How increase brightness navigation light

[arch007]

I have aqua signal 25 navigation lights.

They have led bulbs.

Can anyone suggest new led bulbs to increase brightness.

Think they are really dim.

[Discovery 15797]

AquaSignal 25's are shipped with 10w Xenon Festoon bulbs.

There are many LED replacement bulbs available with varying lumen levels.

You might change the replacement bulb with a LED with higher lumen output.
Check that the contacts are not corroded.
Check the inside and outside of the lens is not crazed and are clear.

[rslifkin]

Aqua Signal series 25 lights are only rated as 1nm visibility for side lights, 2nm for all others. So they're not super bright. If you want better, your best bet is to upgrade to better, brighter lights rated for more distance (and therefore allowed for use on larger boats).



Personally, I think all of the smaller / dimmer lights allowed on boats under 12 meters (the 1nm / 2nm visibility stuff rather than 2nm and 3nm) is just too dim and doesn't belong on any boat. Allowing that is a holdover from when power consumption was a serious concern.

[BillKny]

Originally Posted by arch007

I have aqua signal 25 navigation lights.

They have led bulbs.

Can anyone suggest new led bulbs to increase brightness.

Think they are really dim.

LED navigation lights are a great idea, and really helpful. BUT>>>>>

Although many people do it, it is a bad idea to put LEDs into fixtures designed for incandescent bulbs for several reasons.

LED's have very narrow light output frequency bands. If you put a "red" LED behind a red filter lens, unless the output of the LED EXACTLY matches the color of the lens much of the light will be filtered out.

Even "white" LEDs have a series of output bands that are quite narrow that our eyes average out to looking "white". Again, unless the frequency bands match the lens color exactly, they will not give the brightness you need.

Putting an LED bulb in a fixture that is not hermetically sealed will reduce the LED's life expectancy dramatically because it WILL get wet and corrode.

LED bulbs have MUCH higher likelihood of troublesome interference with VHF radio reception compared to properly designed fixtures.

For all these reasons, to keep the USCG approval of the lighting fixture, it must be used with the bulb that it was originally tested with.

The performance of your navigation lights is really important. Having fixtures that have actually been tested to meet the requirements AS USED is just smart. Either stick to the bulb the fixture was designed for, or replace the fixture with one designed from the beginning to use an LED.

[tkeithlu]

Relatively recent nav lights conform to the Coast Guard's laboratory light standard, rather than a Mk I eyeball test. They are stamped with the bulb for which they are certified. Yes, you could go to

https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/...IaApZUEALw_wcB

and find a brighter LED with the same base. Just realize that in doing so you de-certified your nav lights. It would only become an issue if you were sued, but then, if you were, it could be a problem.

A better route, to my mind, is upgrade to larger nav lights as recommended, and then add supplemental LEDs to better define your boat. They use very little energy.

The supplemental lights are, again to my mind, necessary for anchoring safety. In remote areas your single masthead light gets lost in the stars, and near cities it gets lost among background lights. It supplies very little in the way of clues to distance. We use a length of rope light around the superstructure.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

Personally, I think all of the smaller / dimmer lights allowed on boats under 12 meters (the 1nm / 2nm visibility stuff rather than 2nm and 3nm) is just too dim and doesn't belong on any boat. Allowing that is a holdover from when power consumption was a serious concern.

Agreed and is why I replaced my 25s, for 40s via e bay for relatively little money.

There are two ways of increasing the brightness, bigger bulb or bigger and better reflector behind the bulb. Putting an LED into the stern light of a 40 and comparing it to the original 25 will leave no doubts. I kept a filament bulb at the masthead though as early LEDs had colour problems when fitted in filament lights.

Pete

[surazo]

A week ago I need to understand this problem between the incandescent and led bulbs .After some research i found that the equivalence must be in lumens and not in watts and the watts in led are not all equal because Exist a factor of efficiency between lumens and watts .
All this work was done to change my incandescent light for led light but in line with the Navy rules and the norm in use . In other words ,it necessary to take the watts and lumens according the navigation rules and the seek in led bulbs which of them effectively take out the lumens required after that define the watts led that you need and try to find a good quality leds .
The comparison tables are in internet

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Agreed and is why I replaced my 25s, for 40s via e bay for relatively little money.

