ok, so how do i switch it on at night only ?

Re:darlington Pair

this a response from the triton led company:

Simon,

Many thanks for your email.

My German technical man (Jo) and manufacturer says that a light switch probably uses more power than the LED anchor light.

What might be an idea for lights that need to be left on for months is to buy a solar panel that will charge up the battery than powers the anchor light!

We are planning a bolt on light switch, but that is a few months away. But as said it will increase power use and reduces the advantage of the low power LED lights.

Regards

Mark Johnson
 
[ QUOTE ]
I think you need to understand a bit more about the technology, it isn't very complicated.

[/ QUOTE ]
Err, umm you appear to be somewhat of a supercilious prat by the look of things as I do understand the technology, else I wouldn't have made the statements I did, would I?

The fact is you dismissed fresnel lenses from their application to navigation lights and you were completely in error doing so. When you make incorrect claims and dress them up in science as you did you can expect someone who knows what they are talking about to correct you.

You remind me very much of a new crew member we appointed who we discovered too late was an alcoholic - would never admit to his problem nor his errors, and if in error changed the point of the argument away from his original claim in order to try to get in the clear. In the end we had to dismiss him from the crew and put him on a plane home as he was both a nuisance and a danger to us all /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.
 
Hurling insults at me isn't going to change the fact that using a strong Fresnel lens to squeak through the visibility (range) requirement isn't the way to go.....apologies to Davis if I have misunderstood their data, but that's how it appears.

A high efficiency LED on 24/7 with enough solar to power it makes a lot of sense; the capital cost is lower, there is less to go wrong, and you can't forget to turn it on. BUT - you must remember to turn if off when leaving the anchorage. I think that boat manufacturers could do more to interlock or (better still) provide a warning when inconsistent lighting is selected.
 
So you are now agreeing, while trying to avoid actually agreeing /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif, that fresnel lenses are acceptable, in fact used by most (probably all) quality navigation lights?

Also, if you had taken the time to follow up properly the Davis link that the other poster kindly provided before dismissing it, you would have found that the light linked to uses LEDs (and, in fact, two different power clusters are offered). So you were indeed also wrong in assuming that they used "a low power tungsten bulb" and "a strong Fresnel lens to squeak through the visibility (range) requirement".

Their use of LEDs may or may not raise the issue as to whether they comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, and somehow I am sure you will soon be raising it /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif, but that does not change the facts about the suitability of fresnel lenses for navigation lights.

Bedtime for me now, have a nice day.
 
Speaking of Fresnel Lenses. One of my little joys in night sailinng is to pass one particular spit post which has a green flashing navigation light mounted about 3 metres above the water. From a distance from the light of about 5 metres you can see the light from the fresnel lens fall on the sail. It is very a clearly defined band about 1 metre wide.

The beam is so narrow in elevation that while you can still see the light up close from a small boat, it is vastly brighter from a distance.

Now I am sure there are fresnel lens that are sharp and others that are not so sharp.

I have however always wondered why we don't have nav lights specifically for sail boats that wil give a usefull coverage when the boat is at 30 degrees of heel.

However we would hope that a boat at anchor is reasonably stable and so perhaps a fresnel lens or LED array directional in elevation would be quite suitable. olewill
 
Before you get too carried away with your claims about the Davis light I would like to know how you are sure that they use LEDs these days. The clusters shown as other products are not listed as replacements for the Anchor light bulbs and if they are the ones you refer to they are not suitable as the LEDs are mounted with their directional output in line with the socket whereas for use in their MegaLight they would need to be mounted at 90deg to the socket.
I have a Davis "MegaLight" which was supplied with 2 bulbs about 4 yrs ago, one of 1W and the other the more typical 10W. Maybe they have an LED version now but I don't see it on their website.
BTW I found the 1W version with auto on/off to be very effective for my purposes when Med Cruising/Anchoring and yes Lemain, I did switch it off at the power board when not at anchor.
Ray
 
Hi Gypsy

They certainly did use tungsten bulbs - the last one I saw in use was on a large yacht in an anchorage where it was hung low down over the foredeck (but with masthead all round light also on, of course).

I don't have access to a recent one direct from Davis to double check for sure if that is still so if bought direct from them. However, the Davis Mega-Lights are readily available off the shelf new with LED clusters - for example Stecktronics produce and sell the whole new Davis unit so fitted as a standard product.

In your own case where you have one but it is tungsten bulb fitted you will find that LED clusters are available targeted specifically for them. Again, whether those meet the specification of the ColRegs for all round lights I don't know, but I suspect that many so called complying lights on small pleasure boats do not, either from new or because of lens degradation from aging.
 
Gypsy - I have been able to follow up this morning with the crew member who looked at these some months ago. For a bit of background we had seen one of these lights on another boat (and that definitely had a LED cluster in it and was pretty bright - sorry Lemain we did not get all anal over EXACTLY how bright /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif) when we were looking at something to put on the RIB at night run off its battery when hanging off our stern, but in the end decided that the cord type Davis anchor light would just end up getting lost.

Anyway he said he just went to the site the other boat had suggested and also found a couple of others that supply the Davis unit new with a LED cluster. The cost was well under $100.

The LED cluster as best he could remember was a thickish disc with the voltage control in it with the LEDs facing out in a ring around the perimeter for the all round requirement. Not sure what you meant when you said a cluster could not be fitted inside (unless thinking of the vertical filament of a tungsten bulb and the all round requirement) but it definitely fitted into the standard bayonet and still had the light activated switch in the fitting. Replacement clusters were also available for retrofitting or replacement.

That may be of help.
 
Thanks for digging deeper. It sounds like others have taken LED clusters and used them in the Davis housing/lens. It could be a good solution if Davis don't offer them with LEDs. The key point is that the LEDs you have described are mounted to illuminate at 90deg to the axis of the bulb socket. Given the light output of LEDs I would expect them to be brighter than the incandesant bulb for the same current. Maybe I will try one. I need to check that the LEDs are in much the same focus plane as the incandesant filament. All good fun. BTW, although the lead from the Davis is a bit of a pain, I could use it as a cockpit table light hanging inside the bimini when not used as an anchor light but eventually made a bracket and mounted it permanently above the bimini as my anchor light.
Ray
 
Had a very quick google search today and as well as the supplier I mentioned before, Cruising Solutions do the Davis light with LED's too. Probably others as well. There are photos showing them illuminated and compared to the non LED version as well as showing the clusters themselves.

From some other threads around at the moment it seems there are few or no other reasonable quality solar switched all round lights available. Maybe there is a business opportunity there for someone /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif?
 
Thanks for the info about Cruising Solutions. I like their LEDs for replacements in cabin lights too, I hadn't see them for the horizontal socket lights before - but I hadn't looked much either as when there are only 2 of us on board and it's daylight saving our current budget for lighting is not high. The LEDs for anchor lights look great too. The MegaLight version is stated to be a "retrofit" at $80 whilst the light itself is $47 from Davis. It is not clear if Cruising Solutions include the light fitting for $80 but I am assuming they do. Anyway, I am sure they would clarify that quickly enough for a buyer.
Ray
 
I think it may be $80 for the whole thing as I had wondered the same, but then saw that Stecktronics are very clear that theirs is $80 for the complete Mega-Light with LED's and forty something dollars for just the LED's to retrofit.

As you say, easy enough to clarify with them though.
 
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