Aqua Signal Waterlogged

[Cherp]

No. Not like that one. Try Round $650 AU in 2018. The model number is in the original post.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by deblen

My method for "outdoor" connections:
1.solder or crimp.
2.Shrink wrap-self seal style if available or use any good sealent except silicone.Silicone is acidic...

Silicone Sealants are not all the same.
Silicone sealants are defined by their cure mechanism, divided into acid and neutral cure [used for sealing electrical components] categories.

The acid cure (acetoxy) silicone sealants were the first to be used, and cure by contact with moisture vapor in the air, releasing acetic acid. Acetic acid can damage certain metals, such as brass and copper, so it is important to keep sensitive electronics away from acetoxy silicone, while it is curing, as the resulting vapors can potentially cause damage.

Neutral cure silicone categories typically include basic, alcohol, and oxime cure mechanisms. While these silicones do produce a condensation byproduct [ethanol gas, or ketoxime], it is not as corrosive as the acid cure formulations. Also, neutral cure silicone is better for exterior use, because it is more weather resistant than its acetoxy counterpart.
The longer drying time, less adhesion, and higher cost, of neutral cure silicone can be drawbacks.

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Not at the masthead but no problems with the board lights.

I had serious problems with our deck nav lights from Aqua. After some heavy passages where we had water breaking over the forecastle, they also became waterlogged. The sealing simply isn't good enough. So I purchased some new Aqua LED lights that were drop in for teh old ones. Website said the bolt patterns were identical and they were designed to be easy replacements for the old ones.
New ones came - they didn't fit. Called Aqua in the US - turns out you need an adaptor plate. Adaptor plate come - didn't fit. Called aqua again, Well yeah this was a known problem but I could just remake the adaptor plate.

I paid money for this?

Told them I wanted an adaptor plate that fit. A week later a set of plates came that were just like the old ones but someone had taken an anglegrinder to them to make them fit. Look like Sh*t, but they work

[Sailguy61]

My Aqua Signal Tri-color light failed within three months. Simple put "garbage". I had a Hella Tri-color before. It was also garbage but lasted several years. I replaced it with a Signal Mate tri-color with the built in diode to automatically turn on at dark. It's simply built better but is also more expensive! Worth it in my opinion.

[m0ggy]

I had this problem, just drilled a 6mm hole in the base and no more problems.
Unless you make the light fitting absolutely air tight you will get condensation building up inside over time

[capn ken]

Just a quick query, mast head light or tricolor for the mast head ?question, do you really need a tri color at the top of your mast?

[Nickodemus]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

This is interesting, might Aqua Signal have changed construction methods over the years?
I too have one of their lights, the anchor/tricolor/strobe unit.
It's been up for 30 years and whilst the lens surely needs replacing all the functions work and the interior is not corroded.
Here in the PNW it rains almost forever, and the light has never shown any signs of water intrusion.

Please - NO STROBE!!!

[CarinaPDX]

Originally Posted by capn ken

Just a quick query, mast head light or tricolor for the mast head ?question, do you really need a tri color at the top of your mast?

"Need" may not be the right word. The reasons for the masthead tricolor are 1) energy efficiency, and 2) visibility. When under sail (only) the single tricolor used 25W incandescent bulbs, while the alternative would be 25W bi-color bow lights plus 10W stern light (or worse, separate bow lights). With LEDs in everything there is little to no energy advantage of the tricolor over the deck-level lights. However, at sea the visibility difference is huge between masthead and deck lights. It is quite normal to encounter 4'-8' seas, and larger, so a deck level light on a small boat often can't be seen consistently at any distance. The tricolor is above it all and remains visible. Go with the tricolor for safety. But don't use it where there is a lot of lighting ashore, such as by a city, because the light gets lost in the shore lights. In that case using deck lights is better for marking a boat.

The current AquaSignal lights have very bad reviews. I have their old Series 50 stainless steel lights (similar to the popular plastic Series 40 lights) for the bow bicolor, masthead (steaming), and stern lights. They have been nearly indestructible, having been aboard for more than 40 years. I also have an AS combined tricolor/anchor light, which is the replacement for an earlier one which had the lens fail due to extensive crazing, and now has LED bulbs inside. Because the mounting was supposedly the same I looked at the AS lights as replacements but quickly found that the plastic was flimsy and prone to breakage in the non-tricolor lights. So no AS for me anymore, in spite of primarily good experiences with the old design.

I have a LunaSea tricolor/anchor light ready to install. It has very favorable reports, is sealed, does not interfere with VHF radio signals, and has a glass lens. It is also quite affordable. And the bird spike on top can be removed and a Davis wind indicator installed in its place (same threads) which will be illuminated by the tricolor.

Greg

[Capt.Go]

OGM solid state- expensive but Great customer service and very watertightGreat customer service and very watertight

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by Nickodemus

Please - NO STROBE!!!

Give it a break.
If I'm in a condition at sea where rescue aircraft/ships are looking for me at night I'm d**m well going to have that strobe on.
You can do whatever you wish on your boat.

[s/v Jedi]

Strobes are fine for emergency situations. For navigation, strobes are only used for special cases, like the super fast ferries in the English Channel etc. (when you see the strobe it is you who is in an emergency situation as these go crazy fast)

[Nickodemus]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

Give it a break.
If I'm in a condition at sea where rescue aircraft/ships are looking for me at night I'm d**m well going to have that strobe on.
You can do whatever you wish on your boat.

Yes - but you can use another strobe for those situations. You are annoying as hell in an anchorage.

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

Give it a break.
If I'm in a condition at sea where rescue aircraft/ships are looking for me at night I'm d**m well going to have that strobe on.
You can do whatever you wish on your boat.

If I came across you in open sea; i would assume you were having some sort of emergency and act accordingly. If you had your strobe on in an anchorage, I would dinghy over and ask you to turn it off.

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by Nickodemus

Yes - but you can use another strobe for those situations. You are annoying as hell in an anchorage.

Please, don't automatically assume what I didn't write, it's bad form.
That strobe has sat atop the mast for 30 years, and not once in those 30 years has it ever been on in an anchorage.

[Dockhead]

If that's a Series 34 LED tricolor, that's the same as I have had since 2012, and it has been flawless all that time. I guess there are good ones and bad ones.


I installed expensive Series 44 side lights and had nothing but trouble with those. The main problem was that the electrical connections were outside the sealed unit, and the tabs corroded off.



I eventually replaced these with cheaper Hella side lights which are not as good optically but are fully sealed with pig tails coming out and have had no trouble at all with these.


I use the tricolor to preserve my night vision on dark nights and in the hope that they are more visible in a sea state, but I've had a couple of incidents where other vessels couldn't see me so I no longer really trust the tricolor.


What would be much better would be the red over green sailing machine lights which can be used together with the normal side and stern lights, but these are hard to mount because of the vertical separation required. I might do it next time I have my mast down.