Masthead nav lights question

wingcommander said:
Also I recall, if converting a white incandescent bulb ( atop mast with coloured lenses) to led , one has to use the correct type of led , warm white iirc. The cool white will produce a non conforming colour through the lenses.
Please double check as I may have got this information from a man in the pub.
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That is true, a warm white led gives the best colours through the tricolour lens.
 
wingcommander said:
Also I recall, if converting a white incandescent bulb ( atop mast with coloured lenses) to led , one has to use the correct type of led , warm white iirc. The cool white will produce a non conforming colour through the lenses.
Please double check as I may have got this information from a man in the pub.
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Boatlamps do a suitable LED replacement and it works very well in my bow and masthead lights.

Navigation Lights: LED Replacement Bulb Information

I just a happy customer with them !
 
I also replaced my incandescent bulbs with LED warm white for colored lensed and cool white to stern, anchor and steaming. giving much increased range
 
doug748 said:
On nav lights in general, I understand Aqua Signal have withdrawn from the market:

"AquaSignal have announced discontinuation of all recreational navigation lights, Series 41, 40 and 25 are no longer manufactured..."
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It appears that at least Aqua Signal series 34, LED based lights for pleasure boats, is still being produced...
Series 34
 
noelex said:
Unfortunately, they ignore many of the issues relevant to ensuring the lights comply with regulations such as the horizontal and vertical dispersion angles.
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When I look at my lights the cut off vertically is very good, the colours good and it is bright. I have never noticed any difference the horizontal plain either.

The other interesting fact is that I managed to fit my masthead light 90 degrees out (don't ask why / how) and I did a fair amount of night sailing with no comments from anyone before I noticed the following year ! Just shows how much notice other boats pay to the lights
 
Boathook said:
When I look at my lights the cut off vertically is very good, the colours good and it is bright. I have never noticed any difference the horizontal plain either.
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That is reassuring. I have seen many that are terrible. The single vertical filament of incandescent globe sitting in the centre of the bulb is completely different to the multiple light emitters spaced from the geometric centre.

If your navigation light looks to have the correct angles, that is a great start, but keep in mind that unless it is less, it is a simple anchor light. It would be very unlikely to pass the required standards. There are too many complex requirements regarding the cut-off angles, the cut-off decay, the colour temperature and emissions etc.
 
noelex said:
That is reassuring. I have seen many that are terrible. The single vertical filament of incandescent globe sitting in the centre of the bulb is completely different to the multiple light emitters spaced from the geometric centre.

If your navigation light looks to have the correct angles, that is a great start, but keep in mind that unless it is less, it is a simple anchor light. It would be very unlikely to pass the required standards. There are too many complex requirements regarding the cut-off angles, the cut-off decay, the colour temperature and emissions etc.
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I get the fancy LED replacements from Boatlamps that have coloured LED's for the sectors. The red looks red, green looks green and the white ... If people are using an old light with crazed lens it possibly doesn't meet any standard apart from maybe cut off angles. I want other boats to see me and hopefully understand the direction that I'm travelling in now the masthead fitting is facing the correct direction (see post 49)
 
noelex said:
Unfortunately, they ignore many of the issues relevant to ensuring the lights comply with regulations such as the horizontal and vertical dispersion angles.
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That may be the case but how obtain do the authorities check the angles and all the regulations.

We have an anuall inspection and with regard to the navigation lights the only item they check is that they work.

No colour, angle, range or other check.

The important thing is that they work and have colours in the specified sectors that are close to the required.

To me the range is the most important such that am approaching vessel can see my navigation as far away as possible.

In the harbour I moor my boat we have tugs that travel in reverse but don't have a reversable navigation lights so are the tugs Complient with the colregs. They should do at all times

Also, what about any skipper or crew that may be colour blind
 
rogerthebodger said:
That may be the case but how obtain do the authorities check the angles and all the regulations.
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They would only check in the unlikely event of an accident involving serious injuries or loss of life at night. The light would need to be sent to one of the accredited testing facilities.
rogerthebodger said:
Also, what about any skipper or crew that may be colour blind
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Yes, this is a concern. Commercial mariners have to pass a colour vision test, but there are no such requirements for recreational boaters in most countries. The range of colour temperatures and spectral distribution for certified lights has been chosen to minimise the confusion for colour-defective observers as much as possible. This gives them the best chance of seeing the light and then judging its colour.

