Aqua Signal mast head light maintenance

wilkinsonsails said:
You have to push it down and then twist .
Cindy
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Yes, that's right, tell me about it!

The glass parted company with the base on mine, and I wasn't high enough up the mast to be able to push the base down, and twist. Got to get up there again before Easter, and have another go, probably with thin nose pliers. Not really looking forward to it.

Geoff
 
I have one in front of me now. It does not need pushing down, it just turns. The base of the coloured lens sits on an O-ring and yours is probably just very dry. You could spray some lube round the bottom of the lens or maybe warm some vaseline to liquid and dribble that in. There is (or should be) a lump on the top above the red/green joint that will help get a grip.
I have just replaced mine as there was a corroded screw in the terminal block, but the light part is in perfect nick. If you should perchance break yours, let me know, £25 + postage which shouldn't be much.

Just remembered that the earlier ones had a knurled ring below the lens. This had to be twisted anticlockwise viewed from above and then the lens unit lifted out.
 
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Ah, sorry Andy,

Mine is different to yours then. with mine, the whole body untwists (quarter turn), exposing the bulbs. Although I have a picture of yours (in a catalogue), I can't see how you get it apart I would think the lense section must either unscrew from, or untwist from the base??

You may find someone here who knows, let's hope so. Or perhaps just ask your local chandler.

Geoff
 
There are at least two versions of the Aquasignal quickfit light.

Mine is about two years old, so presumably the latest, and replaces a non-quickfit type from around 1979.

It's an invention of the devil. Give me the old type anytime.

I have the instruction leaflet here. I could scan it and post it if anyone needs it.
 
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Just had the exact same problem - tried hot water, then very hot water and then wd40 - but still no joy. Tried tapping the knurled ring gently with a rubber mallet, this got things moving but still not separating: It turns out that the ring itself latches on the external body of the lamp but the clear section of light latches onto the interior of the body too so I couldnt quite tell what bit was actually moving. A bit more tapping and the ring snapped - it is much more brittle than I expected as it really wasnt tapped hard - this obviously freed everything up. New rings are available from the US for about $20 but thankfully the plastic ( including the lens ) is easily repaired using model makers acrylic glue (the very watery stuff) , it sets in about 30 seconds but leave it 24 hours to fully bond and is then as good as new and the repair is invisible. I've greased all the fittings with vaseline before re-assembly to try and prevent it recurring.
 
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Last time I took mine down it just crumbled in my hands, thats when we switched to LED, Aqua Signal of course.
 
galadriel said:
Last time I took mine down it just crumbled in my hands, thats when we switched to LED, Aqua Signal of course.
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Thread drift, but how do you like the Aqua Signal LED nav lights?

I am replacing my old incandescent Aqua Signals this winter when my mast will be down. Eliminated Lopos because of the high rate of reported failure and obscene cost. The Aqua Signals came out on top in the PBO test a couple of months ago which evaluated, I think, only optical quality, but that's important.

Do you like them?
 
Dockhead said:
Thread drift, but how do you like the Aqua Signal LED nav lights?

I am replacing my old incandescent Aqua Signals this winter when my mast will be down. Eliminated Lopos because of the high rate of reported failure and obscene cost. The Aqua Signals came out on top in the PBO test a couple of months ago which evaluated, I think, only optical quality, but that's important.

Do you like them?
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Yes, current draw is minimal and returning from this years Cherbourg trip, in the dark, there was a very positive red/green/white illumination at the top of the mast.

Looking from way back on the shore when it was first fitted, it looked very bright. Yes I'm happy.

One other point, which was very much a deciding factor for me, Aqua Signal has been making nav lights for a very long time, I dont believe they would put to market a product which was less than top notch.
 
galadriel said:
One other point, which was very much a deciding factor for me, Aqua Signal has been making nav lights for a very long time, I dont believe they would put to market a product which was less than top notch.
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I have the AS Series 32 LED as well. Very nice build. The only thing I find a pity is they did not include a light sensor for the anchor light. The one I had on our previous boat had this as well (Orca Green brand).
Apart from that an excellent toplight.
 
galadriel said:
Yes, current draw is minimal and returning from this years Cherbourg trip, in the dark, there was a very positive red/green/white illumination at the top of the mast.

Looking from way back on the shore when it was first fitted, it looked very bright. Yes I'm happy.

One other point, which was very much a deciding factor for me, Aqua Signal has been making nav lights for a very long time, I dont believe they would put to market a product which was less than top notch.
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But your old Aqua Signal lights crumbled in your hand when you took them off? That did not cause you any doubts about the build quality?

I've had nothing but Aqua Signal nav lights on any of my boats. They've given me generally good service, but the Series 40 lights I have now do not seem to be Rolls-Royce type quality, in fact, I've had some problems with the pulpit mounted lights leaking. I hope that the new LED ones are better built -- they need to be, since you can't replace anything in them.
 
I put strong dark plastic bags over my mast ends when it's on deck over the winter, to protect the light and the coiled halliards from U/V, even so I agree with the comment AquaSignal kit is 'hardly Rolls Royce' - probably least worst though.
 
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