Foredeck light LED bulb

[Andrew41]

I have an Aqua Signal combined 'masthead/foredeck' nav light. That's what they call it but it's actually a steaming light/foredeck light mounted about halfway up the mast on the front.
The foredeck bulb part is open to the elements and has no lens at all.
I change the standard bulb to an LED one, similar to the one in the photo but without the gap in the body, and sealed the lamp all around with PU sealant to keep the water out.
The bulb failed after a few years and I bought another bulb but it arrived and isn't the same, it has an air gap between the LED and the bayonet with a bit of circuit board showing.
I want to seal up the gap but is it there for cooling or just to get the bulb length as they are normally used for car sidelights.
As I bought 2 bulbs I suppose I could seal one up and see what happens. If I use self amalgamating tape it may not get as hot as if I filled it with sealant.
It's the time up in the bosun's chair and fiddling about with sealant and possibly slightly corroded bayonet light socket that I am trying to avoid.
I have bought Chinese LED strip spreader lights but haven't fitted them yet.
(I know there is a boat lamp supplier recommended for these bulbs but I was being cheapskate as these were half the price and the last lot looked the same and I was in a hurry)

 

[LittleSister]

I had one of those steaming/deck lights, with the latter open to the elements. Lasted for many years without problems - with the standard bulb and no modification.

I can't see much point in changing to an LED (I never had the deck light on for long periods, so consumption was never a problem), but now you've got one . . .

Note that 'masthead' light is the correct term, as used in the Collision Regs. (despite no requirement for it to be on top of the mast), for what is popularly referred to as a steaming light.

 

[LadyInBed]

I can't see any point in using an LED bulb for a steaming light as it's only used when the engine is running.

 

[rszemeti]

I can't see any point in using an LED bulb for a steaming light as it's only used when the engine is running.

You mean apart from it (hopefully) not failing and requiring an excursion up the mast to sort it?

 

[rszemeti]

I replaced the foredeck light part, including the reflector with one of these:

https://boatlamps.co.uk/collections/led-lamps/products/mr16-6w-6-x-cree-led-lamp

I went to some trouble with sealant to try and stop any rain running down the mast etc and it seems to have survived the first year anyway ... very nice and bright on deck, and illuminates the area around where the mooring buoy hopefully is, which makes night moorings a lot simpler.

I have some reservations about boatlamps.co.uk .. maybe try eBay for a similar item.

 

[ltcom]

Stick some Vaseline in the gap. The gap is holding small resistors is all. The shiny housing should get rid of the heat from the Leds I think.

 

[Sandy]

I have some reservations about boatlamps.co.uk .. maybe try eBay for a similar item.

Why? Their products are excellent and their after sales is brilliant. On a recent order I had an email a) letting me know that the Royal Mail were unable to deliver to the marina and b) say that this happened a lot. That is what I call service. I dropped them an email to say that my order had arrived and was thanked for that.

There is the old engineering triangle, speed, quality and cost, you can have two out of the three.

 

[KAL]

Another big-up for Adrian at boatlamps.co.uk

Ive always found their stuff to be excellent and they stand by their products.

 

[Andrew41]

Thanks for all the replies. When away cruising I struggle to keep the Volts up with the fridge running and so have changed a lot of bulbs to LED. The 'steaming' light is still a normal bulb. The foredeck light's bulb is open to the elements and needs changed now and then. The ebay sellers sell the LED bulbs in pairs so I thought I'd try them as they were 2 for £10 delivered. I lost the 2nd one and the new lot have this gap.
I liked the LED bulbs as they were pretty bright for foredeck/anchoring work and draw negligible amps. I sometimes put it on when night sailing when ships were nearby, or while ashore going to the pub at dusk so other boats see you when coming in to remote anchorages as sometimes the masthead anchor light is a bit high up. I can rig a riding light but it waggles about a lot unless it's calm.
Anyway I'll try the new bulb with self-amalgamating tape over the gap and if it's not a success I'll get a Boatlamps one.

