Keeping underwater lights clean?

[Anthony]

(Searush - nothing to see here, move along to the next thread... ;-) )

Ok so given how quickly anything without antifoul on it is rapidly covered in anything from slime to vegitation depending on where you are based, I would have thought underwater lights needed cleaning every week or two to stop the light output being dramatically reduced?

Given the price of the proper ones I am surprised they dont come with little remore wipers on them.

I dont have any (yet) but just wondering how practical they are (if you can call an underwate light practical).

Ants

 

[Nick_H]

We get heavy fouling in the med, but the lenses on my lumishores stay clean year round. Maybe the intense light kills off anything that tries to stick to them, but they even stay clean when the lights aren't used for several weeks or months, so I think it must be the material the lenses are made from, or maybe Lumishore have some magic coating they use to stop fouling. If so, I want some for my props.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Actually in the Adriatic, my Lumishores do seem to attract crud and slime on the lenses and I do notice a reduction in output as the season goes on. Certainly they were less bright when we were last on the boat a couple of weeks ago after the boat had been in the water for about 3 months. As soon as I'm brave enough to swim (generally in July when the water temp hits 27degC!) I ensure that I regularly wipe the lenses

 

[Nick_H]

Strange, I though EME would have sent you the premium lights at no extra cost, as he did with other forum members

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Strange, I though EME would have sent you the premium lights at no extra cost, as he did with other forum members

Ah you mean the ones with the in built wash wipe system? No, I'm obviously not on the A list

 

[Cymrogwyllt]

A coat of black paint does the job quite nicely

 

[longjohnsilver]

Hi Anthony,how's it going in Oz? A bit different from Bridgwater! Sat on Eos in a very hot and sunny Salcombe, however no underwater lights to clean (yet). Quite tempted, cleaning wont be an issue for me, in fact as its so hot I might go in later and scrub the props again.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Barnacles etc do try and grow on the lenses of mine, but as soon as the lights have been on for a bit I think it cooks the growth off. It's v easy to then just wipe the residue off with your thumb when you're snorkelling. There's definitely not enough permanent growth on them here (south of france) to noticeably affect the light output.

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[Anthony]

John -great to hear EOS (and the British summer) is still looking after you, she remains just about at the top of my favourite boat list; yes we are loving it out here thanks, diving and boating weather all year round Although I do miss the South coast, out here everywhere is so far apart you cant really cruise around unless you have a lot of time and huge fuel tanks.

I think my mooring must be in a very nutrient rich part of the Swan River here in Perth, I accidentally left the boarding ladder in the water for 3 weeks and this is what it looked like when I pulled it up:

If underwater lights went the same way I would have to go clean them everytime I got on board! I tend to dive on it quite a lot anyway as the props and drives get quite a bit of growth and even in winter the water temp is 18-20, but it would be nice to know I could turn the lights on without having to clean them every time.

Maybe I will buy some el cheapo ones off ebay and just hang them off the back as an experiment, although they are probabley a lot lower power output than the proper ones so any effects of heat or light killing things off may not be the same.

Thanks for sharing your experiences, I shall experiment and ponder it a little more.

Ants

 

[maby]

A coat of black paint does the job quite nicely

Glad you said it! I got a lot of criticism when I dared to suggest that they are the nautical equivalent of a pair of fluffy dice!

 

[EME]

There are a couple of things that help keep Lumishore lights 'clean'.

- The overmould (plastic) on the Surface Mount models are a growth-resistant polymer and it does a stunning job. The metal bodied lights are recommended as being anti-fouled though ( NOT the lens wild Welshman ! -- is this a North - South Wales envy issue? )

- We choose to use low wavelength LEDs ( Blues and Whites; all White LEDS in normal use are Blue LED chips with a phosphor coating). This has the benefit of killing off the algae. No algae seems to mean no critters. There is however a light build-up of residue and that definitely benfits from being wiped off with a soft rag.

-- We also stumbled across a feature with lenses about 3 years that provides the benefit of reducing growth but Im not putting that on here and competitors dont do the same at the moment.

-- Unfortunately there is no magic formula yet to coat the lens and reduce growth. We've tried a number of transparent coatings but they all disappear in no time / dont work at all. Lets be honest, if there were, we would all be coating our hulls with it.

 

[nigelmercier]

As above, use lamps with a high UV content.

 

[Searush]

Glad you said it! I got a lot of criticism when I dared to suggest that they are the nautical equivalent of a pair of fluffy dice!

Harrumph, I have been specifically warned off this thread for saying they had the same style qualities as budgie smugglers, chest hair, shades, a fake Rolex & a gold medallion, so I couldn't possibly comment . . .