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Old 02-27-2017, 12:05 PM   #1
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LED Replacement Bulb

I would like to replace my stern running light with a Led bulb. Has anyone found a retailer for the T11 x 44 dimpled festoon Led bulb ? This bulb size is for the series 25 Auqua Signal Running Lights.
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Old 02-27-2017, 12:26 PM   #2
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Been available for years at west marine.
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Old 02-27-2017, 12:34 PM   #3
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Search the bulb size. Lots available like:

T11X44 S8.5 108LM White LED Car Reading / Door / Brake Lamp (9x5050 SMD 2.16W 2-Piece) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

and
https://store.marinebeam.com/festoon-bulbs-sv8-5-1/
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Old 02-27-2017, 02:02 PM   #4
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Be sure that the fixture is approved for LED bulbs. To be USCG legal the bulb and fixture have to be approved as a unit. Or so I have been told.

Also I would check Amazon. I changed all my interior bulbs to LED and bought the bulbs at Amazon. Much cheaper.
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Old 02-27-2017, 03:53 PM   #5
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I thought maybe the marinebeam.com link was a winner but the stern light needs 135 degree of 2 mile visibility and maybe half of the 30 leds in the festoon might be visibile, range ? it was dimpled however. None of Wast Marine bulbs are dimpled. I did find a led bulb with the led's inside of cylindrical glass, a copy of the T 11 x 44 but again no dimpled contact ends.
Thanks anyway for the leads, just thought maybe someone was mfg a T 11 x 44 led replacement. The search continues.
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Old 02-27-2017, 04:08 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HiDHo View Post
None of Wast Marine bulbs are dimpled. I did find a led bulb with the led's inside of cylindrical glass, a copy of the T 11 x 44 but again no dimpled contact ends.
.
Ah...so the contacts are points that engage the dimples? If they were "C" shaped clips either style would work. Good luck with the search..
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Old 02-27-2017, 05:18 PM   #7
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I went all LED. Amazon had the best prices. West Marine had one bulb for $24.95 and Amazon had 4 pack with free shipping for $8.95
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Old 02-27-2017, 06:52 PM   #8
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The only place to buy LED bulbs is
Superbrightleds.com
Quality for a great price.
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Old 02-27-2017, 09:05 PM   #9
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Nice selection at superbrightleds.com but no dimpled based festoon bulbs carried in what they offer.
I did find a festoon bulb at Dr Led that has dimpled cap ends that push on over the pointed ends but $43 plus shipping for one bulb !!
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Old 02-28-2017, 06:54 AM   #10
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You can stick any old bulb in any old fixture and call it a nav light.

Until the accident. Then EVERY minute detail will be examined. If your light doesn't conform to the ColRegs specifications, you'll have some 'spaining to do.

Frankly I don't see any good excuse to keep an old fixture that was made for incandescent bulbs on a boat in 2017. Replace the whole fixture with a sealed, LED, certified fixture. You'll never worry about corroded contacts or burnt-out bulbs again, and you're 100% legal. By boating standards, this peace of mind comes cheap.

I've changed too many bulbs, and cleaned WAY too many contacts, in my life. I never intend to do it again.
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Old 02-28-2017, 06:56 AM   #11
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LED Replacement Bulb

That's what I was thinking. Maybe change out the whole fixture? $15?

http://m.ebay.com/itm/291399227298?_mwBanner=1
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Old 02-28-2017, 07:37 AM   #12
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Thanks Cardude, Ebay was my next go to source. Pactrade brand looks like typical China copy of my Auqua Signal 25 series have you ordered thses lights and what is the quality ? The sellers store has a port, starboard, steaming, anchor and stern light combo for $65 I might check out.
CapTom is right, need to check the specs one stern light stated 1 mile visibility not the 2 required.
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Old 02-28-2017, 07:49 AM   #13
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Be sure that the fixture is approved for LED bulbs. To be USCG legal the bulb and fixture have to be approved as a unit. Or so I have been told.............
Yes, that story has been floating around the Internet for a while. If you look at the COLREGS, navigation light standards are based on performance. Basically color, angle and the distance they can be seen.

Considering that old time sailboaters sometimes use kerosene lanterns for navigation lights, I think you will be just fine. The Coast Guard Auxiliary people who do a safety check on my boat each year just look to see if they work. They don't actually look at the brand on the bulbs.
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Old 02-28-2017, 07:56 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by HiDHo View Post
I thought maybe the marinebeam.com link was a winner but the stern light needs 135 degree of 2 mile visibility and maybe half of the 30 leds in the festoon might be visibile, range ? it was dimpled however. None of Wast Marine bulbs are dimpled. I did find a led bulb with the led's inside of cylindrical glass, a copy of the T 11 x 44 but again no dimpled contact ends.
Thanks anyway for the leads, just thought maybe someone was mfg a T 11 x 44 led replacement. The search continues.
There are LED bulbs and there are LED bulbs manufactured as marine navigation bulbs. There's a difference and that difference is in the alignment of the individual LEDs.

