LED Anchor Light

[Maine Sail]

This combination is USCG certified and under $100.00. It is VERY bright too and miserly in consumption. I doubt the Dr. LED bulbs will last more than a few years, if that, but by then the price of quality factory made LED nav lights will have come down significantly. This combination received approval from Imanna Labs, one of the certification labs that does the USCG testing of nav lights.

I would not use these again however and next round will go with USCG approved factory made LED units such as those by Lopo, Hella, Aqusignal and others.



Aqua Signal Series 40 Fixture and Dr. LED Polar Star 40:


The Bulb:


Installed:


Shot from shore:

[colemj]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

And similarly, 14.5V would be overcharging, a "hot charge". Anything over 14.3-14.4 is considered excessive for conventional lead-acid batteries that are rated a nominal 12 volts.

Trojan recommends charging at 14.8V for their flooded batteries:

Trojan Battery Company

Mark

[GlobalHopper]

Got this bulb at Island Water World in St Martin it's really bright and have been very happy with the led color and can really see it from miles away (tested). Picture taken with lens off...

~Keath
GlobalHopper

http://www.islandwaterworld.com/browse.cfm/bulb-16-led-singl-contact-bayonet-16w-12v-ancor/4,13975.html

[SoonerSailor]

Maine Sail - The new DRLED bulbs, which use single high power LEDs for each color instead of the 3mm or 5mm LEDs should have a much longer lifetime. The little 3mm and 5mm leaded LEDs are notorious for failures because they do not have a good path for heat to escape the semiconductor junction.

One big concern with the DRLED drop-in modules is protection from water intrusion, since they are not really waterproof and depend on the housing for complete protection. This may be fine for anchor/tricolor lights that aren't subject to wave impact or regular spray.

One other concern for LED lights (and their driver circuits) in general is their susceptibility to high voltages induced in wiring that result from nearby lightning strikes. If the circuitry is not engineered to deal with these extremely high voltage transients, I'm pretty sure they will be found to be much less robust than incandescant lamps.

[rwidman]

zeehag and hellosailor,

I have a formal education in electricity and electronics. I spent the majority of my adult life employed and an electronic technician. I know about batteries, battery chargers, surface charges, and meters.

My post was not intended to start a discussion of tenths of volts, battery float charges, or voltage regulators, that is not the topic of this thread.

My post was merely a warning to the person who planned to put four LEDs in series as a 12 volt anchor light that his engineering was faulty and the light would likely suffer an early failure because the voltage on his DC system will be higher than 12 volts at times. That is all.

[unbusted67]

Just as a wrap up to this conversation. I ended up going with an owl anchor light from Bebi electronics. It is indeed the brightest light in the anchorage. I tried to put Dr LED bulbs into my Wilcox Crittendon lights to know avail so the stern and port light are now in my dome light in my cabin, sipping electricity.

[Neptune's Gear]

Originally Posted by CaptStarboard

I highly recommend the "Optolamp "Amazonia" LED Tri-Color/Ancor/Strobe Light". It has a small form factor, is the first light to come on at night in an anchorage, and very bright and visible... all for $225 US... I ordered mine from Svendsensmarine.com in Alemeda (near Oakland/San Francisco California) via the internet... you can find other suppliers, but this is the one I know and where I got mine...


5-in-1: Tri-color Navigation light, Anchor light, Strobe, Fast Strobe and Bi-dimensional signalization: vertical emission for emergency. Absolute safe signalization: maximum light intensity with discharged batteries. Consumes 18 times less energy. Features

• SIMPLE INSTALLATION: Only 2 Wires for Tricolor/Anchor Light, Only 3 Wires for Tricolor/Anchor/Strobe Light.
• It can work 49 nights with a 12V/75A battery without recharge.
• Total resistance against mechanic stress.

Optolamp "Amazonia" 5-in-1 LED

Only note is the three way switch that comes with it, I had some salt water get on it, and corrode it when I was checking functionality... Optolamp sent me a free replacement, with additional instructions and a few emails with an Engineer to sort out a wiring question... HIGHLY recommend this product and the companies service... all at the best price i could find for a 5 function LED light...

Had the light on since Mexico and now in Australia... would buy it again, and again... with the old tri-color only using 2.5amp, this one uses 1/10amp! My best investment of this trip!

jeff
s/v Nemesis
Sydney, Australia

I know this thread is a bit old, but just an update. I use one of the Optolamp Amazonia Anchor/Tri Color/Strobes as well. I also think it's one of the best changes we've done to the boat! So much so, this was one of the main products that made me want to set up this company on my return from cruising! The price is a bit higher now, and the company listed above no longer has them. See Here
Please ask any questions!
Matt

[DavefromNZ]

I did a lot of research before installing the master head tricolor (as we all do). I installed the Optolamp and think it is very good. Bright, functional and low power draw.

[hellosailor]

"the master head tricolor "
Is that a way to make sure the Frenchmen among the crew always stand and salute?
<WEG>

[sonar]

I thought the price of a mast anchor / running light was expensive so decided to make my own from some scrap led light strips/
A short length of 1/14 pipe and a glass jar.

And it can be seen from further away than the required 2 nm.

http://sonar.x90x.net/Macwester%2026/P1211699.JPG

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by sonar

I thought the price of a mast anchor / running light was expensive so decided to make my own from some scrap led light strips/
A short length of 1/14 pipe and a glass jar.

And it can be seen from further away than the required 2 nm.

http://sonar.x90x.net/Macwester%2026/P1211699.JPG

what's the draw?

[sonar]

a lot less than one amp

[bgallinger]

I bought and installed LED bulbs to replace my regular bulbs 3 years ago. All the bulbs for the interior cabin, running lights and masthead light are from Marinebeam. All run great and the cost was really reasonable.

[Neptune's Gear]

Yes, you can make your own cheaply. But they almost certainly will not be as good, robust, or certified colreg compliant. This MAY have insurance implications in the event of an accident.
The optolamp has a MTBF (mean time between failures) of 50,000 hours. The Amazonia Mirim 111 has Anchor, Tri-color, Strobe, Auto on off etc. Hard to match that with a home made one!
See my website below if you're interested...
Matt

[hellosailor]

"But they almost certainly will not be as good, robust, or certified colreg compliant."
That might just add to the fear and confusion.

Certified complaint? By what random party? In the US, the only certification that has nay legal status is "USCG certified" and those lamps do not appear to be USCG certified, which means they are self-certified the same way any home made lamp can be.

Engineering counts, and by all means they look like good products, but here in the Colonies, USCG Certification is the only meaningful criteria other than "meets Colregs" which can indeed be done personally. If someone is going to take you to court over the adequacy of your nav lights, they aren't going to stop at "Were they certified?" because the legal criteria is not certification, but rather "Were they compliant?" and then the larger question is whether they were compliant at the time of operation. Low voltage, poor wiring, degraded LEDs, clouded fixture, could all affect that determination.

Incidentally, we do have state and federal accident investigation authorities and whenever they are involved in something like that, lights are routinely examined to determine actual performance or failure relevant to an accident. There are indeed objective standards that can and will be questioned. But the only "certification" that holds any weight, is USCG Certification, which I'm told costs about $50,000 to obtain. (And that's per one device.)