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no-glare nav lights

Started by davidsea, December 09, 2020, 09:46:44 PM

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davidsea

    New P/S nav lights, USCG-approved 2-mile, mounted above the rub rail, so no issues with liner or foam, just the  #!*^!* mouse-fur carpet.  Very small, about 1 7/8" long X  1 1/4" high, nearly flush mounting in a 1" round hole.  Housing is cast metal which appears to be powder-coated, choice of black or silver, 3 very bright LEDs potted in clear epoxy.    I bedded them in with a very thin layer of clear polyurethane under the flange, so there's nothing on the exterior to hold salt.   Not a cheap solution ($70), but with this location, there are no reflections from anything on the boat.   Available on amazon, search   'brightest 2 mile LED'   from Oznium.
 
1996 SR19 Hdtp. - 2018 Honda  BF115D
2009 Duroboat 16 CC, Honda BF50  -  SOLD
and 19 other boats (I think, lost count)

Tesoro

Good find! and not expensive relatively speaking. The perko equiv is 200 bucks and sticks out. The ones you got are aluminum body and I assume are anodized vs powder coated.

A Colorado company.  https://www.oznium.com
2009 21HT Yam 150/8 'Hogfish'

I'd rather be drinking in a bar wishing I was on the ocean, than be on the ocean wishing I was in a bar.

Barnaclebob

How did you determine the mounting location?  Their documentation says to mount them approximatley 34 degrees off of the centerline.
2007 Sea Ranger 19
2021 Yamaha 115
2021 Yamaha 9.9

Liberty Call

#3
Looks like they only have black.  Was the 40" of wire long enough?  Might  need to splice in more.   They look good.  I don't know about drilling holes in the bow though. 

Barnaclebob

Quote from: Liberty Call on December 10, 2020, 06:11:36 PM
Looks like they only have black.  Was the 40" of wire long enough?  Might  need to splice in more.   They look good.  I don't know about drilling holes in the bow though.

Id think 40" is long enough to reach the original nav light wiring.

Is there a technical reason not to drill holes there or are you just nervous about putting holes in that pretty new boat?
2007 Sea Ranger 19
2021 Yamaha 115
2021 Yamaha 9.9

Liberty Call


whale

How are the angles of the light. With bow being up and the angle of the fiberglass, does it shoot light too high or does it keep holizontal with the sea?
2014 Sea Chaser 17, Yamaha F90, T9.9

Barnaclebob

Quote from: whale on December 10, 2020, 06:59:35 PM
How are the angles of the light. With bow being up and the angle of the fiberglass, does it shoot light too high or does it keep holizontal with the sea?

It looks like these LEDs dont have reflectors so they should be about equally visible from any angle that there arent any physical obstructions.
2007 Sea Ranger 19
2021 Yamaha 115
2021 Yamaha 9.9

