Looking for sealed LED dan buoy light

whipper_snapper

whipper_snapper

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I am looking for a light to put on top of the dan buoy and I am darned if I can find anything suitable.

It should be sealed so we can fit and forget, LED seems sensible technology for this application, activated by yanking a lanyard as the danbuoy goes overboard.

The existing one is perfect from the activation point of view - it has a clip with an embedded magnet that pings off when pulled so activating the light. But it has a cheapo leaky housing with a conventional bulb that falls out periodically.

I have looked at life-jacket lights but they all seem to activate on immersion - no use for a light on top of a 6 foot pole, or activated by twisting - very difficult to achieve by the action of chucking a dan-buoy overboard.


This must be a common requirement - any suggestions ?


Thanks
 
I wonder if Bebi would be interested in entering this market? They are serious about reliable bright LEDs, and very serious about waterproofing (even their cabin lights are potted in solid resin and guaranteed for at least an hour under a metre of seawater), but as far as I know they don't really have much to do with batteries.

Pete
 
whipper_snapper said:
I am looking for a light to put on top of the dan buoy and I am darned if I can find anything suitable.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I have a collection of stuff on my desk waiting for me to build my own. I have only just acquired the the last piece, the switch. One of us dropped my keyring in the rain a few weeks ago and came into the house with a red flashing balloon where once had been a WaterBuoy Floatation Device. No I didn't know they had a bright red flashing light in the balloon either, lasted 4 days on the hall table.

The light unit is really neat with a spring loaded switch that can be activated by a sliver of plastic tied off to the float so it makes when you extend the pole. The LED is powered by 2 small watch cells, it is about the size of ........................sod it, I have my video cam here, I have taken a pic

light-from-waterbuoy.jpg


If you are interested I will post back to show how I get on.

I am so impressed with the light that lit the whole hall and stairs as it flashed, I am seriously thinking of putting them on our lifejackets as the lights fitted (seawater activated) are now out of date. They could be fitted to float behind the body, or the keyring held aloft to attract attention. Although I have a boat rule that says we always carry a snap stick in our oilskins to attract attention if needed.
 
These would be ideal, except the switch will be hard to adapt.[/QUOTE]

I have the same concern - the light on my plastimo danbuoy would not even attract a midge on a clear night, let alone be seen in an emergency:mad:. I found your thread trail and thought the "Replacement Module with 5 White LEDs" module from your on-line supplier looked a good bet. Emailed the supplier, he confimed it is the same light module as in the USCG approved unit, has the flashing capability built in and gave me the sizes of this module - should physically fit into the Plastimo light fitting!

So I have ordered one of these LED Replacement Modules; it will doubtless require a bit of wiring and jiggery pokery to make it fit into the plastimo plastic housing, but I will let you know how I get on. The plastimo unit has a magnetic reed switch arrangement which I will reuse.
 
Well, all seems to work! As promised - some photos of the results.

I bought one of the LED Replacement Modules from the US supplier (could not find a UK equivalent) - this was the expensive bit as postage costs more than the LED fitting!

It was slightly too big for the original plastimo base moulding, but some work with a round file solved that. Also, the outer diameter was slightly too big for the screw-on lens, but some delicate work with a small belt sander sorted that. I had to open up the module to directly solder the wires to the LED unit pcb.

I wired the unit incorporating the original reed switch so removing the plastic clamp activates the LED unit. I bought a 1.5 AA cell battery holder from Maplin.

It seems to work well, the LED lights are very bright, far better than the original lamp fitting. A fair comparison is perhaps between an old type bike lamp compared to the modern flashing LED units which certainly get your attention:)

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West Coast said:
Well, all seems to work! As promised - some photos of the results.

I bought one of the LED Replacement Modules from the US supplier (could not find a UK equivalent) - this was the expensive bit as postage costs more than the LED fitting!

It was slightly too big for the original plastimo base moulding, but some work with a round file solved that. Also, the outer diameter was slightly too big for the screw-on lens, but some delicate work with a small belt sander sorted that. I had to open up the module to directly solder the wires to the LED unit pcb.

I wired the unit incorporating the original reed switch so removing the plastic clamp activates the LED unit. I bought a 1.5 AA cell battery holder from Maplin.

It seems to work well, the LED lights are very bright, far better than the original lamp fitting. A fair comparison is perhaps between an old type bike lamp compared to the modern flashing LED units which certainly get your attention:)

View attachment 11711

View attachment 11712

View attachment 11713

View attachment 11714
Click to expand...
Hello,

I have the same plastimo IOR dan buoy and light. Have you tried the light at night to see if it has 360° vertical and horizontal visibility. Does it flash as it is or did you have to modify something ?
I will do the same as you and use a litium battery that lasts longer and works when very cold.
Thank you for your great job and reply.
I wonder why plastimo sticks to its stone age **** ?

Denis
S/Y Hibernia
 
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