There are two ways of increasing the brightness, bigger bulb or bigger and better reflector behind the bulb. Putting an LED into the stern light of a 40 and comparing it to the original 25 will leave no doubts. I kept a filament bulb at the masthead though as early LEDs had colour problems when fitted in filament lights.

Pete

When I replaced mine, I went for the Hella NaviLED Pro lights for side and stern lights. They're very bright and they're sealed units, so they should last a long time. Masthead is a Signal Mate 3nm unit that can run as a 225* masthead as well as a 360* anchor light (and it makes a very bright anchor light).

[Montanan]

If you purchase new navigation lights and your vessel is a sailboat, be absolutely certain that the lights are certified so as to be visible when heeling. Lights that are made for non-heeling boats, powered vessels, and perhaps multi-hulls, have narrower vertical bands of focussed light emissions and will fail to achieve full visibility if they are tilted from being horizontal.

Many navigation lights from less reputable companies fail to design to monohull requirements and are not certified for proper visibility. It does not make any difference how bright such lights are if they are emitting their light beamed towards the sky or the water surface.

Also be certain to mount them properly so that they are aligned horizontal to the water surface, I have seen boats where they are mounted to say the angle of a pulpit or bowsprit which are tilted relative to the water surface and thence are caused to be pretty much useless.

Reference:
https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO%20Documents/5p/CG-5PC/INV/Alerts/0219.pdf

United States Coast Guard
Marine Safety Alert

Safety Alert 02-19

March 14, 2019
Washington, DC

Not all navigation lights are created equal.

Navigation lights intended for use on power driven vessels may be different from navigation lights intended for use on sailing vessels. Although the horizontal arc of visibility is the same for all lights, the vertical divergence (i.e. vertical arc of visibility) requirements for lights on vessels under sail are larger to accommodate greater heeling. Manufacturer labeling may not discriminate between the different requirements. Navigation lights that claim compliance with the navigation rules 1 may meet the vertical visibility requirements for a power driven vessel, however, they may not comply with the vertical visibility standards for sailing vessels. Manufacturer labeling may not indicate that the lights are designed for use on power-driven vessels only.

1
The International Maritime Organization Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972
(COLREG 72) and 33 Code of Federal Regulations part 83 through 88.

Annex I (COLREGs section 10 and Inland 33 C.F.R. part 84.16 “Vertical sectors”) prescribes the degrees and intensities that navigation lights must meet on the vertical plane. Many boat owners may not be aware of the +/- 25° vertical light divergence requirement for sailing vessels, a 17.5° increase
from the power-driven vessel standard. Installing a navigation light, designed for use on a power driven vessel, on a sailing vessel may result in the light losing visibility when the vessel heels beyond the narrower +/- 7.5° vertical divergence angle established for power-driven vessels. A sailing vessel
operator in this situation would likely not realize that the sailing vessel’s lights were not visible when heeling beyond 7.5°.

What does this mean?
If your sailboat does not have the correct lights (sidelights, masthead lights, all-round lights, and/or combined lantern) and it heels past a certain degree, it may not be observable by other vessel operators.

Why is that important?
You may not know that other vessels cannot see you due to the heel of your vessel. Failure to operate with the correct navigation lights may create a situation where you mistakenly believe another mariner is able to ascertain your vessel’s aspect or operational condition, which increases risk of collision.

Although a navigation light designed for a sailing vessel will not meet the vertical visibility requirements for a power driven vessel, it does not pose a commensurate safety concern (see diagram below).
Manufacturers should be aware of the larger vertical visibility requirement for lights installed on sailing vessels. Likewise, sailing vessel operators and vessel repair facilities should ensure the installed lights meet the applicable requirements in Annex I. Since not all navigation lights are designed similarly, ensure that when you install a navigation light it is USCG certified for the length and type of boat. Such information should be readily available from reputable sources such as the light or vessel manufacturer.
This Safety Alert is provided for informational purposes only and does not relieve any domestic or international safety, operational, or material requirement. Developed and distributed by the Office of Navigation Systems. Questions may be sent to cgnav@uscg.mil.

