LED's for an anchor light

PaulRainbow

PaulRainbow

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Following on from a recent discussion about masthead and anchor lights i'm going to construct an allround LED light that comes on when it gets dark. This will be fitted to my anchor ball and plugged into a waterproof socket at the bow somewhere. I have power at the bow for the windlass, so not such a big job to fit the socket.

I've purchased a photosensor and have a suitable housing for it all, but i'm not sure of the best way forward for the LED's. There are all manner of LED "bulbs" available. I could coil one of those LED strips in the housing. The housing is 70mm diameter, so i could also make something up with plain LED's.

I want something nice and bright of course. So, any suggestions of what to use/how many to get good brightness ?
 
As it happens I made one only last week using my existing anchor light. I use those strips of LED's that have a sticky backing & you cut to size. Used a length of waste pipe & stuck the LED's on that then slid it down inside the plastic lense. Room above for a voltage regulator & sensor. I just fitted as many as would go round the pipe. Just counted & its 18. Night time test............perfect.
 
PaulRainbow said:
Following on from a recent discussion about masthead and anchor lights i'm going to construct an allround LED light that comes on when it gets dark. This will be fitted to my anchor ball and plugged into a waterproof socket at the bow somewhere. I have power at the bow for the windlass, so not such a big job to fit the socket.

I've purchased a photosensor and have a suitable housing for it all, but i'm not sure of the best way forward for the LED's. There are all manner of LED "bulbs" available. I could coil one of those LED strips in the housing. The housing is 70mm diameter, so i could also make something up with plain LED's.

I want something nice and bright of course. So, any suggestions of what to use/how many to get good brightness ?
Click to expand...
our normal incandescent Aquasignal plugs into a socket in the head via the Lewmar light
 
PaulRainbow said:
Following on from a recent discussion about masthead and anchor lights i'm going to construct an allround LED light that comes on when it gets dark. This will be fitted to my anchor ball and plugged into a waterproof socket at the bow somewhere. I have power at the bow for the windlass, so not such a big job to fit the socket.

I've purchased a photosensor and have a suitable housing for it all, but i'm not sure of the best way forward for the LED's. There are all manner of LED "bulbs" available. I could coil one of those LED strips in the housing. The housing is 70mm diameter, so i could also make something up with plain LED's.

I want something nice and bright of course. So, any suggestions of what to use/how many to get good brightness ?
Click to expand...

You can buy the very bulb ready made by boatlamps.co.uk. No more than £12.95 + postage...
 
Last edited:
I used 5mm leaded LEDs and resistors.
You can get 100 for about £3 on ebay.
I 'potted' the whole thing in hot melt glue.
Not the the most elegant, but still working after quite a few years.
 
PaulRainbow said:
Following on from a recent discussion about masthead and anchor lights i'm going to construct an allround LED light that comes on when it gets dark. This will be fitted to my anchor ball and plugged into a waterproof socket at the bow somewhere. I have power at the bow for the windlass, so not such a big job to fit the socket.

I've purchased a photosensor and have a suitable housing for it all, but i'm not sure of the best way forward for the LED's. There are all manner of LED "bulbs" available. I could coil one of those LED strips in the housing. The housing is 70mm diameter, so i could also make something up with plain LED's.

I want something nice and bright of course. So, any suggestions of what to use/how many to get good brightness ?
Click to expand...
I did exactly that, well worth the effort, 0.1a and really bright, hopefully will last longer than any commercial offerings ....

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?438936-DIY-anchor-light

Think it was these leds..

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/visible-leds/8106793/

Any questions fire away :)
 
I just replaced the lamp in my anchor light by just replacing the lamp with an led version. Now used for about 5 yrs, hung up in the bows, powered from a 12v socket. Works well and is bright. The original was on the mast top but removed as it was a bodge(screwed to tri and not working).
 
GHA said:
I did exactly that, well worth the effort, 0.1a and really bright, hopefully will last longer than any commercial offerings ....

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?438936-DIY-anchor-light

Think it was these leds..

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/visible-leds/8106793/

Any questions fire away :)
Click to expand...

Those LEDs have quite a narrow viewing angle, 15 degrees nominal.
Which is OK but you'll need a fair few to get good 360 degree coverage.
40 candela for 20mA is better than the ones I bought years ago though!
 
lw395 said:
Those LEDs have quite a narrow viewing angle, 15 degrees nominal.
Which is OK but you'll need a fair few to get good 360 degree coverage.
40 candela for 20mA is better than the ones I bought years ago though!
Click to expand...

With 15 leds the angle between them is 24deg so there is a bit of banding, though this has its benefits as even in the calmest of anchorages there's enough movement to give the anchor light a bit of twinkle so the eye picks it up a bit better.
And easier to find which boat is yours rowing home from the pub. :)

though it will probably be one of the brightest lights anyway.
 
