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Can't locate vendor for C25 bow/stern lights

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lmmohr
Deckhand

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USA
6 Posts

Initially Posted - 08/17/2010 : 07:19:19

Does anyone know of a vendor producing LED position lights for a C25? Needs to mount at rear not base. (vertical pulpit plate)

Thanks

Larry (brand new C25 owner)

Larry
78 C-25 SR SK #804

Edited by - on

aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 08/17/2010 : 11:26:25

West Marine? Catalina Direct? Defender? Anyone who sells Aqua Signal?

Edited by - on

Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 08/17/2010 : 11:40:50

What type of lights - original fish eye, replacement Aquasignal?, something else?

It is also helpful if you list your home-port, boat type, hull number, rig and keel config and sometimes your cabin interior style in your signature.

Edited by - Champipple on 08/17/2010 11:42:08

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9080 Posts

Response Posted - 08/17/2010 : 11:52:45

Welcome and congratulations, Larry! Duane is referring to the "signature" option in your profile (see upper right). Anything you put there will automatically appear with each post you submit. The boat information often helps us answer questions, since things vary by year, keel, rig, and sometimes even interior layout. You can see numerous signatures on these forum.

Again, welcome (from an alumnus)--join the association and the fun!

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 08/17/2010 : 12:39:25

<< vendor producing LED position lights for a C25? >>

IMHO

To get your required 2 Nautical Mile visibility out of a bundle of LEDs the bulb ends up costing you $50 bucks and still draws a watt, which is what a regular bulb draws and only costs you 5 bucks at the most.

I can't see the led bulbs lasting 10 times longer than the regular bulb, nor buying a coupla extra bulbs to keep around in case the one you need fails, so right now I'm holding off.

That is my take on it.. somebody hit me if I'm wrong. I'm sure a better bulb will come to market any day. Find me 20 bucks, 2 NM and .3 watts.

Reminds me of the joke photographers have:

They did a study to find the best resolution, color depth and encoding needed to archive digital images properly. After extensive research, they concluded the best method to preserve an image was to burn it to film.

That whirring sound is Edison spinning in his grave..

Edited by - on

Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 08/17/2010 : 16:18:55

2 mile LED nav light assemblies with bulb can be had for significantly less than $50 and draw about 0.2 A as opposed to about 0.45 A and less light from an incandescent 5 watt bulb.

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5368 Posts

Response Posted - 08/17/2010 : 17:22:21

Dave,
My incandescent bow light ran at 0.88 Amps or about 10W - I swapped it out with a Dr. LED Festoon Star bulb for about $36.00 at Defender Industries' annual sale. Normally, it retails for $42.00.

The literature says it requires about 1 Watt and can be seen for two nautical miles. That's about 0.1A at 12V. With two bulbs, I save 18W.

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 08/18/2010 : 04:40:57

My mistake, I thought I had read on the DrLed package that it was drawing 1 amp. I was pretty frustrated. SO you are getting .1amp.

OK I'm in.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=96837&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10109&subdeptNum=10571&classNum=11292

$49 at West Marine .1 amp and 1 watt.

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 08/18/2010 : 04:50:35

OK I'm still not getting a straight story, these apparently were not the ones (one) I saw at the West Marine Store, nor can they be used on the front RED/GREEN combo rail mounted NAV light. Correct me but I've seen an LED that was red on one side and green on another???

Still.. kinda expensive for a nav light, but .. IF they last long time...

I may be on the fence yet..

Edited by - on

lmmohr
Deckhand

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USA
6 Posts

Response Posted - 08/18/2010 : 07:10:27

Thanks for the reply. I'm still looking. I know I could buy an incandescent model and change out the lamps for a LCD retro, but in the end that cost would be $100 plus the original model cost. I'm just too Scotch to do that. I'll keep at it.

Edited by - on

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9080 Posts

Response Posted - 08/18/2010 : 07:34:11

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by redeye
 Correct me but I've seen an LED that was red on one side and green on another???<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I doubt it. Running lights must be arranged (or constructed) so you can see both colors only from dead ahead, and the colors are very distinct. That can be done with a white bulb behind two colored lenses, but a bulb with both colors inside a clear lense doesn't seem viable. And colored lenses should have only white bulbs behind them.

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5368 Posts

Response Posted - 08/18/2010 : 20:53:54

If you look at the Dr LED website, there are three Festoon Star bulbs:
o White LED Festoon Replacement Bulb - which you can fit into a clear or red-green fixture
o Red LED Festoon Replacement Bulb for a solo port side fixture
o Green LED Festoon Replacement Bulb for a solo starboard side fixture.

They also offer the Polar Star 25 series. According to the literature, this bulb is a replacement for an incandescent bulb for the aqua signal series 25 navigation lights. They offer a white Polar Star 25 LED and the Bi-Color Polar Star 25. Apparently the latter is intended for a fixture with a clear lens.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3461 Posts

Response Posted - 08/19/2010 : 03:35:48

It's been awhile since I researched the LED replacements and so I do not recall all the data but the gist was that to get a USCG approved LED it had to come with the LED housing and those sell for big bucks, though Aqua Signal and some of the other companies seem to be making less expensive ones compared to the Lopolight and the OGM Orcagreen LEDs w/housings. I never really was that impressed with what I saw on the market for just a LED/festoon bulb replacement using the existing original Aqua Signal housing for the bow navigational light (red/green), though, I must admit that I did buy at the Annapolis Boat show a stern LED bulb replacement for that festoon bulb but have yet to install it - Waiting for the incandescent festoon bulb to burn out.

