What shade of red nail varnish should I use?

[FullCircle]

....to paint my recently fitted Night Navigation cabin lighting bulbs?

I dint want to end up too gloomy, but neither do I want it fading quickly.

Any suggestions for a better coating on the bulbs? They are standard 12v bayonets.

Cheers

Jim

 

[phatcat1]

Google red 12v bulbs

You should be able to buy them already coated.

Failing that, try Estee Lauder "Scratches down his back" red!

or poofy pink pussy pink!

 

[DRANNIE]

I heard it should be blue as prolonged exposure to red light damages your retina or is that an old wives tale?

 

[Twister_Ken]

Know any blind ladies-of-the-night?

 

[jhr]

[ QUOTE ]
Know any blind ladies-of-the-night?

[/ QUOTE ]
No, but that's because, in the words of Gerard Hoffnung in his advice to foreign tourists, "All London brothels display a blue light outside". /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Parsonsheath]

I suppose to close the poll you should ask about blind coppers?

 

[old_salt]

There is an engineers marking out prep.
It is obtainable from Engineers suppliers and merchants.
"Called Tinterlight" It is an old prep and may have been up dated but they should still be able to help.

 

[DanTribe]

I think you should really consult a colour consutant specialist to ensure that the shade reflects your personality image. You don't want it to clash with your lipstick.
Alternatively, save the red wrappers from Quality Street.

 

[VicS]

I found nail varnish rather ineffective, but maybe I needed a darker shade. So try the deepest colour you can find.

As an alternative what about the lens repair tape that you can get for repairing car tail light lenses. You won't be able to put it on the bulbs but you may be able to use it on the lens, as I have done to make a red compass illumination light. It takes several layers though.

Red bulbs are, I am sure, available for car tail lights but they may not have the correct fitting for your lights.

Red LEDs are another posibility. Try the Ultraleds web site and I notice in the new Compass24.com catalogue there are red LED cabin lights, at a price!

 

[shmoo]

Our local craft shop sells colored gel for making faux stained glass windows. A roll of the red, about 500mm wide and meters long, cost a couple of quid. Remove the outer glass of the light fitting and poke some inside.

The next step is to pair up the lights: one white and one red with a master "rig for red" switch on the main panel to plunge the whole boat into workmanlike red at the flick of a single switch.

 

[Becky]

You would be far better painting the glass than the bulb.

Alternatively why not get a red glass for the port side.

You haven't asked about the s'bord side. Is that because you have't found any green nail polish?

Best to get LED bulbs.

As an aside I heard them described on Radio 4 today as 'low electricity demand' bulbs, in a discussion about reducing electricity demand by using economy bulbs.

 

[BrendanS]

You can get special bulb paints, which are designed to resist the temperatures

eg
scroll down to bulb paint

 

[Searush]

I fitted an amber indicator repeater lense to a flexible stalk map light for my chart light. It worked a treat & cost nowt as they were taken off an dud car just before I scrapped it.

Be careful reading your charts in a "funny" colour tho', it can affect how easy it is to see some features. Amber is a good colour for seeing your way around the cabin and has minimal effect on my night sight.

 

[FullCircle]

ooh I like the sparkly LEDs!

Unfortunately, I dont have a lens on the lamp fitment, so it has to be a red bulb.

Thanks for the replies all.

 

[billcowan]

I read somewhere that the fact that it needed to be red was just an old wives tale. what is important is that it is dimmer.

ie, a dim white light is just ad unblinding than a dim red one. and as stated safer for reading charts.

Photo dark rooms always had red lights, because B&W film was less sensitive to red light.

 

[Woodlouse]

This is what Wikipedia has to say. Not an old wives tale after all.
[ QUOTE ]
In biological night vision, molecules of rhodopsin in the rods of the eye undergo a change in shape as light is absorbed by them. The peak rhodopsin build-up time for optimal night vision in humans is 30 minutes, but most of the adaptation occurs within the first five or ten minutes in the dark. Rhodopsin in the human rods is insensitive to the longer red wavelengths of light, so many people use red light to preserve night vision as it will not deplete the eye's rhodopsin stores in the rods and instead is viewed by the cones.

[/ QUOTE ]