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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts
Initially Posted - 05/30/2011 :  14:02:01  Show Profile  Visit delliottg's Homepage
I installed three new [url="http://www.fisheriessupply.com/productgroupdetail.aspx?cid=196441&did=6197&bid=484&keywords=&km=&sb="]Imtra LED lights[/url] today for my stern, bow, and foredeck lights. So far I'm very impressed. They are super bright (don't look at them directly when they're not in the fixture, you'll see spots for a while). They're bi-directional, which is odd for a diode based light, but you can install them in either direction and they work. They also sell a "cool" and "warm" version. The cool version is used for lights that don't have colored lenses, and the warm is used for colored lenses. I didn't think it'd make that much difference, but I noticed after I installed what I thought was the warm bulb (I'd bought one for the bow light), the "green" side of the light looked more blue than green. Then I realized I'd installed a cool bulb in there, whacked myself on the forehead, then swapped it out for the warm one, and voilà, a green light! So it really does make a difference.




At about $25/each, they're roughly half what DR LED wants for a bulb, and they're directional, you have to make sure you get it in the right way or it won't light.

Shameless plug for the extra fixtures & lights I have now: [url="http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23452"]Aqua Signal fixtures for sale[/url].
David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor


Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --
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Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9076 Posts
Response Posted - 05/30/2011 :  15:19:49  Show Profile
Nice! I'd like to put an LED into my bayonet anchor light fixture, but everything I've found says emphatically it's "not for use in navigation lights." Looking further, I discovered that (apparently) nav lights are Coast Guard only approved as complete units (fixture and bulb)--the bulbs are not approved separately to replace different bulbs in a fixture. So to be legit, I guess I need to install a new fixture.
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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts
Response Posted - 05/30/2011 :  16:04:02  Show Profile  Visit delliottg's Homepage
Yep, they call that out very specifically:

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">• Important Notice: Navigation lights are tested and approved as a complete fixture, with the original equipment source (bulb) already installed. The operator of the vessel assumes all liability when using this product as a replacement for the original approved light source. The use of this LED light source in individual navigation fixtures has not been evaluated for compliance to USCG, COLREG, or any other navigational lighting standards or regulations.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

So technically we're out of spec, but it seems a reasonable way be so, brighter lights so we're more visible and lower current draw so we're more visible longer.

However, that said, if someone's looking for an excuse to write me a ticket, it'd be pretty easy to look through my now nice & clear stern light to see the LED bulb instead of the dimpled festoon that it originally came with.

I guess that raises a question, if my bulb burned out and I couldn't find a replacement, is it reasonable to replace it with an LED?
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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.