Safe voyaging.

All the best,

Dan

[kas_1611]

Originally Posted by arch007

I have aqua signal 25 navigation lights.

They have led bulbs.

Can anyone suggest new led bulbs to increase brightness.

Think they are really dim.

We fitted properly specified MARINE LEDs to our Nav lights 10 years ago and never looked back. You MUST ensure you fit Marine LEDs and not cheap Chines copies or domestic lights as these will not match the colour or cope with the harsh environment that is the sea.

Make sure your forward lights use WARM WHITE bulbs at 2700K. This exactly matches the colour of the light coming out of an incandescent bulb and is indistingiushable to both the Mk1 Eyeball and any fancy light meters. Your White lights can use a Cool White bulb at 6000K and this will make them look a lot brighter.

We have a combined forward cluster and even I can clearly see the difference between the Green and Red. In fact given I am colourblind to those two colours I can actually see them clearer than with an incandescent bulb as the Green is greener and the Red redder and there is ZERO blurring between them.

Proper MARINE LEDs will be RF suppressed so there will be zero interference with your VHF or other navigation equipment. In this case it is much better to pay the extra for proper equipment than try and save a few £ $ € or whatever currency you use.

Oh and you'll save a bucket load on amps from the battery with your anchor light compared to a standard 25W incandescent.

[Redline452]

For red and green nav lights, the LED bulbs are a much wider (thicker) light source than the original incadescent-filament bulb, resulting in a wider angle than designed and significant red/green overlap ahead. I tried that (tired of the $17-25 vertical filament bulbs dying due to vibration - one lasted under a minute!). Then individual LED elements died out, eventually even the white stern LED bulb was marginal, so gave up and went with Hella NaviLed PRO - real LED fixtures. No comparison, much better, brighter, sealed, no contacts to corrode, and conform to the regs. My boat deserves the best!

[guyrj33]

I put Dr. LED bulbs in my Aquasignal series 40 masthead anchor / tricolor fixture. They are great. No complaints.
Also have eBay LED bulbs in my deck mounted nav lights, again no complaints.

Mounted COB LED fog lights to underside of spreaders for additional deck lighting. Again no complaints.

[wholybee]

I am on my third year of using Dr LED in my aqua signal fixtures. They work great and have been more reliable than the incessant bulbs in the same fixture. I have had no failures so far, and have 30,000 ocean miles with them. Not as single failure, or having to do anything at all.

I can always spot my boat in an anchorage, because the color of the Dr LED bulb is much warmer (more amber) than most boats seem to use. The Red Green color seems more true than other LEDs I see in other boats as well.

I would like to see/have a 5 mile bulb instead of a 2 mile bulb though.

[kas_1611]

Originally Posted by Redline452

For red and green nav lights, the LED bulbs are a much wider (thicker) light source than the original incadescent-filament bulb, resulting in a wider angle than designed and significant red/green overlap ahead. I tried that (tired of the $17-25 vertical filament bulbs dying due to vibration - one lasted under a minute!). Then individual LED elements died out, eventually even the white stern LED bulb was marginal, so gave up and went with Hella NaviLed PRO - real LED fixtures. No comparison, much better, brighter, sealed, no contacts to corrode, and conform to the regs. My boat deserves the best!

Can't quote for anyone else but in my forward nav lights with a warm white LED bulb there is NO colour overlap or mixing. Trust me I'd know if there was as I would not be able to see the lights, yes my colourblindness is that severe.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by kas_1611

Can't quote for anyone else but in my forward nav lights with a warm white LED bulb there is NO colour overlap or mixing. Trust me I'd know if there was as I would not be able to see the lights, yes my colourblindness is that severe.

A follow up note.

