Led masthead light

[Slow_boat]

I have the masts down on my Countess 33 to change the 20 yr old standing rigging. I don't intend to drop the masts again for some years, so I want to replace the masthead tricolour/anchor light with an led, both for better power consumption and longer bulb life. Is there one that will be a straight swop or will I have lots of complicated wiring etc to do?

Come to that, is there an led bulb that is a straight swop?

Also, would it be worth replacing the masthead power wire and VHF cables, even though I don't think there's anything wrong with them?

I'm to much of a scardy cat to climb the masts once they're up.

 

[Lundylad]

Adrian of Boatlamps who posts on here will help and is reasonably priced.
No connections just a satisfied customer.

 

[ianfr]

Hi

Last winter I replaced all the cables up the mast including the VHF.

I am really glad I did, and am glad that I used tinned copper wire for the electrics. The old stuff wasn't tinned and was black for a couple of feet each end.

Lights are much brighter, VHF performance is much better.

I had a Nasa tricolour on the last boat, which failed after about 3 months. The replacement is as far as I am aware still working.

On the current boat I replaced the old Aqua Signal fitting ( crazed and faded) with a new one, with a normal bulb. The jury is still out regarding LED tricolours as far as I am concerned.

They are stupidly expensive in general, and although the Lopolight one has a 5 year guarantee, it is also one of the most expensive.

I didn't consider the LED alternative to the incandescent bulb, purely on personal prejudice

Regards

Ian

 

[zambant]

Just done the same thing on my Moody 346 when I purchased her.
Like you I dont do mast climbing.
I replaced antenna, fitted new NASA combined LED tri-colour / mooring light and ran new cables up the mast. Oh and new standing rigging and checked all sheaves.
I like the NASA stuff - had it on my last boat with no problems - benefit with LED is you can run much thinner cables up the mast. Wiring is really easy - just needs a twin core up the mast
Good luck.
John

 

[Adrian Jones]

I have the masts down on my Countess 33 to change the 20 yr old standing rigging. I don't intend to drop the masts again for some years, so I want to replace the masthead tricolour/anchor light with an led, both for better power consumption and longer bulb life. Is there one that will be a straight swop or will I have lots of complicated wiring etc to do?

Come to that, is there an led bulb that is a straight swop?

Also, would it be worth replacing the masthead power wire and VHF cables, even though I don't think there's anything wrong with them?

I'm to much of a scardy cat to climb the masts once they're up.

Apologies for my belated post.

When considering tri-colour fixtures there are really two options. Either replace existing incandescent lamps with replacement LED lamps or replace the tri-colour with a dedicated LED tri-colour. The later option can be significantly more expensive if a quality fixture is selected, this of course will be dependant on the brand selected.

The simple exchange of lamps is very much less costly but how much less depends somewhat on the length of a boat. The COLREGS suggest for the visibility of the respective light elements contained in the tri-colour need to be different for boats up to 12m (39ft) from that for larger boats up to 20m. In your case and others with boats up to 39ft you could simply replace the existing incandescent 25W lamp with a 18SMD BAY15D, marine quality, LED lamp in 'Warm White' or festoon equivalent, dependent on your particular brand of tri-colour.

For other owners with boats in excess of 39ft, the best solution, I suggest, is to use a purpose made tri-colour LED replacement lamp. The best ones, in my opinion, are constructed from aluminium and have the red, green and white LED lamps mounted in appropriate sectors and sealed securely with epoxy resin and are pretty much water proof. However, these lamps are more expensive than the 18SMD lamps due to more materials and the complex construction of the lamp but will ensure that the larger boat lights will be compliant visibility wise for lengths up to 20 metres.

If exchanging lamps, I further recommend a liberal splodge of Contralube 770 Gel into the lamp holder to protect against contact corrosion. Its made exactly for the job, Vaseline and other such products are now rather old hat!

regards

 

[Sans Bateau]

Fitted this last year. Quality product, but not cheap.

http://www.force4.co.uk/6253/Aqua-Signal-Series-32-LED-Tri-Colour---Anchor-Light--12-24V--B.html

 

[Boathook]

Adrian of Boatlamps who posts on here will help and is reasonably priced.
No connections just a satisfied customer.

Just purchased more LED's for my boat for the nav lights. If like the interior LED's purchased last year from Boatlamps it will be a fit and use with no problems.