davidsea

  In answer to questions:
  The outer bezel is flat, and the LEDs are recessed a bit, so the depth of the recess determines the horizontal and vertical spread of the light.  (This recess also keeps light from reflecting off the bottom of the bow rails.)
   As per USCG specs, the sidelight coverage should be 112 1/2 degrees either side of the bow.  I used the stone-age method of hooking up a small 12V battery  and taping them in various locations on the outside of the boat above the rubrail until :  1) they were both fully visible from dead ahead at a distance of 30 feet or so, but one or the other would disappear fairly soon as you moved side-to-side,  and 2)  each was fully visible looking directly from the side and while moving aft to 'approximately'  12 to 15 degrees behind the light.   On my 19SR, the holes ended up about 27" aft of the centerline of the bow, just below the rail mount, as shown in the second photo, however this will change on any other size of Arima.
  Since the bezels have limited overlap top and bottom, I didn't want to chance getting the holes in the hull too large.  Rather than using a 1" holesaw, I used a 7/8" and enlarged it slightly to the required 1" with a 3/4" sanding drum in a drill.   If you haven't used a holesaw in fiberglass before: 1) drill the pilot hole all the way through first, with the exact same size bit as the holesaw pilot bit.  2) use a variable speed drill and start the holesaw IN REVERSE and very slowly, until you are through the gelcoat and into the laminate.  3) continue slowly through the laminate in forward, and be ready to stop quickly when you break through - that grey mouse-fur carpet will be glued to the back side, and it WILL catch in the hole saw and wind up into a clump.  4) resist the urge to brush away the dust and inspect the hole with your fingers - use a shopvac. Glass fibers are not your friend.
   Since the threaded ring on the back of the bezels screws down to hold them in place, I bedded mine in with a small amount of poly sealant, just enough to ooze out around the sides of the bezel, and cleaned up before it set.  I don't know how durable the finish on the lights will be, so I didn't want them hard to remove if I need to paint them later.  Don't use 5200,4200, Lifecaulk, or any of the other structural sealants - you're just making a gasket, not permanently mounting anything.  I also left a 12" service loop in the wire at the lights, so I can pull them out without rewiring anything.
   I chose to run new wires from each light to the helm switch.  I don't think the 40" wires supplied will be long enough to reach the factory light location. You would need to peel back and re-glue the headliner to run and splice wires.
  Both black and silver were available on Amazon as of today.
1996 SR19 Hdtp. - 2018 Honda  BF115D
2009 Duroboat 16 CC, Honda BF50  -  SOLD
and 19 other boats (I think, lost count)

Markshoreline

Davidsea
How did you route the wires inside the cuddy?  Peel off the fuzzy liner?
2002 Sea Ranger HT 21, Yamaha 150, Yamaha 9.9

Barnaclebob

When i was running wire for my port windshield wiper in was able to use my fish tape to poke a channel in the ceiling carpet.  A wire hanger would probably work too.

This upgrade is on my list prior to squid season this year.
2007 Sea Ranger 19
2021 Yamaha 115
2021 Yamaha 9.9

davidsea

Quote from: Markshoreline on April 15, 2021, 05:20:45 PM
Davidsea
How did you route the wires inside the cuddy?  Peel off the fuzzy liner?

The top edge of the mouse-fur is just above the back of the new nav lights, so I just tucked the wiring under the  edge.  Since the power drain is very low, you can use fairly small wire - I used 18ga. twinlead.  To avoid running under carpet, I ran the lead from the portside light forward, around the bow, and over to the starboard light. I spliced the P&S leads together, and ran a single twinlead back to the switch at the helm.  Since I had replaced the aft (cabintop) white nav light with an LED also, current drain is very low - all 3 lights are fed by a 3A fuse.
1996 SR19 Hdtp. - 2018 Honda  BF115D
2009 Duroboat 16 CC, Honda BF50  -  SOLD
and 19 other boats (I think, lost count)

Tunacious

I want to do this for sure.
I cross the Tillamook bar often in total dark.
I hate the glare.

What do you do with your old lights, just leave them there???

davidsea

  Gloss-finish black 3/32" ABS, adhered with 3M Acrylic Plus Attachment Tape 1/2"W X .045" thick.  (This is the stuff used by OEM manufacturers to stick on emblems and moldings on new cars, best double-stick I've used)    Quick & easy, no gel coat matching required.   :clap:

   Part# is:   3M 06384
1996 SR19 Hdtp. - 2018 Honda  BF115D
2009 Duroboat 16 CC, Honda BF50  -  SOLD
and 19 other boats (I think, lost count)

Tom BC

Thanks for the informative post(s) davidsea, I shamelessly copied this for a 19' SC refit I am working on. I played around with the placement and came up with the same positioning, just shy of 27" and pretty much dead centre on the rail mount.

I used a die grinder with an aluminum die instead of the sanding drum on a drill (mostly because that's just what I had on hand), it worked well but made a helluva mess. It created fine fiberglass shavings and a fair bit of dust, which went everywhere.

Also a note for anyone else who decides to upgrade to these; remember to put the wires through the lock rings BEFORE you start wiring things up. I definitely had a :doh: moment after splicing both on to one wire to run back to the switch.

