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Old 07-07-2020, 12:49   #1
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LED Replacement bulbs

Has anyone succeeded in replacing the filament bulbs with LEDs in older nav lights?
I am trying to upgrade my 2001 Bavaria, with LED equivalents?
Nav lights are Aqua Signal H41 that take a BAY15D 12V 10W dual contact (DC) bulb with current running between the contacts NOT the can. But all DC LED bulbs I see use the can for -ve feed. Before I go rewiring the lamps, I wondered if anyone had found direct replacements.
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Old 07-07-2020, 13:27   #2
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

I got BAY15D LEDs for my navlights from marinebeam.com. Excellent help over the phone
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Old 07-07-2020, 16:23   #3
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...retrofit/3472/


Look for 1004 (10w), 1142 (18w), or 1176 (18w) equivalents.


They will not be the same as the original but may be close enough for your purposes. Any LED conversion voids the certification


I've used superbrightleds for a bunch of stuff over the years and they have solid products and service
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Old 07-07-2020, 16:36   #4
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

Many LEDs will be too bright or the wrong color and make a green lens look blue and a red look yellow or purple. In a dual-color bow nav light it can make it look white from straight ahead since it blows through the fused seam between the green and red lenses with a white light that can make it look to a boat in front if you that it is a white stern light.

I was witness to a head-on collision where this was the case and the sworn testimony of those of us who witnessed the collision, as well as the investigation finding a non-approved led in an older nav light, was a major factor in the admiralty court in assigning almost complete blame on the boat with the non-approved LED "upgrade" lamp -even though otherwise they were the stand-on vessel. It looked like they were sailing the other way at a much slower speed. Very confusing and a likely cause of the collision under the Pennsylvania Rule.
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Old 08-07-2020, 04:18   #5
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

Marine beam - good quality. Read their explanations as to why multi voltage LEDs are the way to go
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Old 08-07-2020, 04:38   #6
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

I used some Marine Beam disk LEDs to convert my topside nav lights. They are exceptionally bright, but as others have remarked, check the colours. I had to re-tint my port side light as it was basically pink, not red, due to the extra brightness.
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Old 08-07-2020, 04:55   #7
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

Lots of places on line to find replacements and fairly straight forward.

Besides the other comments about being too bright, be aware of polarity issues in some LED bulbs. In the BAY15D 12V 10W they have offset pins (fit in one way in the socket), so if the new bulbs do not light up, try to switch the wire leads going to the socket.
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Old 08-07-2020, 04:55   #8
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

There are two layers here. First is that the US Coast Guard finally got around to writing a laboratory - testable - definition for its old "Visible X miles" ambiguous and untestable brightness rule. You can't apply that new test, unfortunately, because you don't have the equipment/laboratory. The second is that they then certified various nav lights, with their bulbs, such that if you use a different bulb your light is not certified and you incur some sort of liability.

It's easy to find LED bulbs for older fixures that vastly out perform the certified bulbs as measured by direct observation (yours). Using them could increase your safety while also increasing your liability. Personally, I think the lighting required on a ship/boat is pathetic when put against the multitude of shore lights in most congested harbor areas. You can easily lose a boat that is bearing down on you, or run up on an anchored boat.

That's a head scratcher. My answer is to go with certified bulbs, but increase the other lighting of the boat, in our case by using LED rope light to outline part of the boat, the wheelhouse and boatdeck in our case, so that other skippers have some way of perceiving the size and the orientation of our boat whenever we are near. Our other approach has been to turn on the spreader lights when in low visibility crowded spaces.

As a further complication, the USCG has been on a tear of late against boaters who use additional lights in ways that obscure their nav lights, particularly colored LEDS near the red and green. We keep ours white/yellowish and away from the nav lights.
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Old 08-07-2020, 05:13   #9
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

I think when it comes to colored nav lights a new dedicated LED replacement fixture is the way to go.

Modern dedicated LED Nav lights do not use colored lenses to filter the light. The LED produces the correct pure green or red light and needs no lens at all. This makes it much brighter while at the same time using only a fraction of the power.

We replaced our old bulky faded/cloudy bow light fixtures with tiny LED approved units with 2NM rating which only draw 1.5w each. They are small and do not stick out much at all compared to old-fashioned lights and have no sharp metal edges to chafe foresails or catch lines. The entire fixture does not cost much more than a good quality approved replacement LED bulb.

https://www.aquasignal.com.au/shop/p...art/series-34/
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Old 08-07-2020, 05:37   #10
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

I also like the ones I got from Superbright LED's. No issues with RF interference either, tested by our EE/ham radio buddy at work.


Be sure filaments, contacts, and diameters match before buying. What looks right at the car parts store may not be right for a vintage marine application.
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Old 08-07-2020, 06:11   #11
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

Quote:
Originally Posted by DBooton View Post
Has anyone succeeded in replacing the filament bulbs with LEDs in older nav lights?
I am trying to upgrade my 2001 Bavaria, with LED equivalents?
Nav lights are Aqua Signal H41 that take a BAY15D 12V 10W dual contact (DC) bulb with current running between the contacts NOT the can. But all DC LED bulbs I see use the can for -ve feed. Before I go rewiring the lamps, I wondered if anyone had found direct replacements.
I thought the Aqua Signal 41 range took 25w bulbs?

https://www.asap-supplies.com/brands...igation-lights
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Old 08-07-2020, 06:21   #12
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

And what is it with interference with VHF/AIS antennas? I am a bit concerned about that, concerned enough to buy from eg Hella who categorically state that their lights have been tested and are shown and certified to not interfere.


EDIT: just saw Spot's post already touching on this topic.
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Old 08-07-2020, 07:00   #13
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

Thank you all very much for your advice. Detail there that I had never considered.
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Old 08-07-2020, 09:41   #14
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

https://bedazzledledlighting.co.uk/
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Old 10-07-2020, 06:42   #15
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Re: LED Replacement bulbs

Dr. Led are certified for use in aqua signal lights. At least according to there literature.
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