Cheap & effective riding light

[JimC]

Here: http://www.a1leisuredirect.co.uk/12-volt-fluorescent-tube-lamp-154-p.asp

It only needs a few turns of self-amalgamating tape to make it weatherproof. It's highly visible at night and the linear light source should be less prone to being obscured by roller-genoas and masts than a point source. The tube is rated at 8 watts which should be equivalent to a filament bulb of around 25 watts or more. In fact it draws 300ma so it would take about 2.5 ampere hours out of the battery if on all night.

 

[shmoo]

On face of it sounds a good idea but I don't get the maths of 8W 12V and 300mA.

300mA at 12V is 3.6W, innit?

 

[Otter]

I'd worry about the waterproofing. I know these are 4 times the price at £20 but they are brilliant and have a twinkling effect which is better than a constant light for attracting attention

 

[VicS]

I'm not sure if it puts it in perspective or not but I have a torch which also has a fluorescent tube. I reckon it must be 6 watts because the 4 watt ones are only 6" long while the 8 watt ones are 12" but it is 8".

It draws 300mA from a 9 volt battery (2.7 watts).

Not sure about how good it will be as a riding light because the source is quite large so the luminous intensity, which is what is given in the Col-regs to achieve the required visible range will be quite small for the total power consumption or light output.

 

[BAtoo]

Re: Cheap & effective riding light

Looks OK - but where did you get it???

 

[Otter]

Re: Cheap & effective riding light

ebay, about £22 (and I saw it on lots of other sites), but now I do a google I can't find any as cheap as I paid, all over £30. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[charliespan]

Re: Cheap & effective riding light

properties of picture gives:

here

 

[Vanilla]

Not cheap but well made and very bright are these LED ones from Navisafe. I bought the Navilight at LIBS mainly to use in the tender at night. It has 3 settings....fully on, about 1/4 on, or flashing. Waterproof and floats light up.

Navilight

 

[Refueler]

Nice one ... can't see point of paying more for LED.

 

[vyv_cox]

Re: Cheap & effective riding light

Mine is a Triton marine one. Superb, very bright light, very low consumption. In any situation where there is a risk of collision in the dark, e.g. anchored off harbours where fishing boats go out very early, this is the one to have. Over the years I have tried a variety of different types but none were better than this.

Can't say on the fluorescent one although I would be surprised if it was as good as the Triton one. My main objection to fluorescents is that they always cause interference on radio. Would this affect Navtex reception? I don't know, maybe someone ese does.

 

[lw395]

Re: Cheap & effective riding light

I made an LED one myself, three LED's in series with each of 6 resistors. Laid out similar to the one in the picture, potted in araldite.
You can get a lot of white led's for £20 odd quid. Current is about 25mA per 3 led's, varies a bit with battery level, it has to cope with max charging volts of 14.5V, down to about 11.5.