 

[William_H]

Foredeck flood light is a peculiar case in terms of direction of light. Ideally suited to LED as you want the light to go straight down to the deck. Incandescent bulbs are not best suited to this role> So any LED bulb emulating an incandescent bulb is also missing the mark. ie a lED bulb with emitters arranged around the circumference and off the top sends light in all directions relying then on reflector to direct the light. So if you want a plug in lED bulb you want one that emits only off the top and have a holder which holds the bulb that way.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-LED-Ch...hash=item1a772de339:m:mr2zNlAg3BuHJrvamMQIpuA
These little guys are perfect for that job. Very cheap very reliable. Only problem is that they require to be mounted on a Aluminium or similar heat sink as they get hot. Due to high power. I suggest the 10w one would be ideal.
OP could mount one one a heat sink then on an old bulb base to permit plug and play. ol'will

 

[LadyInBed]

You mean apart from it (hopefully) not failing and requiring an excursion up the mast to sort it?

See post 1

I change the standard bulb to an LED one, similar to the one in the photo but without the gap in the body, and sealed the lamp all around with PU sealant to keep the water out.
The bulb failed after a few years

LED's fail as well.

 

[rszemeti]

Why? Their products are excellent and their after sales is brilliant.

Hmm ... I had one bulb that I had fitted to the steaming light fail within a couple of hours of use, as I had spent a significant amount of money replacing all the lights with LED, and the cost of one to them is probably sub £5 I was rather hoping for an advance replacement ... they just said "send it back, we'll examine it blah blah blah" ... which would have meant two trips up the mast. I just bought another. I thought it was poor customer service, as I send out advance replacements if my customers have an issue, and we build electronics in the £500/£1000 category.

The red/green/white masthead light I have appears to have been assembled roughly 10 degrees out of line, the red lens is correctly illuminated, the green lens has a fair bit of red trying to get out when viewed from in front. It looked odd when we got the mast put back on, and I had to go up to ascertain what was wrong. I was saddened to find it was the bulb incorrectly aligned with the lens, but I didn't have the energy to send it back and climb the mast one more time. It can stay in there and I will sort it over winter.

I am NOT complaining about their prices, their business model is clearly to source LED lamps and present them to the yachting market at a premium price, saving the hassle of finding the right or wrong thing on eBay ... but I would expect excellent customer service, and more attention to detail for the money.

 

[Adrian Jones]

I replaced the foredeck light part, including the reflector with one of these:

https://boatlamps.co.uk/collections/led-lamps/products/mr16-6w-6-x-cree-led-lamp

I went to some trouble with sealant to try and stop any rain running down the mast etc and it seems to have survived the first year anyway ... very nice and bright on deck, and illuminates the area around where the mooring buoy hopefully is, which makes night moorings a lot simpler.

I have some reservations about boatlamps.co.uk .. maybe try eBay for a similar item.

 

[Adrian Jones]

Hi rszemeti
I’m very sorry that you have reservations in respect of Boatlamps and felt I had to respond to your criticism as we take good service and product quality very seriously. Firstly you seem to have used a lamp only suitable for internal use externally in your deck light, something its not designed for. It wouldn't be too surprising if that lamp subsequently fails, despite your effort to waterproof it. I recommend that you replace it with a more suitable product.
Turning you your other post, I’m very sorry you have been put out by our policy of asking for the return of defective products. We always return failed lamps to our manufacturers to ensure that they identify any latent design defects. A lamp failure is very much an exception and as a boat owner I do appreciate the pain caused by installing a lamp at the mast top only for it to fail prematurely.
I’m surprised that our tri-colour lamp is mis-aligned, we have sold hundreds of them this year alone and you are the first customer to report such a significant defect. A 10 deg mis-alignment is quite extraordinary and we would very much like that lamp to be returned for the reason mentioned above. The sector light baffles of the lamp are designed and constructed to be COLREG compliant in terms of beam angle and I don't understand how the red can align and other colours don't. If the lamp is 10 deg out then all colours will be 10 deg out. It could be inaccurate soldering of the lamp body to the metal lamp cap or mis-alignment of your particular lamp holder. You can simply check for soldering accuracy by checking the lamp cap pin alignment against the numbering on the external face of the base pcb. For AquaSignal the pins align between 12 and 6. So when you get the time and or inclination simply check the alignment and if its a soldering issue pop the defective lamp back in the post, we will of course refund your postage cost and replace the product. I will report our finding on the forum so that all readers can be fully informed. In the meantime I will personally check the alignment of our remaining stock. The same applies to the defective cool white lamp pop it back and I will of course refund you.
Finally a response to your comments about our danbuoy lamp. Do be careful when you post a negative and damaging comment and ensure that its accurate. We paid for a 9V, E10 lamp to be specially manufactured for us with excellent lumen, voltage stability and beam angle appropriate for use in a danbuoy light. Seemingly you may have missed the fact that our danbouy lamp is designed to operate at 9V and are unfairly comparing it to a 12V lamp advertised on eBay and suggesting its the same product, it's not. If a 12V lamp is used in a Plastimo danbuoy light the lamp performance is likely to be unpredictable and sub optimum and could result in premature lamp failure and that's not an effect wanted in a safety light. As far as I’m aware there are no identical 9V lamps sold on eBay, thats why we had one manufactured. It could be that our manufacturer is selling behind our back at prices significantly lower than he’s selling to us! It’s important for the obvious safety issues that boat owners purchase a high quality lamp for fit use in a Danbuoy when lives can be dependent on visibility of a man overboard at night.
Given the safety implications please post the link to the same lamp as advertised on eBay so we can check it out.