Anyway,  :beerchug: full pics to come on the refit project soon.
'92 19' Sea Chaser

davidsea

  Happy to be copied, shameless or otherwise - glad it worked out for you.   A lot of similar jobs on fiberglass are best done by two people, one to do the work, the other to hold the vacuum... :facepalm:    Several people expressed interest in this, but you're the only other one to do it, so far as I know.
   As a side note,  I had my annual USCGAux/PowerSquadron inspection last week, passed, got my decal, and the inspector commented on the lights, said they looked great to him.   
1996 SR19 Hdtp. - 2018 Honda  BF115D
2009 Duroboat 16 CC, Honda BF50  -  SOLD
and 19 other boats (I think, lost count)

Barnaclebob

I have purchased these lights because of this post and plan to install before squid season.
2007 Sea Ranger 19
2021 Yamaha 115
2021 Yamaha 9.9

Barnaclebob

I just drilled and sealed my lights but havent permanently wired them.  The positioning of the other two people in this thread looked correct to me using the same guess and check method with temporary wiring to the old nav light.  If you go 34 degrees along the top lip of the boat, theyll be way too far back.   Something about the compound angle changes things pretty dramatically.
2007 Sea Ranger 19
2021 Yamaha 115
2021 Yamaha 9.9

DARice

Resurrecting this thread because I'm installing these lights on my SC17. For my SC17 the correct position is the same as noted above by Davidsea and others for SR19s just below where the section of railing lands on the deck--while that shouldn't be a surprise, it was. A few weeks ago I had made a 30 degree angle with two 2X2s and using that method I marked the location more than a foot aft of where the 'trial and error' placement is. While evaluating position I powered the lights with 9V batteries and it worked well.

The SC17 has much less slope (not as vertical) in that section above the rub rail than the other examples above, and I was wondering whether I'd need to shim the lights so they were more vertical: not needed at all.

1" hole saw arrives tomorrow, so hoping our break in the wind, rain and snow lasts another day so I can knock out a couple of boat projects; it isn't fishing, but something has to give this winter.

Dave
2005 Sea Chaser 17 Pilot House, Lost Sailor
'21 Honda 90, Yamaha T9.9

davidsea

   Dave:   When your 1" holesaw arrives, do a test hole in some throwaway piece of material and check to see that the light overlaps the hole all the way around.  If the holesaw or mandrel wobbles even a little, the hole may be a bit too big and leave a gap.  My saw/mandrel combo did this, so I ended up drilling the boat with a 7/8" saw and then enlarging it slightly with a small sanding drum in a drill to get an exact fit.   As I said in previous post, be very careful NOT to catch the interior 'mouse fur' when drilling, and leave a short service loop in the wire in case you need to pull a light out later for any reason.    ...Dave...
1996 SR19 Hdtp. - 2018 Honda  BF115D
2009 Duroboat 16 CC, Honda BF50  -  SOLD
and 19 other boats (I think, lost count)

DARice

Thanks for the cautionary note. For better or worse, no liner to worry about in my boat.

Dave
2005 Sea Chaser 17 Pilot House, Lost Sailor
'21 Honda 90, Yamaha T9.9

DARice

Install went fine using a 1" hole saw. The pigtails from the fixtures were long enough to reach the original wiring to the receptacle on the top of the cuddy with enough length to route it along the anchor well/cuddy roof transition.

Finally a legal nav light installation! My prior setup was a removable pole into a deck receptacle that positioned the red/green lights above the level of the white light (they aren't quite the required 1 meter lower than the white light).
70027287902__53A579C0-CE0D-4570-8A43-FB8B85EB0855.jpg70027287902__53A579C0-CE0D-4570-8A43-FB8B85EB0855.jpg 
Dave
2005 Sea Chaser 17 Pilot House, Lost Sailor
'21 Honda 90, Yamaha T9.9

Barnaclebob

Installed these on the new arima.  Same spot as before; directly below the first rub rail.

20231126_155933.jpg
2007 Sea Ranger 19
2021 Yamaha 115
2021 Yamaha 9.9