Running lights

Hi fellow trawler enthusiasts. I have a Grand Banks 36 that has running lights that need attention. I would like to keep the old stylelense, however I’m not able to locate a good set. Any and all suggestions welcome.
Thanks to all.

Check out AquaSignal series 41 side lights Good size- has replaceable lens if ever needed. Put a pair on my name boards they look good

Anchor sells colored light bulbs. Wonder if you could get colored bulbs and remove the coloring on the lens.

Ted

Perko. Lots of places sell replacement lenses.

I have the same ones. Cleaned up nice but I didn't see a way to get the lens out unless I melted the solder holding it all together. I also looked for exact replacements, old or new, and could only find one used port side light and the guy wanted a bunch 'o money. Would like to know if someone finds them for sale somewhere.

eBay has a few...

Those look like they may be Perko, but there are lots of Asian companies knocking off lookalikes. Take a look here, and parts are available. You can call them and ask where and how to get them:

https://www.perko.com/catalog/categ...over_20_meters-incandescent-0004_0007_series/

I guess I have to up my searching skill set. There they are. Ended up polishing up my old ones, put a coat of lacquer on them, replaced white LED's with green/red ones and rewired. New would be nice but the old ones have mojo. If you would ever see me on a windy day when I was backing down 300' of fairway with large boats tied on each side and into my slip you would realize the importance of a little extra mojo onboard my boat.

“old ones have mojo“

That old Grand Banks has mojo. ��

first base-
I plan to replace my running light bulbs with LED's soon. Never thought of using colored lights. Having done that would you recommend it? Instead of clear/white...?

Greetings,
ONE thing to consider if replacing any running lights with LED's is USCG compliance.

Good point.
A quick search and I found that side lights should be visible for at least 1 nautical mile on a 32' boat. Don't know how i would verify that if I used a colored light under a colored lens.

Easting said:

“old ones have mojo“

That old Grand Banks has mojo. ��

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Yes, have to agree. History. I have a nice history story on my boat. Originally put it in this thread, not the right place for it so editing it out now and will post on its own!

Mike GB32 said:

first base-
I plan to replace my running light bulbs with LED's soon. Never thought of using colored lights. Having done that would you recommend it? Instead of clear/white...?

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My knowledge of light waves and optics is less than my knowledge of thermodynamics and I know nothing about thermodynamics. BUT....if I remember right...the green/red lenses will let more green/red light through than white light. I think that is the theory. All I know is that they appear brighter than when I had white LED bulbs. I don't think it is due to the newness of the bulb or lumens as the old bulbs were the same manufacturer and design as the new only the new are colored. I did clean the lenses but they weren't in bad shape.

I'm sure someone with some REAL knowledge can chime in and lay some science on the situation but to answer your question, yes, they do appear brighter.

Mike GB32 said:

Good point.
A quick search and I found that side lights should be visible for at least 1 nautical mile on a 32' boat. Don't know how i would verify that if I used a colored light under a colored lens.

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Don't understand what you are saying. Wouldn't it be confirmed the same as with a white bulb? Green bulb under a green lenses puts out a green light?

Now I am curious (awesome timing now that I have already paid for and replaced the bulbs). I do find conflicting info on the subject. I also find some info on using cool white bulbs for a white /clear light ie. stern light, and using warm white for port starboard nav lights. I still have the white lights and they are easy to put back in.

There is really only one way to test how each set compares at 1 mile. I love a science project.

I put LED bulbs in my old nav lights. New bulbs were way too dim. I replaced whole units with Aquasignal integral LED and those things are BRIGHT. Very happy.

Do be careful that if you replace the bulb with non standard LED, it will change how the light transfers through the fresnel lens and it may not be very visible from a distance.

In reality I seriously doubt any Coasty will ever question a navigation light that just plane old turns on.

That said 1 mile visibility is easy, and the common nav light bulb is only 10 watts. Flick your Bic under a goal post and it can easily be seen under the other goal post.

Another specification is the cutoff and allowable "bleed" of the arcs of visibility. The Red and Greens are supposed to be 112.5 degrees each. Nav light manufacturers get this by using a vertical single filament bulb. Just about any replacement will not met this requirement as the placement of the filament is precise to get the specified arc.

If you like it, if it looks as least as bright as the original, and it turns on, well done, don't worry about it, carry on, and have a nice day.

Also remember if you replace the halogen bulb, not to touch it with your fingers. The oil from you hand will reduce the life of the bulb.

Keysdisease said:

If you like it, if it looks as least as bright as the original, and it turns on, well done, don't worry about it, carry on, and have a nice day.

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Now how am I supposed to completely overthink a subject with people like you around? You are ruining my whole deal. You didn't happen to write that song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" did you???

I did test the angle of illumination in the slip and it seemed pretty much dead on. At least as close as one can judge these 1/2 a degree things. I still have to check out how they look from straight on, how close someone coming at me has to get in order to lose my lights. I think the angle is ok but not sure.

