Led masthead tri/anchor

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seaangler23

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Time for an upgrade to led as fed up with the current set up draining the batteries every night, seems a bit of a minefield with a few reported problems on here with nasa, aquasignal so who using what ? I bought an led g4 bulb to do the anchor light but it’s not going to fit.
So far my options I can find are
NASA
Aquasignal
Hella
Cheap eBay (around £60) doesn’t inspire confidence
 
What is your current fitting and what bulb does it take? You may simply need a new LED bulb: BAY15D, BA15D, BA15S, etc.

If using a white LED in a tri, use a warm one as opposed to cool.
 
I made my own anchor light from a bunch of LEDs and resistors, 18 LEDs and 6 resistors, 3 in series with a resister, each batch in parallel, IIRC, to get the right voltage to each LED. The case is half an inch of plastic drainpipe with some scrap ally for the top and bottom. I wired it up and then filled everything with epoxy to keep the water out. The Tri got an LED bulb [Incoming!], which may not meet the letter of the law, but certainly complies with the spirit.
 
seaangler23 said:
Time for an upgrade to led as fed up with the current set up draining the batteries every night, seems a bit of a minefield with a few reported problems on here with nasa, aquasignal so who using what ? I bought an led g4 bulb to do the anchor light but it’s not going to fit.
So far my options I can find are
NASA
Aquasignal
Hella
Cheap eBay (around £60) doesn’t inspire confidence
Click to expand...

This is the solution as far as an anchor light is concerned. It can be hung " where it can best be seen" and the existing all round round retained for use as an alternative to stern and masthead ( steaming) lights when under power

Dusk-to-Dawn-Utility-Light-24-DSC_0612-v1_grande.jpg
https://boatlamps.co.uk/collections/anchor-lights/products/dusk-to-dawn-anchor-utility-led-light
 
Old unit uses g4 bulbs, very amp hungry, bought a boatlamps warm white to fit but the holder won’t take it, may go up with my hammer and make it fit
Thought about a hoistable rechargeable light but I’d prefer to do it properly
 
seaangler23 said:
who using what ?
Click to expand...

I'm using LED inserts (not really bulbs as such, they're blocks of resin that don't fit into a bulbholder and have a wire pigtail for the supply) made by Bebi in Fiji, inside the boat's original housings that I think are Aqua Signal.

Not much use to you though :) since Bebi shut down a few years ago now :(.

Pete
 
I've fitted an LED red/green/white LED lamp in my tricolour, Allen(I think) now do one with external dividers to keep the colours in the correct sector. I also fitted an LED lamp on a lead which I hoist in the foretriangle, also fitted it with a sensor so it automatically turn on at dusk and off at dawn. Both work well with minimal consumption.
 
Stemar said:
I made my own anchor light from a bunch of LEDs and resistors, 18 LEDs and 6 resistors, 3 in series with a resister, each batch in parallel, IIRC, to get the right voltage to each LED. The case is half an inch of plastic drainpipe with some scrap ally for the top and bottom. I wired it up and then filled everything with epoxy to keep the water out. The Tri got an LED bulb [Incoming!], which may not meet the letter of the law, but certainly complies with the spirit.
Click to expand...

I've been thinking along these lines, but haven't overcome the lens/protection issue for the LEDs. What sort of led package did you use and how arranged and protected? Cheers.
 
mogmog2 said:
I've been thinking along these lines, but haven't overcome the lens/protection issue for the LEDs. What sort of led package did you use and how arranged and protected? Cheers.
Click to expand...

I found a site that gave me the correct number of LEDs and the resistance required, it might have been https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/tools/led-resistor-calculator/. It was a few years ago, when drivers weren't so easily available, especially affordable or DIY jobs; if I were to do it again, I might well do the same as GHA..

I used what were considered bright LEDs at the time but nowhere near Cree levels, more like the ones in LED tape. I drilled holes all round centimetre or two of plastic drainpipe, tucked the LEDs through then soldered everything together, 3 LEDs and a resister per group in series, and the 6 groups in parallel. Top and bottom were discs of scrap ally I had and I filled the whole thing with epoxy. When It had gone off, I drilled a hole through the middle to take a mounting bolt that attached it to the top of the tricolour.
 
seaangler23 said:
seems a bit of a minefield with a few reported problems on here with nasa, aquasignal so who using what ?
So far my options I can find are
NASA
Aquasignal
Hella
Cheap eBay (around £60) doesn’t inspire confidence
Click to expand...

I have had for a few years the Aqua Signal series 32 (now superseded by series 34) LED masthead light (only tri-colour) and it has been working fine.
However, there is one flaw with the connection block in the quickfit base which has been mentioned on the forum a few times.
IMG_1054.jpg

As can be seen in the photo the four tiny screws are mild steel and will eventually rust.
They can not be replaced by standard s/s screws, because the head is to wide to fit in the hole.
My fix was to use s/s set screws without heads. To center the screw a bit of bike valve rubber tube comes in handy (screw at far right)
connector%20block.jpg
 
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