 

[William_H]

Fitted this last year. Quality product, but not cheap.

http://www.force4.co.uk/6253/Aqua-Signal-Series-32-LED-Tri-Colour---Anchor-Light--12-24V--B.html

Hi Galadriel I am still choking from the price of that light.
When fitting LED bulbs to nav lights you must remember that most incandescent bulbs use a vertical filament such that in azimuth the source of light is a fine point source. This means that lens can provide an accurate and precise cut off of one colour to the next.
LED bulbs however tend to have the LEDs mounted around the circumference at about 1cm radius. This is just the opposite to point source and will blur the colour segments. So especially for mast head lights but also for deck level nav lights you need purpose built fittings or for mast head at least a bulb with different coloured sections.
Yes LEDs are great for inside and for anchor light but tricky to get mast head nav lights correct.
Yes it will be well worth OP replacing all mast wiring including VHF and nav light wiring. Or better still fit side of cabin nav lights and transom stern light. Even pushpit mounted VHF antenna. good luck olewill

 

[Sans Bateau]

What also must be remembered and the reason I bought a proper LED mast head light in the first place, is that the old mast head unit will have suffered UV damage. I had the mast down and was cleaning the tri/anchor light and the whole thing broke up in my hand! There was no point in buying a new mast head unit + LED 'bulbs' so I bit the bullet and bought the real thing. I had read reports of failures on both the NASA and lopo lights, so felt that Aqua Signal were a respected manufacture for me to buy from. Fingers crossed!

 

[Slow_boat]

Thanks for the replies.

Adrian, I shall be in touch via your very easy to follow website (I'm an electronics idiot!)

LED 'bulbs' and new wiring it is!

Maybe even bite the bullt and do all the cabin lights in one hit, too.

 

[Adrian Jones]

I have seen this technical view, vis a vis, LED lamps in multi colour fixtures before but have yet to see what the practical implication is. Red wavelengths will pass through the red lens and green wavelengths will pass through the green lens. All other colours will be blocked, so I don't understand the physics that causes this so called 'blurring'. Anecdotally, I can honestly say that not one lamp has ever been returned to us due to a boat owner observing colour blurring as a result of using an appropriate LED lamp in a bi or tri-colour fixture. Yachting monthly did some testing of bi-colour fixtures using our replacement lamps, amongst others, and did not observe this phenomenon. Thousands of boat owners now use replacement LED lamps in bi and tri-colour fixtures. I personally have never observed a blurred mixture of red and green light emitted from any boat using these lamps. Normally the lights show crisp bright red, green and white light.

What I have experienced is the total failure of the vertical filament of a masthead incandescent lamp, which resulted in no light at all. This happened in bad weather and heavy sea state. Even the best incandescent lamps gradually deteriorate with use, the light gets significantly less over time and the filament becomes progressively more brittle until, finally, it fails catastrophically. Not so with LEDs, they are pretty much unaffected by the normal knocks and vibration experienced in use at sea and the light output, over time, falls off very much less than the equivalent incandescent lamp.

Regards

 

[Robintraves]

COA Dry Meet

I have the masts down on my Countess 33 to change the 20 yr old standing rigging. I don't intend to drop the masts again for some years, so I want to replace the masthead tricolour/anchor light with an led, both for better power consumption and longer bulb life. Is there one that will be a straight swop or will I have lots of complicated wiring etc to do?

Come to that, is there an led bulb that is a straight swop?

Also, would it be worth replacing the masthead power wire and VHF cables, even though I don't think there's anything wrong with them?

I'm to much of a scardy cat to climb the masts once they're up.

The topic "LED Lighting " is on the Countess Association Dry Meet programme. Why not come along? Margaretting Village Hall, Sunday 3rd March. See webpage www.countessowners.com

 

[Robintraves]

This will be covered in the COA Dry Meet on 3rd March.See www.countessowners.com

 

[Bodach na mara]

Fitted this last year. Quality product, but not cheap.

http://www.force4.co.uk/6253/Aqua-Signal-Series-32-LED-Tri-Colour---Anchor-Light--12-24V--B.html

Still not cheap, but cheaper.
http://www.marinesuperstore.com/item/2-3806-001/aqua-signal-s32-led-tricolour-light

Oops, just noticed the stock situation.

Reminds me of the joke "Your eggs are too dear, I can get them next door for half the price."

"Well get them there then."

"I can't he is sold out."

"If mine were sold out, they would be half the price as well."

 

[emandvee44]

Back in March 2009 we had to change our damaged masthead light and opted for the Aqua Signal series 32 LED which was costly, but almost 4 years on is still working perfectly.
I think the reason many of the suppliers are 'sold out' is because the series 32 has been superceded by the series 34, which is much cheaper. You can buy a series 34 masthead tricolour and anchor light for 170 euros, and it is recommended for up to 50m loa.

We have a series 34 bow bi-colour as the old series 32 failed due to water ingress, and the series 34 was the only replacement available, and at 99 euros was reasonable (for us).

Cheers,

Michael.