Regards
Adrian Jones
Boatlamps Ltd

 

[rszemeti]

Again, that fails to meet my expectations of "excellent customer service" ... you can clearly see in the photo that the bulb is mis-aligned, a better response would be "we'll get a new one out to you, please swap it out next time you go up the mast and return the old one to us" ... your solution of sending me up the mast, sending it back to you, waiting while you investigate it, getting something back and then going up the mast (again) is less than satisfactory. I did check the Aqua Signal holder to see if it possible to adjust the alignment, and it is not. As I will no doubt wish to get the job done in one trip I will send someone up, lower it down, re-solder it in the correct orientation, hoist it back up. It is of course entirely possible that Aqua Signal have a degree of variation in their lampholders, in which case your lamp should include a level of adjustment to account for that variation. Anyway, I am sailing in Ireland, I do not intend to go anywhere near the top of the mast for at least 3 months, I will let you know what I find when I do go up there, at the very least, a photo of the base of the lamp, showing the pin alignment with respect to the PCB.

The cool white lamp that failed I simply bought another from you and tossed the defective one, the cost to me was not so much the actual item, but the time and effort taken to safely ascend a mast.

I appreciate that the deck light is an "indoor" item, I expect it to fail eventually, but i have done a reasonable job of waterproofing it, when it fails, I'll just buy another.

You may well be correct regarding the 9V v 12V version of that light, I don't have the packaging to check any more, nor the record of the ones I found online, I shall delete the comment.

To be fair, the lamps currently installed are working perfectly, the bow and stern lights are bright and clear, the mast head anchor light is efficient and bright. I am totally convinced that LEDs are the way to go on boats.

 

[elton]

Stick some Vaseline in the gap. The gap is holding small resistors is all. The shiny housing should get rid of the heat from the Leds I think.

A shiny housing is the worst kind of heat radiator; matt black is the best

 

[Adrian Jones]

I don’t intend to extend an argument other than say the vast majority of our customers are happy with our products and service standards. Most of the very few returned products are found not to be defective and failure to work results from either voltage deficiencies or faulty fixtures. I’m afraid our current policy is driven by our experience of sending out replacement products and finding so called faulty ones either not being returned or as mentioned returned and found not to be faulty. You chose to dump the faulty lamp and wish to correct potentially defective soldering that’s entirely your choice. Clearly we can’t satisfy everyone hey ho,
Regards

 

[ghostlymoron]

I appreciate Adrian's comments on here. They are obviously doing their best to provide good service and products but you can't please everyone. As he says "hey ho"!
I've bought LEDs from eBay and boat jumbles which proved false economy especially the latter. You have little recourse if they don't work and the bu**station factor especially with masthead lights just isn't worth the small saving.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Bu**station = bu**eration.

 

[LadyInBed]

Bu**station = bu**eration.

What's wrong with saying Buggeration?