Which anchor light LED bulb can match a 25 watt incandescent?

[patja]

My mast is off right now so I am tending to some upgrades, including an LED anchor light.

My current anchor light is an Aqua Signal series 40 with the offset-pin BAY15D bulb with a 25 watt incandescent bulb. Apparently this is on the bright end of anchor bulbs as I've read that most folks go with a 10 watt and the particularly miserly go as low as 5 watts. I've always valued being able to pick my boat out at an anchorage at night as it is quite a bright light and would like to achieve equivalent brightness but with some savings on the amp hour budget.

I've used a light meter to bench-test the Marinebeam combo anchor/tricolor LED and the Lunasea LLB-28NW-24-SY LED bulb and found them quite dim in comparison to the incandescent bulb

Maybe there is a flaw in my measurement approach? I am using an Extech 403125 light meter with a light diffusing disk over the sensor, at a distance of 22 inches from the light in a windowless room. The 25 watt bulb measures at 130 lux, the Marinebeam at 32 and the Lunasea at 22. Big difference.

Are there any suggestions for an LED replacement anchor bulb that can come close to 25 watt incandescent performance?

[sailorchic34]

A 25 watt incandescent is roughly 200 lumens I've used this bulb https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...0-lumens/2626/

which indicates 330 lumens. In any case it's pretty bright as in too bright to look at from 8 feet away. Lasts about 4 years anchoring out

[nhschneider]

You could have an 1156 incandescent bulb which has about 160 lumens. I found a direct LED replacement that has 300 lumens here:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...0-lumens/2395/

Fair winds and calm seas.

[Jim Cate]

I'm wondering how you are running your test? What voltage are you applying to the incandescent bulb? Brightness is a pretty steep function of voltage in such bulbs, and lots of masthead installations involve some considerable voltage drop and consequent dimming from test conditions. The low current required by the LED and a flat output curve may well result in greater installed brightness for an LED, even though it tested dimmer on the bench.

I'm using a 330 Lumen tower LED from Bedazzled and it is quite bright as installed... and it has a light sensor that turns it off and on for me.

Jim

[patja]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

A 25 watt incandescent is roughly 200 lumens I've used this bulb https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...0-lumens/2626/

which indicates 330 lumens. In any case it's pretty bright as in too bright to look at from 8 feet away. Lasts about 4 years anchoring out

Thanks for the suggestion, just ordered one up. Crossing fingers and hoping it gets here before the rigging work is done and the mast goes back up!

[patja]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

I'm wondering how you are running your test? What voltage are you applying to the incandescent bulb?

Jim

Great point, this is a very short run on my workbench from a spare battery. It is getting a full 12.8v which certainly is more than it will get at the top of the mast.

[a64pilot]

I know this from being around someone building LED Dive lights. You can’t just use a simple light meter to compare incandescent. to HID to LED.
I’m not smart enough to know the specifics, maybe it has to do with our eyes being more sensitive to certain wavelengths or something, or maybe the meters are.
We want a simple answer, but it’s not.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by patja

Great point, this is a very short run on my workbench from a spare battery. It is getting a full 12.8v which certainly is more than it will get at the top of the mast.

I bet the current draw is so low, that there will be little voltage drop.
I believe a 2W CREE LED is roughly equal to a 25W incandescent.

[Jim Cate]

I bet the current draw is so low, that there will be little voltage drop.

Current will be circa two amperes, and the round trip wiring run could be 150 feet or more, certainly 100 feet. Add in the drop in a breaker, several connections and the inevitable poor contact in the bulb to socket connection and things can go a little pear shaped. Add in many boats having skimpy wires in the mast "to save weight aloft" and you will almost certainly have enough drop to reduce brilliance.

Jim

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by patja

My mast is off right now so I am tending to some upgrades, including an LED anchor light.

My current anchor light is an Aqua Signal series 40 with the offset-pin BAY15D bulb with a 25 watt incandescent bulb.

To take a different tack: one argument is that LED bulbs illuminate best when in a housing designed for LED bulbs, not in a housing designed for incandescent bulbs.

Of course those who make housings designed for LED bulbs push that argument, but there is likely truth in it.

