LED Bulbs Invalidate Insurance

[barnakiel]

" ...Coloured light fittings designed to use filament bulbs are not suitable for LEDs, claim the Cruising Association’s Regulation and Technical Services team (RATS), and therefore in the event of an incident could invalidate insurance. ..."

Misleading as it applies to white LEDs in tri-colour fittings.

You can read more at e.g. the noon site.

Cheers,
b.

[Dulcesuenos]

Interesting, we had bought cool white led bulbs at the boat show">Miami boat show thought we got a great deal . Even pulled the glass covers to help w heat,, 3 almost caught fire the rest looked scorched. Went with twice as expensive high quality led bulbs and they are cool to the touch

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[a64pilot]

If LED's are generating lots of heat, they can't be very efficient, plus the safety aspect.

[Dulcesuenos]

Even though they got that hot the 6 bulbs still drew less amps than 2 reg bulbs

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[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

Even though they got that hot the 6 bulbs still drew less amps than 2 reg bulbs

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Interesting, because I was under the impression that reason LED's were more efficient, was the lack of heat.
Heat requires an enormous amount of power, so heat is a very wasteful use of our electrical power. I'm surprised they could overheat like that and draw so little power

[DeepFrz]

An article on heat produced by LED.
Fact or Fiction – LEDs don’t produce heat - LEDs

[goat]

I'm reading that to mean 'buy the whole fixture rather than just exchange bulb for bulb'. The manufacturer can engineer the housing to match the bulb's output, not so much with a swap. I think most people would do that for their running lights but probably not with their cabin lighting. I wonder if that voids insurance as well.

goat

[a64pilot]

I know high power LED's do produce significant heat, Primary lights used in cave diving must be in the water to be used, or they will overheat, some automatically cut back on the light output to keep from burning up, but these ain't bayonet style led's meant to replace a 12W bulb either.
I think my Marine Beam LED's seem to pull about .1W, now just the physics behind it, if you convert .1W to heat directly, that isn't much heat, you can't have heat without current?

[DeepFrz]

Its true that the low power interior LEDs don't produce a lot of heat but as you have experienced the higher output units do. I think that what manufacturers of the replacement bulbs for colored running lights have done is increased the power to make up for the fact that a white bulb behind a colored lens is very inefficient. Colored LEDs behind clear lens's are what is needed. Lower power needed to produce the amount of colored light required.

[a64pilot]

I think my Marine Beam LED running lights are colored LED's behind colored lens.
I know the lens is colored, bet they wouldn't sell many running lights with clear lens, although it would be a conversation starter wouldn't it.
I can see as how colored LED's would be effective and possibly more efficient though.

[wiekeith]

I think what needs to be understood is how much red or green light is actually produced by the LEDs used.

With standard non-LED nav lights the filter doesn't change the bulbs 'white' light into red or green, the filter only allows the red or green coulors of its spectrum through i.e. it filters out other coulors. So if you replace the incandescent bulb with a 'white' LED bulb that only produces half the red or green light intensities, then your filtered light will only be half the intensity that it was.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by wiekeith

I think what needs to be understood is how much red or green light is actually produced by the LEDs used.

With standard non-LED nav lights the filter doesn't change the bulbs 'white' light into red or green, the filter only allows the red or green coulors of its spectrum through i.e. it filters out other coulors. So if you replace the incandescent bulb with a 'white' LED bulb that only produces half the red or green light intensities, then your filtered light will only be half the intensity that it was.

Yes, and the problem if I understand it correctly is that a "white" LED produces not all that much red or green, so when all other colors are filtered out, not much is left?
Now there are specific LED replacement bulbs out there that do produce the correct spectrum of color for the lens to work, then we have had the argument many times here on this forum that even those do not meet CG requirements.
I ended up buying LED replacements assemblies that have CG approved stamped on the housing, but my old housing were very old and due for retirement anyway, the lenses were almost white colored from all the oxidation. New ones are many times as bright and literally 1/10 the power consumption, and are legal.

[ryon]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

If LED's are generating lots of heat, they can't be very efficient, . .

Ever hear of infrared LEDs? That's exactly what they do, generate heat.

Every light device will have a characteristic wavelength signature. Incandescent bulbs use filters because they emit a broad spectrum. LEDs can be tuned to a much narrower spectrum, and don't need filters. Remember, you're not coloring the light with filters, you are removing unwanted wavelengths instead.

[wiekeith]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I ended up buying LED replacements assemblies that have CG approved stamped on the housing... New ones are many times as bright and literally 1/10 the power consumption, and are legal.

I've have them too, but they're also many time the price! :-(

[cabo_sailor]

I also replaced all my interior lights with Marine Beam fixtures. They are plenty bright and even having been on a while, still cool to the touch.

I also bought but not yet installed their dual color bow light and stern light. I also needed to replace my masthead tri-color, anchor light but I noticed they didn't sell that fixture. I called and if memory serves, was told they were unable to meet coast guard specs. I ended up with a replacement Aqua Signal incandescent.

By the time I was done I had dropped about $1 K usd. I have a lot of lights. 😊

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