I used a complete fixture for my stern light because the original was partially obscured by the cockpit cover and needed to be moved anyway. For the others, I used LED assemblies made for use as marine navigation lights rather than LED fixtures because I wanted to maintain the "classic" styling.


BTW: Navigation lights are not the place to "cheap out". $16 for an eBay Chinese light that's well over $50 anywhere else is suspect.
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Old 02-28-2017, 08:22 AM   #15
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Wesk very true, First thing I did nine years ago when we bought the Manatee was to replace the old, maybe orginal running lights with the Auqua Signals. I guess it's time to do a refit of them again just hope that something better than Leds is not in the pipeline as is true with all the yearly new electronic gadgets.
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Old 02-28-2017, 09:31 AM   #16
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LED Replacement Bulb

Yeah I'm sore that $15 stern light on eBay is just a cheapy. That was just the first thing I saw.

I recently replaced my two incandescent anchor light bulbs with two glass enclosed, higher quality (maybe) LED bulbs. Before when I anchored out all night with the fridge on and the anchor lights, the Balmar smartguage battery monitor would drop to like 85%, but just with the change of these two bulbs it now stays in the low 90% range. Not a very scientific experiment I realize, but I was surprised how much difference replacing those two bulbs made.
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Old 02-28-2017, 10:50 AM   #17
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Yeah I'm sore that $15 stern light on eBay is just a cheapy. That was just the first thing I saw.

I recently replaced my two incandescent anchor light bulbs with two glass enclosed, higher quality (maybe) LED bulbs. Before when I anchored out all night with the fridge on and the anchor lights, the Balmar smartguage battery monitor would drop to like 85%, but just with the change of these two bulbs it now stays in the low 90% range. Not a very scientific experiment I realize, but I was surprised how much difference replacing those two bulbs made.
I can believe it. Those bulbs on my boat are 25watts each. That's 2 amps each x 10 hours = 40 amp hours! LED bulbs would be in the .2amp range or only 4 amp hours for the same amount of time.

I'm also in the market for good quality LED replacements for nav bulbs.

Ken
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Old 02-28-2017, 11:18 AM   #18
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how close are these? 2PC 41mm Festoon COB 12 Chips DC 12V LED Car Dome Reading Lights Car Lighting | eBay
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Old 02-28-2017, 01:15 PM   #19
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Yes, that story has been floating around the Internet for a while. If you look at the COLREGS, navigation light standards are based on performance. Basically color, angle and the distance they can be seen.
Exactly. And the old fixtures are engineered to meet those specs based on the size, shape, brightness and color of the filament of the specified bulb.

Go outside those specs, and it doesn't conform. A bank of LEDs, no matter how bright, are not the same size and shape as a filament. The lens of the old fixture will NOT focus the beam along the right arc of visibility at the right intensity. Colored lenses assume a certain color light coming from a filament. The regulations are very specific on this stuff.

Quote:
Originally Posted by WesK View Post
Considering that old time sailboaters sometimes use kerosene lanterns for navigation lights, I think you will be just fine. The Coast Guard Auxiliary people who do a safety check on my boat each year just look to see if they work. They don't actually look at the brand on the bulbs.
The Auxiliary is not trained or expected to test installed equipment against all the pertinent CFRs and international treaties. Some members don't even bother to check to see if it's got a USCG approval number on it. They fail a lot of boats for lights that don't work. If yours illuminate at all, they're likely to pass you. That's no guarantee of compliance.

I don't think you want to run kerosene lanterns. People do lots of things on the water that I wouldn't do, and many that aren't even legal to do. Following them is not always your best course of action.
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Old 03-01-2017, 10:00 AM   #20
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I found the formula to calculate intensity, no wonder the CG only checks if the lights work. A good read is. theledlight.com, my incandescent 10 watt bulb equals 120 lumens as a guide. Factoring in intensity, ilumination at distances is above my pay grade. I found a 120 lumen, festoon, dimpled light for $20 on line designed for my Aqua Signal lights at marineledshop.com and will change out all my 10 watt bulbs. The stern light burns out often I think because of the heat it generates so a cool led that stays lite 50,000 hours is also a safety consideration.
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