If you anchor light is an Aqua Signal GmbH masthead light of series 40, then it highly likely has that company's "Quicfits" mounting system, meaning you have a mounting bracket attached to your mast and the light housing inserts into that mounting bracket and is held in place by a rotating ring.

Aqua Signal designed their LED series 34 lights with the same Quicfits mounting system. So you can easily replace your series 40 light housing with a LED series 34 light housing. Just turn the rotating ring, pull out the series 40 fitting, insert the series 34 fitting, and rotate the ring.

The deal being that you gain a smaller lateral area housing (less windage and weight at the masthead) that is designed for LED lights.

And if you keep your series 40 housing as a spare, a trip to the masthead allows you to replace the series 34 with the series 40 housing should one of the LED bulbs fail.

Aqua Signal happens to be this year celebrating 150 years since Franz Ahlemann and Richard Schlatter established the corporate entity of Ahlemann & Schlatter GmbH in Bremen. The company moved into making and selling oil-fuelled navigation lamps in the 1870s. The international adoption of COLREGs in 1971, with its new specifications for navigation lights, led the company to launch its Aqua Signal brand. In 1986 the company changed its name to Aqua Signal GmbH. The Norwegian corporate Glamox bought a majority shareholding in 1995 and total ownership in 2002.

[Badsanta]

They make legal 2 mile range LED bulbs for the aqua signal 40 if you just want too replace the. Bulbs.

[Zai]

Originally Posted by Alan Mighty

To take a different tack: one argument is that LED bulbs illuminate best when in a housing designed for LED bulbs, not in a housing designed for incandescent bulbs.

Of course those who make housings designed for LED bulbs push that argument, but there is likely truth in it.

If you anchor light is an Aqua Signal GmbH masthead light of series 40, then it highly likely has that company's "Quicfits" mounting system, meaning you have a mounting bracket attached to your mast and the light housing inserts into that mounting bracket and is held in place by a rotating ring.

Aqua Signal designed their LED series 34 lights with the same Quicfits mounting system. So you can easily replace your series 40 light housing with a LED series 34 light housing. Just turn the rotating ring, pull out the series 40 fitting, insert the series 34 fitting, and rotate the ring.

The deal being that you gain a smaller lateral area housing (less windage and weight at the masthead) that is designed for LED lights.

And if you keep your series 40 housing as a spare, a trip to the masthead allows you to replace the series 34 with the series 40 housing should one of the LED bulbs fail.

Aqua Signal happens to be this year celebrating 150 years since Franz Ahlemann and Richard Schlatter established the corporate entity of Ahlemann & Schlatter GmbH in Bremen. The company moved into making and selling oil-fuelled navigation lamps in the 1870s. The international adoption of COLREGs in 1971, with its new specifications for navigation lights, led the company to launch its Aqua Signal brand. In 1986 the company changed its name to Aqua Signal GmbH. The Norwegian corporate Glamox bought a majority shareholding in 1995 and total ownership in 2002.

Is it the series 34 or the series 43 which is designed to replace the series 40_
At the boat show in Dusseldorf they told me it was the series 43.
I am getting ready to make the switch also.

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by Zai

Is it the series 34 or the series 43 which is designed to replace the series 40_
At the boat show in Dusseldorf they told me it was the series 43.
I am getting ready to make the switch also.

'vier und dreißig' (34) and not 'drei und vierzig' (43).

That's if you are talking about masthead lights. Aqua Signal series 43 are side lights that are mounted on the mast. Some come with a deck light too.

See convert Aqua Signal series 40 to LED series 34.jpg

[Simi 60]

Have just gone through this with various bay 15d bulbs into my existing lalizas 20 metre housing.
Many simply did not work like the first type linked to ( I did not get it from them) as multifunction car brake , tail, reverse lights apparently get power not necessarily from the two posts on the bottom but also the sides.
Smoke came out of them.

I ended up getting these ones, 5 for $40 great result and brighter than the standard filament bulb

https://m.ebay.com.au/itm/5pcs-x-BAY...72.m2749.l2649

Downside is they interfere with TV reception
No big deal I simply hit the retune button when I turn the light on.

The LED we had previously did not interfere with TV but cost $60 each and did not last very long before losing individual LEDs.

[Vasco]

Nothing beats the Owl light. I've still got two new ones which I will be selling after what I think is my final season in the Bahamas.