Replacement masthead LED bulbs

[ScallywagII]

In preparation for extended cruising I wanted to fit a bright masthead tricolour. Some sealed units were available at a frightening price, so I opted for an aquasignal unit and replaced the bulb with a 50 LED tricolour unit. 3.5W for a brighter light than the 25W incandescent bulb does wonders for the electicty budget. In order to line up the coloured LEDs with their respective coloured lenses, a spider type light fitting was included. The lifetime of the bulb is claimed to be 50,000 hours.

View attachment 16509

After 200 hours the light failed, firstly the green and white dropped out and then the next night there was no red either. It turned out there was nothing wrong with the bulb, but the replacement holder was the problem. I bought another and had it sent to Cape Verde, but the holder on the new one was broken. After a clean up, it did last across the Atlantic but fell apart soon after. My next e-mail to the chandler was returned because their inbox was full. Fortunately I had kept the original bulb and holder and had them sent to St Lucia. I then dropped the mast, modifed the holder to align correctly and put it up again.

It would have been a lot easier and cheaper to fit a NASA unit, but I was not aware of them at the time. If you have one of these replacements, test the holder with a magnet. If it is mild steel like mine, it will rust and it will fail.

 

[BlackPig]

I put a nassa led unit just above the incandescent tricolour. I use the led most of the time but if I need that little extra both can go on. The nassa did not do well in the heel test in PBO

 

[Pye_End]

The nassa did not do well in the heel test in PBO

This is the main reason that I have so far been put off going for masthead LED nav lights. At the boat show they look so bright at eye level, but look from 30 dregees underneath and they are all very disappointing. Would have thought that they could angle some of the LEDs to cover this problem.

Have instead put the cash and effort into good power generation (solar panel + smart charging).

 

[LinwoodKellon]

I opted for an aquasignal unit and replaced the bulb with a 50 LED tricolour unit. 3.5W for a brighter light than the 25W incandescent bulb does wonders for the electicty budget. In order to line up the coloured LEDs with their respective coloured lensesI opted for an aquasignal unit and replaced the bulb with a 50 LED tricolour unit. 3.5W for a brighter light than the 25W incandescent bulb does wonders for the electicty budget. In order to line up the coloured LEDs with their respective coloured lenses

 

[Boreades]

Re "replaced the bulb with a 50 LED tricolour unit."
How's it doing?

Eurospars in Plymouth just quoted me £259.21 + VAT for a new AquaSignal masthead tricolour. Re using a replacement LED bulb, they say "I have had customers supply us in the past with these and it hasn't lasted very long."

- so very interested in any feedback on the durability of this cheaper option.

 

[RobbieH]

This is the main reason that I have so far been put off going for masthead LED nav lights. At the boat show they look so bright at eye level, but look from 30 dregees underneath and they are all very disappointing. Would have thought that they could angle some of the LEDs to cover this problem.

Have instead put the cash and effort into good power generation (solar panel + smart charging).

I have a lopolite tricolour - has been good for 4 years so far. Still acceptably bright at off horizontal angles. Expensive but (in my experience at least) a good piece of kit.

The issue with incandescent tricolour is a/ power usage and b/ what do you do if the filament goes in the middle of the night. Good power generation solves a/ but not b/. Climbing the mast at sea is never fun - doubly not fun at night.

I have the LED tricolour/anchor combo (the lopolite) plus incandescent masthead (at spreaders) and port/stbd/stern (at deck level).

If the LED tricolour goes AWOL for any reason (it did once because I trusted someone elses **** wiring) I just switch to the deck level lights (without switching on the masthead light). I suppose you would do same but in my experience so far it is more likely for a incandescent filament to fail than a LED system (supposing it is properly engineered).

 

[Pye_End]

I have a lopolite tricolour -.........

Whenever I have mulled over Lopolights at the boat shows they seem very bright, until you start squatting down on your knees to change the angle, and they all but disappear. I have yet to see one in use from a distance to see how they perform in practice, so find it very difficult to really comment. However my fears also seem to be bourne out by the studdies that YM do. If you look at the most recent (http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/fileBank/PDF/led_table_part_two.pdf) the Lopolight really drops off at 25% - virtually a third of its greatest brightness. Something like the Perko 0170 (which I have on my bow) still has well over half at the same angle. When I am beating I very easily get to 30 degrees or more - perhaps a 'saucer shaped boat' heels less and so is less of an issue. That is without taking into account any extra angle induced by ships bridges being higher.

Having said all that, I would still like to see how they perform in practice, and remain open minded.

Concerning your point about longevity of bulb/backup lights, I took the view that I wanted a completely independant alternative to nav light failure. It was a good thing that I did as my masthead tricolour was knocked completely off the top of the mast. In 20 plus years of coastal sailing I have replaced the bulb twice, but have never found this a chore or inconvenience.

When coastal sailing I have also never found the necessity to save the amps. However, next time I take on the Jester (or similar) my views have changed (for various reasons) - I will want to look to using LED nav lights for the trip!

 

[ScallywagII]

Re "replaced the bulb with a 50 LED tricolour unit."
How's it doing?

Eurospars in Plymouth just quoted me £259.21 + VAT for a new AquaSignal masthead tricolour. Re using a replacement LED bulb, they say "I have had customers supply us in the past with these and it hasn't lasted very long."

- so very interested in any feedback on the durability of this cheaper option.

For me the problem with the 50 LED replacement bulb was just the holder they supplied. See the picture with the first post of the holder which gave trouble by the Canaries, and fell apart in the Carribean. Fortunately waiting 3 weeks in St Lucia for the original holder to arrive in the post was no hardship, but in different circumstances could have been a real headache. When I put the original aquasignal holder back, after modifying to align the bulbs with the lenses, it worked fine. We returned across the Atlantic, no problems, and 2 years later it is still working fine. The intention in my original post was to warn against using the replacement bulb holder supplied with the 50 LED bulbs. Regards the performance when heeled, I haven't tried to measure it, but judging by the red and green seagulls that fly past, I think it is pretty good for the angles of heel that I have experienced.

I have also picked up a LED bicolour which will be fitted to provide a low energy alternative if and when the masthead unit fails again. I got a white multi-LED bulb which I fitted in the stern light. I swapped two bags of tea in Cape Verde for that.

Len

 

[prv]

I have an AquaSignal housing with the Bebi LED light in it. The LED unit goes in with superglue and cable ties (belt and braces) so no springloaded metal bits to fall apart. The electrical connection is a six-inch length of wire coming out of the solid block of epoxy that forms the light - solder that to the wire in the mast and then cover the joint with adhesive-lined heatshrink and you have a completely waterproof reliable connection, much better than pin contacts as used for old-fashioned bulbs.

There's a testimonial on their site from someone who was unfortunately dismasted - but did note that until they cut the cables away, the light was burning happily a mast-length underwater.

Pete