Running Lights

[sguerrero]

Ok, I have a few questions that may be dumb but I will ask anyway.

I went by my local West Marine and was looking to purchase some LED running lights for my new to me DS II. I want to use these because of the long life, they are waterproof, low heat and mainly their low power consumption. The problem I have is I can buy these type lights all day long for vehicles for little more than a standard incondesent light would cost me, but for my boat the cost is 5 times more than a standard light. So, is there something special about using these lights on a boat that I don't know about.

Another question, since I am being cheap. Why could I not use the LED lights for vehicles? What are the requirements for running lights? Other than the standard Red, Green and White I mean.

My thinking is to buy the inexpensive running lights and replace the bulbs with the LED replacements you can get for most bulb types. This still would prove to be at least 50% cheaper than buying the LED running lights from West Marine.

My overall goal is to eliminate the need for a car size battery to power my lights mainly because of the weight. At the heavy end I could use a lawn tractor battery, and at the lighter end I could use rechargeable "D" batteries. I have to have the running lights because our club races on Wednesday night and most races are not over until after sun down.

Sergio G

[Roger]

The special thing about LED lights that makes them so expensive is that they come from a marine store, hence 5 times the price.

Jokes aside, they have to meet marine standards of being visible at 2nm.

I have a combo bow light and a stern light, so only 2 bulbs. They are rated at 3 watts max. If that is all you are running, you could likely set up two 6 volt lantern batteries in series, but a set of 8 D cells may work just as well. A motorcycle battery may work for you as well, in terms of lightness. I mounted my old car battery on the cuddy sole in front of the mast.

I mounted my bow light front and center on the cuddy roof to reduce the distance of wires and complexity of mounting at the bow. I mounted the stern light at the back of the coaming about a foot forward of the transom, fishing the wires behind the seat backs. Total cost, including the lighted toggle switch was about $30.

[PromptCritical]

First off, they only cost more because they are the new cool thing.

The reason you can't use the car replaements is that LED's are directional. The lights must point in the proper direction. On my boat, the front end running lights are mounted vertically on the bow. An LED replacement light would have the LED's pointed straight up (and into the light housing) where very little light would actually go in the proper direction. This, and the fact that there may not be a replacement available for the bulbs that the running lights use.

I gave some thought last year to doing this, but I was replacing existing lights on my boat, and all the LED lights would require me to fill in the existing holes and drill new ones, which is more trouble than it was worth. I ended up just replacing the existing lights with new ones of the same type, but I did install LED lights on the trailer, just becasue LED's are cool.

[sguerrero]

thanks,

I didn't know that a requirement was 2nm's and I didn't even think about the fact that the replacement leds may be directional, and not work properly in the housings. I will take these two points into account and see what I can come up with.

My plan as of right now is to see if I can find replacement bulds that will point in the proper direction. If I can't find a proper replacement then I will go with standard light fixtures and keep the stock bulbs. I will install two courtesy lights, one under the cuddy and one in the cockpit probably both (Red) and LED, since there are a ton of these to choose from at the auto store. I will control all this from a custom built switch panel with a connection for a 1.8 watt trickle Solar charger.

I have used this charger in the past and if you set it up before you go home after the races, you never have to take the battery home to charge it. I guess I am being a little lazy, but after the races there is beer to tend to.

Thanks for the info and I will try and put together some pics of what I used and how I installed the pieces for those that may want to do the same.

sg

[Roger]

I don't race so weight is not an issue for me. I use two battaries, one a car battery charged by a 2.8 watt solar panel, permanently mounted. On this bank, I have the nav lights, an interior red light, and a 12v accessory plug. The other is a marine deep cycle that is charged by a permanently mounted 5w solar panel. I run the 55 pount thrust electric motor off of it. I do not have to recharge either by separate means throughout the whole summer. The acc plug can be used to power my handheld VHF, GPS, am/fm radio, cell phone, all of which I usually have aboard but typically run on their own battaries. I have three lighted toggled switches in a small 2 x 6 panel mounted under the cuddy roof, rear and centre for the nav lights, courtesy light, and plug. The whole panel is fused with a 3w buss fuse. The motor is on separate curcuit and is not switched.

I have a battery lantern that I would hang as an anchor light. It runs on 4 AA's and also is independent of any circuits. My theory is that any of the gear that has the potential to drain a battery, is 1. self powered, 2. on a circuit that is isolated from the motor.

[PromptCritical]

I've got a small deep-cycle battery bolted to the mast inside the cuddy. It's connected to teh lights and a car cigarette lighter type socket. THis is set up to power a radio, or GPS, or whatever I feel like. Also going to get a solar panel which will plug into the socket to charge the battery during the summer...