Thanks for all the replies, will process the options and post back later. The Sun is shining so i'm going to risk an afternoon out on the water :)
 
Used the 5050 Led strip light for my herb jar automatic anchor light. Think it was 12 or 15 Leds all round. Very bright and visible. Easy to replace the short strip if any of the Leds burn out, though that hasn't happened in the last couple of years.
 
PaulRainbow said:
Following on from a recent discussion about masthead and anchor lights i'm going to construct an allround LED light that comes on when it gets dark. This will be fitted to my anchor ball and plugged into a waterproof socket at the bow somewhere. I have power at the bow for the windlass, so not such a big job to fit the socket.

I've purchased a photosensor and have a suitable housing for it all, but i'm not sure of the best way forward for the LED's. There are all manner of LED "bulbs" available. I could coil one of those LED strips in the housing. The housing is 70mm diameter, so i could also make something up with plain LED's.

I want something nice and bright of course. So, any suggestions of what to use/how many to get good brightness ?
Click to expand...

I've used PV LEDs as sold by garden centres for the last 6 years - mind you I anchor about 150 times a year and wouldn't like to spoil your DIY project.
All in one, switch, recharging and waterproof, costing a very few £.
 
So much for a day on the water, a broken throttle cable put paid to that :(

Thanks to everyone who replied, lots of good ideas in there. I realise there are solutions already out there, but i'd like to do my own. I've looked at what everyone has said, including PRV from another thread and i'm going to take some ideas from various posts.

I already have a nice housing. It a cylindrical container with a clip on watertight lid, although i'll make it upside down so the lid becomes the base. I'm going to make a tube up to fit inside the container, with LED strips stuck around the outside of the tube. I have a sensor that will fit inside the tube to turn the light on when it gets dark.

I will fix it to my anchor ball. When i anchor i'll hoist the anchor ball and light using a halyard clipped around the babystay, with a downhaul clipped to the liferaft mountings. When it gets dark the light will come on, in the daylight the ball will be visible.

I have a currently unused switch on my panel marked "anchor light" and there is a redundant coax deck fitting at the mast base. My spares box contains a two pin waterproof deck socket, so i shall fit that at the mast base and wire it to the switch panel (which is fitted with breakers).

I think that'll be a simple project that will make a nice system for anchoring and also give me a power socket on deck that i could use with a 12v light for emergencies on deck.

I'll take a few pick and post a quick write up when i do it.
 
PaulRainbow said:
So much for a day on the water, a broken throttle cable put paid to that :(

Thanks to everyone who replied, lots of good ideas in there. I realise there are solutions already out there, but i'd like to do my own. I've looked at what everyone has said, including PRV from another thread and i'm going to take some ideas from various posts.

I already have a nice housing. It a cylindrical container with a clip on watertight lid, although i'll make it upside down so the lid becomes the base. I'm going to make a tube up to fit inside the container, with LED strips stuck around the outside of the tube. I have a sensor that will fit inside the tube to turn the light on when it gets dark.

I will fix it to my anchor ball. When i anchor i'll hoist the anchor ball and light using a halyard clipped around the babystay, with a downhaul clipped to the liferaft mountings. When it gets dark the light will come on, in the daylight the ball will be visible.

I have a currently unused switch on my panel marked "anchor light" and there is a redundant coax deck fitting at the mast base. My spares box contains a two pin waterproof deck socket, so i shall fit that at the mast base and wire it to the switch panel (which is fitted with breakers).

I think that'll be a simple project that will make a nice system for anchoring and also give me a power socket on deck that i could use with a 12v light for emergencies on deck.

I'll take a few pick and post a quick write up when i do it.
Click to expand...

I did something similar for some turning marker lights for our racing guys when they do night cat racing ans it worked well.

Mine had a pack 8 off 1.5 volt batteries giving 12 volt with a mercury tilt switch to turn them on and off. My lights were also strips of 3 leds glued round a short piece of PVC conduit.

I also updated my lifering lights with these LED's and replaced the D cells with 8 off 1.5 v battery packs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/G4-3014-SMD...hash=item35ebea751c:m:mxTOFbQ2pvfvuTXULtSKyWg
 
Rogershaw said:
I did something similar for some turning marker lights for our racing guys when they do night cat racing ans it worked well.

Mine had a pack 8 off 1.5 volt batteries giving 12 volt with a mercury tilt switch to turn them on and off. My lights were also strips of 3 leds glued round a short piece of PVC conduit.

I also updated my lifering lights with these LED's and replaced the D cells with 8 off 1.5 v battery packs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/G4-3014-SMD...hash=item35ebea751c:m:mxTOFbQ2pvfvuTXULtSKyWg
Click to expand...

I was thinking some of these Roger :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5M-5050-D...639450?hash=item3f51a3f5da:g:3-IAAOSwoydWpeUk
 
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