Best Navigation Lighting.

Quick question that may lead into a debate of favorites, but what are the standard navigation lights used on mid-sized vessels?
Also, what are the best lights?
What are the most environmentally friendly nav lights?

Sorry about lack of intro, see "my impossible mission" for the whole story behind me asking.
DIM

 

Attwood, the world's most trusted manufacturer of marine lighting, offers navigation lights for boats of all sizes and types.

Whether you are installing navigation lights for the first time on a small fishing boat or upgrading to the boating's best LED lamps on a large cruiser, Attwood has the right parts at the right price, ready to install, right out of the box - so you can finish the job and get back on the water!

 

Thank You I'll take a look at them, and see if they can meet the other specs of my project.

 

lowbaylighting, I'm relatively new on this forum and may not understand all the rules, but it seems improper to do marketing on a discussion forum without explicitly saying who you are and what you are doing. If you don't identify yourself explicitly then readers will assume that you are just a satisfied customer who is recommending a product. I'm sure you don't want to mislead people like that.

 

Fully concur Dave,

though it is not uncommon that those of us producing, building, purchasing something, sometimes give a decent hint towards their product (especially when nothing else was provided), it is not very welcome here to make plumb, dumb and barefaced advertisements.

Hella is the largest manufacturer of Nav. lighting in the entire world! Followed by Aquasignal (recreational mainly), and Peters & Bey (commercial only, but almost the entire commercial fleet above a certain tonnage).

The LED is the way to go (certified of course!!!), and you do´nt do wrong with any of the prime brands.
The way you can fix them, or even the styling, is a more important issue in this case.

Regards
Richard

 

When you buy the lights ask for a life expectancy of the LED lights. This is important, some of the LED's doesn not have such a good life expectancy.

Find something in the range of 100 000 hours or do not buy it. A light with a group of LED's in is also better than the one very bright LED. The cluster should do better in the long run.

Lastly, rather get a too big and too bright than too small and too dim. Never heard of a boat that is too visisble.

 

But I want a boat that can is most effective with less power consumption since the storage power of my electrical energy generated will be limited to the same amount as a regular boat battery and some change from subtracting from the fuel tank a little.

 

Then LED is your choice like Richard said.. Mid-zd vessel >12m reckon? http://www.svb.de/index.php?sid=04d8fbe7ecf4409cd2e987c935cbfad8&cl=alist&cnid=13128 Here you find pretty much whats available everywhere. See the lights for your boat size they are intended to. If you have a sailboat a masthead tri-colour might save a bit of amps moore (not much if you choose LED)

 

I tried the Attwood link and it didn't work for me so Googled them and what I could find was sportboat plastic junk. That's okay, because I have never found a light from any manufacturer that I am in love with. Richard, I have a home within a mile of a huge Hella plant near Mexico City. When riding by, I always wonder if there's a way for me to get a deal...

 

Not that I like to contradict you Fanie, but a average use of Nav. light for two nights per week, gives a lifecycle of 50 years! Thats about 50.000 hours. And that exactly is the common guarantee the industry provides.

I would say thats enough.

Regards
Richard

Mark
I have no idea, but do´nt think so. If you ask in Germany at ANY factory entrance, you are told to look for a dealer.

 

Hi Richard,

I have some LED's here that has been running continuous for the last couple of years. Certain colours lasts longer than others, on the moment only the green ones are still visible and emmits about half of what they did when new. The light producing ones lasted about a year in which they systematically lost their emmissive capability. They claimed 50 000 hours which is supposed to be 5 years, but they didn't make it.

They have been replaced since with the newer generation LED's claiming 100 000 hours. These run colder and produces more light at less current. Remember they are always improving on the old which is a week in some cases.

To give you an idea, I have a radio here of which the LCD's back lighting LED's was shot. The repelacement LED's are so bright that one have troubles reading the LCD, and that is while drawing 1/3rd the current the previous old LED's did.

Since the lights on a boat will still be used quite a bit, I would personally prefer the longest life devices available. Remember by the time you replace the lights the same ones may not be available any more, then it's refitment etc etc.

All I'm saying is what I would have done. If you're happy with that life expectancy then by all means.

 

Hello Fanie,

has nothing to do with my preferences.

Just the industry does not provide a 100.000 hr guarantee on certified nav lighting at present. Though they are using the recent generation of LED´s.

And btw. in almost 40 years of going to sea, I cannot remember more than 2 or 3 conventional bulbs I had to replace on posi - lamps.

Have a nice Christmas time, you and your Family!

Cheers
Richard

 

yeah it sounds good. But when we ask the shop guys about this they will tell everything positive. So we are enable to find the exact quality things,,,,

 

If I like something, I will take it home and test if off the power supply. If I don't like what they did with the electronics I'll replace it with my own.

I do the same with my trailer lights. The rubbish you get to buy I throw out and replace with something reliable. I keep only the plastic outside that has the frisnell parts.

 

To summarize most of the posts:
Go LED?