Masthead tricolour LED suggestions and a dead lopolight

William_H said:
A current sensing device is what you need to provide an alarm for masthead light failure.
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Strangely enough, when my Lopolight failed it was still registering current on the meter. They draw so little anyway that a device may not be all that much use. It is a problem though: from the cockpit I cannot see the light and have to rely on a reflection from the Hawk.
 
Ex-SolentBoy said:
I am sure Lopo are quite capable of sending your replacement to whatever address you happen to nominate. They did that for me and it came within a couple of days of filling out their warranty claim form.

To me that is a reason to stay with the same manufacturer, not change!
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Robbie has a valid point about cruising, though. In some places an overnight delivery can take up to a month and you still have to find it and possibly pay a load of duty when it when it does.

Possibly an argument towords spares and mast steps for cruising more than against LED mastheads :)
 
When I refit mine I intend using the cherry picker that is available locally in Leros. Installing the Lopolight is certainly more demanding than changing a bulb in a standard unit and I doubt if I could do it standing on steps or my Mast Climb. Hopefully the second one will last as long as their promotional material suggests and I won't have to do it again.
 
I'd stick with Lopolight.

Since initial installation I've had to replace all three deck level lights once and the masthead anchor/tri twice. In the first instance of failure my claim was handled enirely to my satisfaction by IMP-UK. Subsequent claims were made directly to Lopolight through their website. Again, entirely to my satisfaction, particularly as Lopolight were happy to ship to various obscure locations around the Mediterranean at no cost to myself. I did notice that each replacement embodied improvements, such as tails instead of terminals, so hopefully the product is now reliable.
O.K, I've had to go up the mast a few more times than anticipated, but I don't suppose I'm any the worse for it.

Incidentally, at the suggestion of IMP-UK, I ensured that the Lopolights were fed by a "regulated" electrical source. Not a requirement, just as a precaution.

So, despite several failures I'm going to stick with Lopolight, secure in the knowledge should I have a problem in the future, based on past evidence it will be resolved with courtesy and efficiency and at no further cost to myself.
 
Slow_boat said:
I don't recall ever having an old fashioned masthead lightbulb go so I think I'll just keep the one I've got, replace the feed wire, clean up the connections, change the bulb and vaseline the lot.

It's not as if I sail much at night and I have a plug in anchor light as a spare anyway.
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One of the driving forces for my change to a Lopolight was the unreliability of the connections to the bulb. After going up the mast several times in a season with a strip of abrasive paper I bought a complete new unit, only to find that the new one was little better. I was going up the mast a couple of times per year, and recall crossing from Barcelona to Mallorca under anchor light when the tricolour bulb would not light once again.
 
My Lopolight failed and they replaced it under warranty and I was very impressed with the service. They were most insistent that I fit voltage regulators (IIRC they supplied them with the new light). These were a bit of a fiddle, needing to be fitted somewhere near the base of the mast (I am keel stepped) but Lopolight said that it would improve the reliability.
 
Puggy said:
My Lopolight failed and they replaced it under warranty and I was very impressed with the service. They were most insistent that I fit voltage regulators (IIRC they supplied them with the new light). These were a bit of a fiddle, needing to be fitted somewhere near the base of the mast (I am keel stepped) but Lopolight said that it would improve the reliability.
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This is one of the things that bothers me about Lopo - its a premium product yet we're (still?) asked to fit voltage regulators separately (payment for those is to some extent irrelevant). Surely a premium product would have appropriate voltage regulation built in to the sealed unit ?
 
Puggy said:
My Lopolight failed and they replaced it under warranty and I was very impressed with the service. They were most insistent that I fit voltage regulators (IIRC they supplied them with the new light). These were a bit of a fiddle, needing to be fitted somewhere near the base of the mast (I am keel stepped) but Lopolight said that it would improve the reliability.
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How long ago was that? My replacement arrived about two months ago, with no mention of any regulator requirement. I doubt very much that my original one failed due to over-voltage, as I was always very careful to turn it off before running the engine.
 
My boat has a wind charger that runs all night when we are sailing. System voltage gets up to around 13.5. That should be OK shouldn't it? Alternators take it up to 14V.

I also have an SSB which was used shortly before we noticed the failed light (but not with the light switched on), I wonder if that was it, although the antenna is completely separate from the mast and standing rigging.
 
vyv_cox said:
How long ago was that? My replacement arrived about two months ago, with no mention of any regulator requirement. I doubt very much that my original one failed due to over-voltage, as I was always very careful to turn it off before running the engine.
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January 2012 I think
 
whipper_snapper said:
...I also have an SSB which was used shortly before we noticed the failed light (but not with the light switched on), I wonder if that was it, although the antenna is completely separate from the mast and standing rigging.
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Interesting observation - I'm going to start a new thread on transient voltages to see if the forum experts have any comment
 
I get the impression that the general advice now is that deck level nav lights are more visible, at least to the big b***ers that you really don't want a bump with!
So as with LEDs power consumption is no problem, why not just stick with the deck lights? Why have a mast-top tri at all?
My boat hasn't got a tricolour. My first thought was to fit one, my second thought was to change the deck ones for LED. Why not?
Genuine question not a troll!
 
Troubadour said:
I get the impression that the general advice now is that deck level nav lights are more visible, at least to the big b***ers that you really don't want a bump with!
So as with LEDs power consumption is no problem, why not just stick with the deck lights? Why have a mast-top tri at all?
My boat hasn't got a tricolour. My first thought was to fit one, my second thought was to change the deck ones for LED. Why not?
Genuine question not a troll!
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Maybe inshore in calmish weather, but doesn't take much swell for deck nav lights to disappear every time the boat is in the trough of a wave.
 
dunmor said:
:confused:what exactly does this do??:confused:
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Attach to the boat battery and you can have a stabilized voltage anywhere between 1.5v & 26v at 1a. I've been using one to power a usb hub at 5v, have some other bits i need 9v for and you could send a constant 12v to a LED light if you wanted. Regardless of the voltage of the batteries.
 
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