To those who are not red/green colorblind, review the image below to get a sense of what it is like to be such; now imagine driving or navigating with that impaired vision. Now imagine that the oncoming helmsperson or driver is colorblind. Yeah, kind of intimidating and confounding. Don't presume that they can differentiate your navigation lights, or the traffic lights, or at least presume such at your own risk. Also recognize such limitation as to differentiating by color the lines on your vessel.

The choice of using Red and Green for signal indicators on traffic signals and navigation lights, and marker buoys is pretty much the worst combination possible because there is a significant portion of the population that has colorblindness so as to not be able to differentiate between the two colors. At least buoys have different day shapes associated with their different colors and meanings. Ditto as to the inappropriateness of the use of red and green for electrical polarity indications, zero difference in color to such a person. FYI, out of courtesy to colorblind persons, do not use red and green images or graphs in a presentation or publication, you will have failed in your communication if you elect to do such, that be Your choice, Not theirs. The onus is on the communicator. Reading maps can be very challenging when there is red writing or symbols on a green background. And as to hunters wearing red so as to stand out against green shrubs, well that combination makes for great camouflage.

Truly one of those "What were they thinking" issues. Who ever the They were. Obviously, not including the assessment of anyone who is red green colorblind.

My dad and my nephew, were / are, red green colorblind. I recall my Dad telling me that he memorized the colorblindness test for the US Army Air Corp because he wanted to be a pilot upon enlisting in January 1942; he did not become a pilot because the Army Air Corp chose instead to send him to Officer Training School [OTC] and he made a full career with the US Air Force. His approaches to traffic lights, particularly when driving at night could be quite the challenge for him; Is it red or green? Or worst perhaps is a single light flashing red or flashing yellow. If in doubt, he chose to stop and then proceed with caution. And of course his clothing choices made for some, "Uh Dad, don't get dressed with that combination."

In an emergency, imagine trying to instantly determine which is the Red Stop button on the control panel of a machine, or an electrical panel.

FYI.
The most common form of color blindness is red-green color blindness. With this condition, the gene is passed from the parent to the child on the X chromosome.

Globally, 1 in 12 males and 1 in 200 females are colorblind.

Current research states that color blindness affects roughly 8 percent of Caucasian males. According to a large multiethnic studyTrusted Source from 2014, color blindness also affects:

1.4 percent of African American males
2.6 percent of Hispanic males
3.1 percent of Asian males
0-0.5 percent of all females
Red/Green colorblindness is also known as deutan colorblindness, deuteranopia, and Daltonism.

The gene for red-green color blindness is an X-linked recessive gene. X-linked recessive genes are expressed if they’re present on both X chromosomes in females, and on one X chromosome in males.

Genes explained
a child born female would need to inherit two X chromosomes with the carrier gene to be born colorblind
a child born male only needs to inherit one X chromosome with the carrier gene to be born colorblind
Color blindness isn’t common in females because there’s a low likelihood that a female will inherit both genes required for the condition. However, since only one gene is needed for red-green color blindness in males, it’s much more common.

A bit of historical context: The term "Daltonism" is derived from the name of the chemist and physicist, John Dalton (1766-1844). Dalton was born in a village in Cumberland, England where his father, Joseph, was a weaver in poor circumstances. He was educated by his father and John Fletcher, teacher in a Quaker school. When Fletcher retired in 1778, Dalton took his place. In 1793 he was appointed teacher of mathematics and natural philosophy at New College in Manchester. In 1803 he put forth the facts embodied in his law of partial pressures: the pressure of a mixture of gases is the sum of the pressures which would be exerted separately by the several constituents if each alone were present. Dalton's reputation largely rests upon his great Atomic Theory. Dalton described his and his brother's affliction of colorblindness with defective perception of red and green in the first scientific paper he published. It was entitled "Extraordinary facts relating to the vision of colours, with observation" (Mem Literary Philos Soc Manchester 5: 28-45, 1798). It is the first recognized account of red-green colorblindness.

"So now you know the rest of the story."