Aqua Signal

[Orion Jim]

Just bought a series 25 anchor light. No directions on how to open the darn thing. The base does not unscrew, neither does the top. It must snap off since there sre no screws but I'm afraid of forcing the base off to find it is the top which should pop off and end up with a new piece of junk. l know this sounds dumb but it has no instructions as to the lamp removal/replacement. I'd appreciate any help.

[daddle]

Good one! From Google, indirectly:

http://www.stecktronics.com/docs/series25allaround.pdf

Implies the base separates from the lens and lid assembly. Maybe a little twist and lift? I'll Google some more.

[Pete7]

Jim, as Daddle says and its about a quarter turn.

Pete

[senormechanico]

It may help a little to push down slightly when turning.

[Orion Jim]

I got the nerve to give it a firm twist and got the base off without destroying the unit. Every subsequent try was much easier. There must have been an initial stiffness to overcome. Thanks fella's!

[senormechanico]

Jim,

Before you reinstall it, give it a coating of teflon lubricant or similar.
It'll make it easier next time.

[Microship]

Yah, they're not big on documentation, and the packaging is bizarre at times. In 2009 I blogged this:

It's the most astonishingly fragile assembly I've ever seen in this product space, and the instructions are useless.

Apparently, they expect this to stay rooted to the harsh stern environment with only a little expanding plastic bushing on one side, and nothing on the other but the friction of the wire-exit tube. Behind the gasket, it is potted; there is no mounting base (the substrate is actually very well-made and substantial, but I suspect drilling an extra mounting hole is not what they had in mind). I'm suspicious of the wire exit, which appears to have a capillary path to the interior... though when I peek inside, I suspect there is enough potting.

Short of bonding this in place with 3M 4200, which may be the best move, I was so convinced that I was missing some intended mounting scheme that I even posted to Cruisers Forum in the hopes that I'd be derisively pointed to an obvious RTFM-ish solution. No such luck. Other people have been gluing them on as well. Not quite sure what the company was thinking, but despite excellent light output, I cannot recommend these.

-- and there's a follow up with photo about halfway down the page here:

Nomadness: The Zen of Geeky Boat Projects

Cheers,
Steve