LED Searchlight?

Wxx3 said:

3rd. As hopcar said, I have a Hella 7" driving light mounted under the bow pulpit, with two Chinese led fog lights on either side. Both controlled by little rocker switches that I placed to be right under my fingertips as I hold onto the helm, while steering with left hand.

......

The driving lights have been the number ONE most important add-on.

They allow me to see channels at night and still steer and keep my night vision.

Without them, I could not have done the few hours a night I did in the spring, coming up the ICW.

I was a bit worried about the anchors somehow hitting them, but no problems there.

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This almost sounds like headlights for boats. If they could be waterproofed like pool lights and recessed into the hull, that would be a very useful to night crawlers (no pun intended).

Donsan said:

This almost sounds like headlights for boats. If they could be waterproofed like pool lights and recessed into the hull, that would be a very useful to night crawlers (no pun intended).

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like these...and there's all kinds and styles as they have been around for decades...

LED Docking Lights : Attwood Marine

psneeld said:

like these...and there's all kinds and styles as they have been around for decades...

LED Docking Lights : Attwood Marine

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Sorta, kinda. Is it believable that a 5W LED is equivalent to about a 55W halogen? That claim seems dubious. I've used 4.5W LEDs for dirt applications and they claim equivalence to a 25W incandescent. They have the right idea. Anyone have experience using this docking light for a headlight?

I'm not sure I see any advantage to using led if underway.

I use led for situations in which I must use the battery.

A 100 watt halogen is a far better cruising light if underway.

Never really ever had a proper search light. I prefer handhelds most of the time to reduce back scatter. I've been using my cave diving primary (HID) and back up (LED) lights for the last several years. Only drawback to the primaries is the weight of the battery pack (14amp sla yield a 300 min burn time).


Via iPhone.

Donsan said:

Sorta, kinda. Is it believable that a 5W LED is equivalent to about a 55W halogen? That claim seems dubious. I've used 4.5W LEDs for dirt applications and they claim equivalence to a 25W incandescent. They have the right idea. Anyone have experience using this docking light for a headlight?

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like I posted, many makes and models. They were installed into the bows of USCG utility boats decades ago so there are many models to pick from.

I brought my 3 Maglight flashlights home to compare them in a dark room on a textured, off-white wall. Apologies for the poor quality but all I had was my cellphone camera to record the differences. Here's how they compare:

1. Standard 3 D-cell MagLight with standard, incandescent bulb:



2. Standard 3 D-cell MagLight with a Maglight brand replacement LED lamp:



3. Custom made 2-cell MagLight modifies with rechargeable batteries, new reflector, new extra bright LED, new convex glass lens and new Lo/Hi/Strobe switch.





#1 has a poorly focused and dim light with a yellow cast and moderate scatter.

#2 has a much whiter and brighter light with significantly more light scatter.

#3 has significantly more brightness, focus and whiteness than #2...so much so that the picture is over exposed in the center where the square LED image appears rounded in this image. The second image shows this detail in a close-up.

I removed the lens from both LED flashlights and placed them side by side for a comparison, but #3 (on the left) just overwhelmed #2 and the photo shown below is the best I could get.



Until I set this up, I had never noticed the corona-like outer ring surrounding the focal point in #3. This ring is really there, but its effect on light scatter in the near field is minimal.

The point of all this is to illustrate how modern handheld flashlights can cast a significant light forward without washing out the foredeck in scattered light. In terms of brightness, I just stepped outside in broad daylight and shined the beam on bushes in my yard 75-80 ft away. The square spot of light was clearly visible in daylight.

I'd love to get my hands on the Marine Beam light linked above for a comparison. (OK, I'll admit to being somewhat of a torch/flashlight geek!)

3. Custom made 2-cell MagLight modifies with rechargeable batteries, new reflector, new extra bright LED, new convex glass lens and new Lo/Hi/Strobe switch.

Custom made?


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

psneeld said:

The downside is power draw. Pretty amazing the power, you can feel heat from it 4 to 5 feet in front of it.

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Heat = lost light.

Hadn't thought of an LED spotlight but my brother lives in the country with not a light within miles. The other night he showed me an LED flashlight he bought at Costco that showed a racoon in a tree 400yds away on a moonless night. I have asked him to pick one up for me.

Maybe I'll duct tape it on to my rc spotlight

Never said or thought they were efficient, just the only game in town for years.

