Looking for an anchor light ?

I have been searching online for awhile. for a LED auto/on anchor light, that won't break the bank. I see quite a few out there in the 2-3 hundred dollar range and that is flat silly. All I'm looking for is a good led 350 degree anchor light with a photo on/off cell/diode.

Let me back up abit, I need to replace the light assembly and bulb on my current unit, which sits atop a 24 inch pole. While cruising this year in the Sea of Cortez, I dropped my glass cover for the anchor light that came with the boat. Now it is gone and the base is loose, so I figured time to replace. I've looked at Aqua Signal, Hella, Perko and a few more with little love for their current prices.

So I thought I'd come back to the keeper's of knowledge and ask here o the forum. I'm sure you guys have found the best deals on these lights and I'm short on time ashore. We have been cruising the Sea of the past two years, and we are back on dirt for 30 days. So I have to get all my re provisioning and shipping done quickly.

As I have said before the Sea is a great place to cruise, I am one of the very few power boats that spends the year off the dock We recently tied up after being off the dock for over 4 months. So come on down and enjoy

Years ago, I made my own photo cell/transistor dusk anchor light from Radio shack parts. Tbe parts are less than $15. Pre internet but I bet schematics are available now on the web.

It could easily handle any of todays LED bulb wattages.

Nice thing is, you splice it in anywhere before the bulb in a place the photo cel sorta sees sunset.

The second picture is a 12V one on ebay. $8.99 and good to 20V DC.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/262961...7290-0%26rvr_id%3D1292278463862&ul_noapp=true

The one I made worked for 20 years, so dont let people tell you that this is rocket science too.

West Marine, Defender and many other vendors will have what you are looking for.

"Cheap" is likely to get you something less reliable than you should install. Make sure what you buy is not rated for 12 volts but a range like 9 -28 volts. This means it has a constant current driver and will not fail when your battery charger raises the voltage to 14 or more volts.

For White boats Perko makes nothing I would have aboard.

However for larger boats their stuff is still OK.

https://www.fisheriessupply.com/perko-figs-1164-1174-cast-bronze-commercial-navigation-lights

You can easily connect a photo switch to a standard anchor light. You can find one on the net for less than 10$.
https://www.amazon.com/HIGHROCK-Photocell-Switch-Photoswitch-Sensor/dp/B019BR5Y3U

L

Dswizzler said:

I have been searching online for awhile. for a LED auto/on anchor light, that won't break the bank. I see quite a few out there in the 2-3 hundred dollar range and that is flat silly. All I'm looking for is a good led 350 degree anchor light with a photo on/off cell/diode.

Let me back up abit, I need to replace the light assembly and bulb on my current unit, which sits atop a 24 inch pole. While cruising this year in the Sea of Cortez, I dropped my glass cover for the anchor light that came with the boat. Now it is gone and the base is loose, so I figured time to replace. I've looked at Aqua Signal, Hella, Perko and a few more with little love for their current prices.

Click to expand...

We replaced our Perko original with an Attwood 3NM LED version. Reasonable cost, VERY bright, doesn't have an auto-on feature though.

When I say bright, I took a pic of the boat at the dock, with a streetlight in the frame behind the boat. Our anchor light in that pic is comparable in brightness to the streetlight.

-Chris

ranger42c said:

We replaced our Perko original with an Attwood 3NM LED version. Reasonable cost, VERY bright, doesn't have an auto-on feature though.



When I say bright, I took a pic of the boat at the dock, with a streetlight in the frame behind the boat. Our anchor light in that pic is comparable in brightness to the streetlight.



-Chris

Click to expand...

We purchased one of these for our Nordic Tug. Very bright. Very compact. Doubles as a running light. Great value.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003EWQNOS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apis_1503665405489

Mark,

I think you're looking for the Davis Mast light.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00144D9N6/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all

I installed one many years ago and paired it with this Marinebeam replacement bulb for a 0.04A draw and the brightest anchor light in the anchorage. Auto on at dusk, auto off at dawn.

The Mastlight came with 2 bulbs that were sufficient, but the Marinebeam bulb is exceptional with even lower current draw.