Greetings,
Mr. ASD. "The oil from you hand will reduce the life of the bulb." Well, for all practical purposes yes BUT it's not quite as simple as that.



Halogens run VERY hot and the envelope is quartz glass in order to resist the heat. The moisture/oils from your fingers will be burnt into the surface upon illumination and subsequent heating. Over time, the surface degrades and amount of light put forth diminishes. Internal temperatures increase, thus causing the tungsten filament to potentially evaporate at a greater rate or the surface of the quartz to etch to the point of failure.


IF you happen to handle the quartz bulb, you can readily clean it off with rubbing alcohol with no negative effects BEFORE you turn it on.

LOL, I understand your need to OCD this, there are times and issues where I feel a similar compulsion. The facts are that even the nav light manufacturers think the specifications for "bleed" past the degrees of arc are excessive, and the bulbs they are forced to use to comply do not tolerate the dynamic marine environment well at all, but regs are regs.

112.5 degrees?? 1 mile visibility from a 10 watt bulb?

I know a guy that hooked up his nav light to a running car battery on a couple feet of wire, drove another car 1 mile to see how visible it was, and when he got back the lens had melted. A running car battery on a couple feet of wire was pumping 13.8+ volts into a 12 volt bulb. He was way into overthinking it, and the manufacturer replaced his light, explained what happened, and suggested the light met the USCG and Colregs and no further testing was necessary.

Was that you by chance? If it comes on, you're good.

And I did not write that song, I just have Keysdisease

Here's to you and spending time on more appropriate endeavors, Cheers

firstbase said:

Now how am I supposed to completely overthink a subject with people like you around? You are ruining my whole deal. You didn't happen to write that song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" did you???

I did test the angle of illumination in the slip and it seemed pretty much dead on. At least as close as one can judge these 1/2 a degree things. I still have to check out how they look from straight on, how close someone coming at me has to get in order to lose my lights. I think the angle is ok but not sure.

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TO check the illumination angle my wife suggested that she hold a 180 degree protractor on the bottom of the nav light board under the light with a string attached to the bottom of the light. I would then take the long string off the boat and circle aft on the dock. Then I tell her when I can no longer see the light. She would then read the angle on the protractor.

I sure do love that woman. We are quite the match.

firstbase said:

My knowledge of light waves and optics is less than my knowledge of thermodynamics and I know nothing about thermodynamics. BUT....if I remember right...the green/red lenses will let more green/red light through than white light. I think that is the theory. All I know is that they appear brighter than when I had white LED bulbs. I don't think it is due to the newness of the bulb or lumens as the old bulbs were the same manufacturer and design as the new only the new are colored. I did clean the lenses but they weren't in bad shape.



I'm sure someone with some REAL knowledge can chime in and lay some science on the situation but to answer your question, yes, they do appear brighter.

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I’ve never seen any specific definitions of red or green in the USCG regulations. I imagine they are there, but I’ve never found them. It would seem odd that the USCG would have requirements for the frequency of a vessel’s horn but not wavelength of the running lights.

Anyway, the only concern I would have about using a colored LED inside a colored lens is dependent on the narrowness of the wavelength of the lens filter transmittance and the LED output spectrum. Most colored lenses, such as used in traditional running lights, have a relatively broad transmittance spectrum. The idea is that if you put white light behind a colored filter then the filter will block out all the light except that which it transmits. A colored LED has a relatively narrow spectral range. The problem would occur if the colored lens also had a relatively narrow transmission band that doesn’t correspond well with the LED spectrum. In that case the lens would be filtering out more of the LED energy making the LED appear less bright.

The same can happen with a white LED. Most white LEDs have a higher Kelvin value than incandescent bulbs, ie more blue light and less red light. The peak wavelength intensity for most white LEDs is definitely in the blue range, less in the green, and even less in the red. So, if you were going to use a white LED behind a colored filter, you would try to pick a “warm” light for the red filter and more neutral color temp white light for the green. Even so, you likely would get more light out of a colored lens by using a colored LED than a white LED.

All this is why I just bought approved LED lights when I replaced mine.

Mine are "Approved" and "Marine". Just not sure how much that really means. I have read that new lights from a quality manufacturer are matched, lens and bulb, to ensure proper wavelength compatibility or emission. If bulb and lens compatibility is that important then I am not sure how "approved" can carry much weight as they haven't a clue which lens I am using.

"......you likely would get more light out of a colored lens by using a colored LED than a white LED."

OK, I am officially not the brightest bulb in this conversation because this is all I really understood in this post.
BUT you did answer my question. Thanks!

When looking at your boat from straight ahead at night (dock, other boat, whatever), you want to see both the red and green. A little off to either side, one or the other should vanish.

Thought PSNEELD would have responded by now:
https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=NavRulesAmalgamated
Scan down to Annex I and then look for Intensity. Drink a cup of hi test coffee first.