This is one problem with non-certified lights: the colour may look reasonable to a normal observer, and they may not realise that someone with a colour defect may struggle significantly more than they would with a proper certified navigation light.
 
Why do these nav light threads always seem to end up being discussions on technical issues that literally never arise ...

As with Roger ... when Superanne had her full compliance inspection for Latvian Register ... the fact I could switch on / off lights and they appeared to show white / green / red where required - was all that was needed.

The only time I see lights checked for correct angle / dip / colour - is annual Latvian Car inspection ... its that strict that many people have to disconnect their light bars / extra driving lamps / swap out their +headlamp bulbs for standard etc. Even my Range Rover with its left front fog lamp being a couple of degrees out - I pull the fuse on day of inspection.
 
Having seen several blue navigation lights where the incorrect LED white has been used, and poor vertical cut-off angles rendering masthead lights virtually invisible when fairly close, my personal choice in changing to LED was to asses these two details when choosing a replacement for an old incandescent. I can understand these points being brought up in a thread where users may be unaware of these shortfalls and their implications if a change is in the offing.
 
Pye_End said:
Having seen several blue navigation lights where the incorrect LED white has been used, and poor vertical cut-off angles rendering masthead lights virtually invisible when fairly close, my personal choice in changing to LED was to asses these two details when choosing a replacement for an old incandescent. I can understand these points being brought up in a thread where users may be unaware of these shortfalls and their implications if a change is in the offing.
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Isn't it usual human nature to have a reasonable look at the lights after even just a bulb change ? I know I do and many others I know do ..

Switch on .... walk away and have a look see if working ok.

But lets humour this ....

Lets say you have a boat approaching and its under sail ... so only port / stbd lights shown to you ... stbd is a blue tint (doubt it will be full on blue) .. what would you think ... given the glances every so often to ensure passing ... you'd just assume port + stbd lights ?
Under power - then even easier as there would be a white steaming light as well ....

Even if the boat is showing only stbd ... then Rule of Road applies and boats will turn accordingly ...

Blue and green are quite close in the colour spektrum .....

Of course if your boat was being inspected as with Coding / Re-registry such as Latvian etc - then if Inspector sees a blue tint stbd light - he would be amiss not to ask it be corrected.
 
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Refueler said:
Isn't it usual human nature to have a reasonable look at the lights after even just a bulb change ? I know I do and many others I know do ..

Switch on .... walk away and have a look see if working ok.

But lets humour this ....

Lets say you have a boat approaching and its under sail ... so only port / stbd lights shown to you ... stbd is a blue tint (doubt it will be full on blue) .. what would you think ... given the glances every so often to ensure passing ... you'd just assume port + stbd lights ?
Under power - then even easier as there would be a white steaming light as well ....

Even if the boat is showing only stbd ... then Rule of Road applies and boats will turn accordingly ...

Blue and green are quite close in the colour spektrum .....

Of course if your boat was being inspected as with Coding / Re-registry such as Latvian etc - then if Inspector sees a blue tint stbd light - he would be amiss not to ask it be corrected.
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I've seen blue nav lights several times. Not just 'tint', but a light you look at and describe as blue.

Context of lights is everything. I am sure you can think of situations where you can look at a light and think almost straight away 'oh, another blue nav light'. On the other hand, you may be approaching shore with a load of other lights, trying to make sense of shore lights and boat lights, and get it wrong. Incorrect nav lights at best increases thinking time - sometimes distracting your attention that should be elsewhere.
 
mcafzap said:
Most definitely it is NOT easy. The problem is the passband frequency of the light filters and that of the LEDs.
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Oh don't you start as well ...

I've changed various boats lights to LED and had no problem at all .... the trick is getting the right LED's .... cool etc.

You can also change your cars bulbs !! Given that Latvian CSDD Inspection checks light intensity / colour and angles - you'd think by now they would have failed many ?? I know plenty of cars with LED bulbs replacing filament ...
 
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