I'mean sure a few led lights now are just about there...I just personally haven'the been hands on with one to endorse it...nor have I seen one in a manual marine mount, only handheld ones.

While I like a good handheld, I also routinely use and like a mounted, manual control.

I don't think that these are LED.
I do think he can probably see where he is going at night.
I also doubt he has much night vision while using them. I am not sure I want one for my boat but maybe. For sure I want one for the front of my motorcycle.

sorry about sideways. Stupid phone pictures.

I ran HPS ( high pressure sodium) lights like that on Volunteer... you could see a gull fart @ 500 yards. I never noticed a night vision issue as long as it didn't have a reflection off the deck or a rail etc.

And you could see just about everything in the water for a acceptable distance.

HOLLYWOOD

BryanF said:

sorry about sideways. Stupid phone pictures.

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Here you go

Wow, who cares about night vision when you can just make it day.

I have a pair of Morse docking lights in the nose of my boat. While running at night back from Toba Inlet 2 nights ago, one of them burnt out. I thought I had a spare but there was something else in the box! They are intended to use 100 watt seal beam lights but they are rated for 25 hours, cost $65 each and are a total pita to change. Has anyone found a replacement for these lights? The Morse lights are installed in holes in the hull so throwing them away could be a problem. I have an open mind, though...

light bars have way too much scatter

Xsbank said:

Rigid Industries LED Lighting | LED Lights, Offroad, Marine, Truck
Rigid Industries LED Lighting | LED Lights, Offroad, Marine, Truck
Rigid Industries LED Lighting, high performance leader in LED Light Bars, OE truck lights, Grilles, Marine Spreader Lights, and Public Safety Scene Lights.

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Rigid and other light bars have way too much scatter for a searchlight.

If you want a incredibly powerful hand-held search light, check out this one.

EagleTac Sportac ZP10L9

it has a separate battery pack which clips to your belt, and further helps you from dropping it overboard.

I have several from this vendor and love them. I have a 1200+ lumen output light with 18650 batteries that I stick in a section of pool noodle to make it float... They are waterproof but still I would rather not have to dive to get it back.

Stu

Search lights in my mind means an adjustable/ aim-able light that is controlled by the operator. Some of these pics are of crab boats with HPS and or led mast mounted lights that are very different than "search lights" they both have there place, but a search light is different.

When its dark, a howling gale and pouring with rain, kind of like what its doing here now, the happy solution is to go outside and shine a flashlight? I can see a really powerful light for shining on the party boat when you are trying to sleep, or watching the bear walking on the beach or checking the anchor drift, but dodging deadheads and rocks on a moonless night you need something better. My boat is covered in lights but the only ones worth a darn, even including the roof-mounted searchlight, were the ones pointed backwards to check the tow and the ones under the bulwark facing forward, the docking lights. Using any others destroyed our night vision.

Those giant fishing lights are not just for working, they are also to light up enough sea so the skipper can still run the boat without any useful night vision.

While I'm on a roll, I had to put a tea towel over the Standard Horizon plotter I've got, their "night" mode is a joke. You can't dim the display enough to actually use it, lighting up the entire wheelhouse. Going to have to buy a sheet of smoked plastic to put over it if I ever go out at night again as they obviously never tested their own product. One day you will get stuck in bad conditions despite your best efforts and all this cheap crap will let you down and make your experience much worse.

Xsbank, this may fit in the same hole that the Morse lights do. It is very easy to change the build and you don't have to buy that ball housing each time.
Hull Light QL-60

Thank you Hopcar, what I really need is the replacement light bulb, in this case it looks like another sealed beam. I would love to find an halogen bulb that I could just change out instead of having to dismantle the unit every time. Somebody is making an LED conversion but it's stupidly expensive so if I can't find halogen I will try and convert my own. I have about a week before I go back to the boat so I will spend the time searching for a conversion solution.

This year we did a 2,500 mile cruise to some remote area's on the West Coast of Tasmania Australia, I had a temp Aluminium tower about 8 feet in height made and positioned it on the bow spit . We placed 3 LED search and flood lights on it , which gave us 20,000 lumens. It was very helpful when coming into unfamiliar Anchorages at night, it lite the area up like a sports field with up to 1,000 feet clear vision. I found them ideal and we only drew about 9 amps from memory.
It is in storage now ready for the next off the track adventure.

LED spots and floods are the go !!!

Cheers Chris D Liberty Australia