LED navigation lights
I have been looking into replacing my port and starboard navigation lights
(Aqua Signal series 40) with 2nm LED lights. I find the Attwood 3500 series
and the Aqua Signal 43 series the main contenders. There is a 300%
difference in price between the Attwood and Aqua Signal series. While Aqua
Signal uses 2 LEDs I wonder whether the price is justified.
Has anyone looked into this comparison and if so what was your decision?
Marty Campanella
Bay Pelican KK42
I'm unsure why one would replace navigation lights with LEDs on a trawler,
where there is plenty of power while we are running. Sailboats, yes, but on
a powerboat?
Capt. jeff on Adirondack
On Wed, Jul 24, 2013 at 5:02 AM, Marty Campanella baypelican@gmail.comwrote:
I have been looking into replacing my port and starboard navigation lights
(Aqua Signal series 40) with 2nm LED lights. I find the Attwood 3500
series
and the Aqua Signal 43 series the main contenders. There is a 300%
difference in price between the Attwood and Aqua Signal series. While Aqua
Signal uses 2 LEDs I wonder whether the price is justified.
Has anyone looked into this comparison and if so what was your decision?
Marty Campanella
Bay Pelican KK42
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Mike:
I replaced mine because I was tired of corrosion from bulb sockets. The
LED lights I used are sealed and so far maintenance free.
Frank Burrows 79 43' Viking Piney Narrows Chesapeake Bay
On 7/30/2013 8:00 PM, Tamaroak wrote:
I'm unsure why one would replace navigation lights with LEDs on a trawler,
where there is plenty of power while we are running. Sailboats, yes, but on
a powerboat?
On 7/30/2013 8:00 PM, Tamaroak wrote:
I'm unsure why one would replace navigation lights with LEDs on a trawler,
where there is plenty of power while we are running. Sailboats, yes, but on
a powerboat?
Here's a partial list:
-
Sealed units are essentially maintenance-free when properly
installed, with no sockets or connectors to corrode. -
LEDs typically last in excess of 40,000 hours, meaning that other
than maybe hosing off the lens occasionally, once they are installed you
will not likely need to touch them again. -
A much brighter light can be installed at the end of existing wires
originally designed for incandescents. Alternatively, if one is having
to replace or add wiring (due to lamp relocation, previous damage,
etc.), much smaller gauge can be used for the required intensity. (As a
side note here, I will say that, if nav light brightness is any
indication, many boats with incandescent lights are using wire gauge
inadequate for the length of run. LEDs make this sort of voltage drop
problem mostly a thing of the past. Subjectively, our LEDs appear much
brighter than most other boats around us.) -
LED colors are a function of the underlying technology, not a film,
dye, gel, or other colorant which can degrade over time. 20-year-old
LEDs will be exactly the same red and green colors as when they were
brand new. By contrast I've seen some older boats where the sidelights
were approaching a uniform yellow, with but a slight reddish or greenish
cast to distinguish port from starboard. -
Lastly, even on a power boat, electrical power is not unlimited. If
you are relying on a fairly small engine alternator to recharge a good
size battery bank between anchorages, there is a good chance you will
arrive at your next stop with something less than a full charge. In
that case, those two pre-dawn hours where you ran your, say, 120 watts
of incandescent lights cost you 20 amp-hours of battery charge, whereas
LEDs, at perhaps five percent the draw, would have cost you but one.
FWIW.
-Sean
m/y Vector
lying Deltaville, VA
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com
I have been watching LED lighting technology evolve over the past few years,
even attended a full day seminar at an electronics components trade show in
San Jose on the state of the device technology and how to properly drive
them for maximum efficiency and power/heat dissipation. It is improving.
But! I was running an 80 ton vessel down the West Coast last year in the
typical fog bank/marine layer that frequents that coast. I picked up a
target ahead around 0200hrs that was very intermittent and the computer
refused to track until just a few miles out. Once acquired it resolved a CPA
a few hundred yards to port and very steady so no course change required. My
vessel had the large running lights (6 or more inches tall) with 24v
incandescent bulbs. Less than 1/4 mile ahead the skipper of that 20
something foot sailboat executes a sharp turn to port, 45+ deg. I surmise
that waking up he sees ALL of my running lights in the mist and panics. The
Furuno is tracking everything solid at this point and I went to "all stop".
Watching the computer from the wheelhouse wing for best visibility in the
fog, I'm looking for lights, nothing. He holds his new course and he passes
on the stbd side. It wasn't until he was dead off the beam that I could see
his running lights and the unmistakable monochromatic color of LED lights,
even then it was the glow. You couldn't actually make out the bulbs
themselves. Estimating distances, he saw my lights at 8 to 10 times the
range I saw his. According to the "tonnage rule", he was on the wrong end of
40 to 60:1, his lucky day.
LED's have come a long way since their first use as indicator lights on
instrument panels in the 70's but for running/nav lights, I don't know if
they're there yet. If your application calls for LED, pay as much as you can
for them and test them yourself. Remember, they are current devices, not
voltage. Yes, they have to be the right voltage for the circuit but the
semiconductor P-N junction that is actually emitting the photons is all
about current once the junction is forward biased. The other components you
see there with the LED are making the 1.5v to 6v LED (junction) work with
the 12v, 24v, or whatever voltage the bulb is spec'd for. All of the marine
industry spec's I've seen have been, at the very least, shall we say,
"optimistic".
Special note for the large number of devices available labeled as 8-32v
devices. It's been a few months since I've last scanned the rack at
Svendsen's in Alameda... if I see a new product there I'll bring one home to
test with a variable power supply. They are disappointingly dull at the 8v
target of their spec and not much better at 12v or 13.8v either. They need
to improve their conversion circuit or break out the product line into 12 or
24. Basically, if you're buying any of the 8-32v products for use on a 12v
vessel you're getting a quarter to a third of what your paying for.
For those with HF radio equipped vessels, these LED products are a great
source of RF interference. I discovered this on a large sailboat I did some
electrical/electronic work. If you're trying to pull in a distant signal,
you'll have to turn off the lights for certain frequencies. This will occur
with an LED device that uses a DC-DC convertor or any oscillator type
circuit to get the voltage down from DC Mains to the PN junction voltage for
the device. Perhaps a lighting manufacturer is unaware of the FCC Part 15
requirements for any circuit that oscillates above 9000Hz, even if it
doesn't have a crystal? I'm sure someone will let them know :)
Capt. Jim
MISS EM, Santa Cruz
Captain Jim Fuller
Delivery Captain &
Marine Electronics
P.O. Box 1620
Los Gatos, CA 95031-1620