What it came down to for me was that I did not do all that much evening sailing that the amp draw down on the battery was an issue. For some reason, the sternlight seems to blow out on me more frequently and so I opted to get a replacement for it when it next blows out or I stop procrastinating and change it ahead of time. The bow lights only went out one time on me and they are easy enough to change out, so I was never opted for a Lopolight or Orcagreen real replacement - the savings of amps for the 2 hours or so needed during evening hours once in awhile just did not seem worth the expense of the new light.

On the other hand, the anchor light is a pain to change out if it blows out and it was out on my boat. The anchor light I replaced with an OGM Orcagreen that when the light switch is on, the LED draws a miniscule amojnt of amps and so for an overnighter that is a big amp savings also the bulb is supposed to last 50000 hrs so hopefully never will need changing again. Added feature is that the LED turns off auotmatically when the sun rises.

Maybe some time in the future I will revisit whether to change out the bow navigational lights with an LED w/housing replacement but since the bulb is easy enough to replace and my solar panel can easily recharge the battery for the few hours I may run the nav lights on an evening perhaps once every 2-3 weeks...I don't see a necessity to replace the bulb or the housing right now.

I guess if one was to use their nav lights a lot and had battery recharge concerns, then going the lED route becomes more of a benefit for those lights. Seems like a number of people have found suitable LED bulb replacements. If replacing the housing with an LED housing is more to your liking, it does cost a lot.lot more. Aqua Signal sells LED housings but I do not believe for the Model 25 as a replacement. They sell it with separate LED housings one for the port and one for the starboard NAV light rather than a combo Model 25 port/starboard light. OGM Orcagreen sells it both ways - As a combo and as separate lights/housings but at considerable cost. I really like the combo-LED housing that Lopolight sells but it is very expensive. You can do a search and read about those products but it's a far cry from just replacing a bulb for $20. Those fixtures cost in the neigborhood of ~ $125 or more.

Edited by - on

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5368 Posts

Response Posted - 08/19/2010 : 21:27:50

Larry,
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see why an Aqua Signal 25 fixture/housing with a white Polar Star 25 wouldn't do just fine for the stern, and the same with a red/green Polar Star wouldn't work for the bow?
An Aqua Signal 25 all-around clear fixture with a white LED should be excellent as an anchor light.

I originally planned to use an Aqua Signal 25 all around fixture with a Festoon-Star light, but found that since the bulb has to be mounted offset to fit inside the fixture, a different configuration bulb is needed. I think the Polar Star is it.

Edit: The fixture costs about $25 and the bulb about $40.

Edited by - Voyager on 08/19/2010 21:29:38

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3461 Posts

Response Posted - 08/20/2010 : 03:30:22

Bulb replacements seem to work fine as many have reported doing it that way and apparently the mfrs of the bulbs have stated that the bulbs do produce the reqdnautical miles for those nav lights. But when I was researching this stuff a few years ago (and things may have changed since then), I found that only the LEDs that come in their own housings are USCG approved.

It's a personal decision whether one wants to opt for a bulb replacement or a complete LED w/housing replacement. I guess it seems like a no-brainer to throw a $20 bulb into an existing fixture vs over $100.+ for replacing the whole fixture...nevermind the install and possibly adapter cost to make the switch. I plan on doing just a bulb replacement with the stern light as I already have the LED that fits my Aqua Signal 25 stern light. I guess I just wanted to point out in these LED discussions that at least a few years ago, I found that only the LEDs that come in their own housings are rated as USCG approved....just the bulb was not. It is likely that the CG only approves complete fixtures because they do not know waht you will be putting the LED bulb in. So, there is probably nothing wrong with buying just an LED bulb alone and sticking it into an existing fixture. I went with the anchor light full replacement years ago mainly because at that time I was also installing cabin light LED replacements and I found that these LED bulbs are very hard to judge just how they compare to each other in brightness and what will be satisfactory. I figured with the anchor light, if it was USCG approved, then if it is good enough for them, it's good enough for me.

On some issues, I guess I seem to play the role of devil's advocate. But then to really screw up the thinking...I do things contrary to guilt -trip I seem to be instigating....I did buy an LED bulb to install in my Aqua Signal 25 Stern light...so go figure ? LOL

Edited by - OLarryR on 08/20/2010 03:33:07

Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 08/20/2010 : 07:35:13

LEDs don't produce a broad spectrum of light like an incandescent, so putting a white LED behind a red or green filter can dramatically reduce light output. Nav lights are still approved as assemblies, so the safest approach is an assembly replacement with an LED or an LED specific for your assembly. Do we always do things this way? No. If it is bright enough and covers the angle without dark bands it will certainly serve the purpose, but will technically still not be legal. Caveat Emptor

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