Back lit name

[truro expat]

Hi anyone bought a back litboat name from a supplier either UK or France Italy?
Any suppliers recommened.
I have got a quote but the delivery charge is huge for what it is and they wont let me collect it?
Thanks

 

[Hacker]

Never bought one but someone on the forum owns www.smartmarine.co.uk. They have a good rep as far as I can see.

 

[Neil1300r]

Back-lit boat name?


Came with the boat

 

[harvey38]

I'm sure @petem of this parish does such things.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Pete is smartmarine.

Never bought one but someone on the forum owns www.smartmarine.co.uk. They have a good rep as far as I can see.

I'm sure @petem of this parish does such things.

 

[EME]

By far the best that I know of in the industry:-
Home | YACHTLITE - Creative Light Design % , Stefan is your person there.
Undoubtedly not the cheapest by any stretch of the imagination but exceptional knowledge and quality.

 

[jfm]

Pretty sure petem no longer makes these.
There are lots of manufacturers of these but in many cases they will work for a year or so then fail. Managing the heat from LEDs, getting reliable soldering, and ensuring long term waterproofing are not simple things. The only one I know of that has flawless quality is (as per EME post above) Yachtlite. These are made in Germany and have flawless quality. You can switch them on for 10 years and they will continue running. Not cheap and not meant to be - they are built up to a quality not down to price.

 

[petem]

Thanks all. As above I don't make illuminated lights as they tend to be rather unreliable (apart from Yachtlite which understand to be excellent), are expensive and require lots of holes drilling into the transom.

I'm happy to provide anyone who buys a boat name from me with a 10mm Opal Perspex backing if they want to insert their own LED strips.

IIRC I actually supplied @truro expat with a boat name a few years ago so he has my contact details.

 

[petem]

Never bought one but someone on the forum owns www.smartmarine.co.uk. They have a good rep as far as I can see.

Many hundreds of names now supplied and unblemished record I believe!

 

[Neil1300r]

Dolphin Marine in Poole did the ones on 'Moody' including the the stainless steel and mirror vinyl. From the invoice etc looks like it was done in 2016. I've had the boat since June this year. Its still all working. £1000, not including installation

 

[petem]

Dolphin Marine in Poole did the ones on 'Moody' including the the stainless steel and mirror vinyl. From the invoice etc looks like it was done in 2016. I've had the boat since June this year. Its still all working. £1000, not including installation

That's a good price and glad it's working for you.

 

[PCUK]

I've just requested a quote from Yachtline so I'll let you all know the actual cost some time next week.

 

[jfm]

Price depends on size and complexity but expect something in the €3-10k range typically.

 

[PCUK]

Yet it is only laser or waterjet cutting, polishing and wiring so it will be interesting to see.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Pretty sure petem no longer makes these.
There are lots of manufacturers of these but in many cases they will work for a year or so then fail. Managing the heat from LEDs, getting reliable soldering, and ensuring long term waterproofing are not simple things. The only one I know of that has flawless quality is (as per EME post above) Yachtlite. These are made in Germany and have flawless quality. You can switch them on for 10 years and they will continue running. Not cheap and not meant to be - they are built up to a quality not down to price.

Managing the heat should be simple. Run the LEDs through an adjustable DC-DC converter. Use 12v LEDs and set the converter to 12v, should be barely warm.

 

[jfm]

Paul, it should be but it is not simple. Many LED items fail because of heat. The first thing to do is to buy LEDs that run cool to begin with, but all of them produce some heat and they are only "barely warm" if provided with cooling. Here you are typically "potting" them in sealant so they have to dump heat by conduction through the lettering structure, rather than straight to the air. Obviously using 24v rather than 12v helps.