On a recent
passage, my port
navigation light gave out. Attempting to replace the bulb at the next port, I found out that it was a Bay 15D 12V- 125 W (One Hundred Twenty Five Watt) light bulb ("Made in Germany") and I was met with bafflement as I shopped around for something like it at the local shipchandlers.
On the
internet the only replacement bulbs I could find with these specs are for small aircraft
navigation lights (these are also BAY15D sizes and come in 12V, 125W), so I guess it must not be totally abnormal to use such wattage for nav lights, even though it draws something like 10 Amps at 12 V, must be a lot even for small planes?
Since most
marine navigation bulb are rated either at 10W or 25W, I wonder what am I missing? What could be the rationale for using such
power hungry light on a sailboat in the first place? (unless the previous owner was a pilot with a stack of spare light bulbs for his/her cessna)
Needless to say, I hesitate to replace with another 125W bulb...
Anyone can shed some "light" on this?
Many thx