivet which is presumably holding the wiring conduit, which rattles
and drives me nuts when it's windy. I've read a few threads on this rattling
conduit...can the loose rivet be easily replaced to solve the problem?

 

Thanks Chuck for helping me post.

Peter,
C38, Gusto.

 

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