Pearson Boats - Common Systems > Electrical Systems & Electronics

Mast Lights

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Captain Bri:
If anyone else is looking at LED bulbs there is a good Practical Sailor article on the topic of replacing the anchor bulb with a tri-color bulb - assuming the wiring and fixture are in good condition.

The jist of the article is a Marinebeam tri-color bulb ($87) that plugs in as a replacement, and by pulsing the dc switch up to 3 times you get Anchor/Tri-color/SOS choices. The bulb itself meets COLREG requirements and you could replace the fixture too and meet the luminosity standards.

Marinebeam seems to come up with clever solutions for those of us on a budget!  (no affiliation here)

Comments on the article:

The Marinebeam Tri-Mode bulb is in fact a bulb (a light source), not a fixture. The bulb turns any existing all-around (anchor light) fixture into a tri-color/anchor light. UV could potentially craze the surrounding fixture lens, but not likely the bulb inside. For an extra $10 Marinebeam offers a complete fixture, which is the one shown in the PS article.

For just a couple more bucks, the fixture can be upgraded to a pole mount, allowing the fixture to be mounted as high off of the masthead as the user wishes. This solves any obstruction issues, and the user is still several hundred dollars ahead. Should the fixture eventually degrade due to UV, there is no expensive $300+ fixture to procure and replace. For another $15 or so, just the fixture itself can be replaced. The bulb itself should outlast most of us.

Alignment is easy using the premarked alignment tabs and rotation features on the bulb (assuming the user can find the bow of their vessel). Alignment is certainly easier than on any known tri-color fixture, which has no ability to fine tune the angle without drilling new holes, etc.

Posted by: Marinebeam | October 24, 2017 8:52 PM

Valor:
When I refit Valor last April, I used Marine Beam for my tri-color mast light/anchor/strobe combo. It will free up your anchor breaker because its a 2 wire light. The mast head breaker controls all three modes based on turning it on and off for a few seconds. By default it is in anchor mode/ solid white light. flip the breaker off for 5 seconds and back on and its a tri color, flip the breaker off for 5 and its a sos strobe. Its very bright and I have had no issues with it all season.

I also purchased the Marine Beam 18 Watt LED spreader lights. You can get them as a spot or 60 degree flood beam. I bought the 60 degree floods. They are ridiculously bright. Like a combined 40 ft circle of light around the boat bright. I used one of the existing spreader bolts to mount the bracket. No holes to drill!  I also purchased the LED steaming light and down spot combo. Again, very bright and no issues.

Marine Beam is your best bang for your buck. Everything is very high quality and you will not find a better price on any of the three lights I mentioned from any other vendor.

FYI- If you use cheap ebay LED bulbs in your mast light, there is a HIGH probability you will have EMI Interference with your VHF radio when your light is on because the coil of the antenna is less then a foot away. A friend of mine purchased a cheap ebay led for his anchor light and his radio was horribly affected.  When he swapped the bulb the problem went away. Marine Beam lights do not have this issue.

I pulled all new tinned wire and monster RG-213 for the antenna while I was there. I had a lot of fun doing this project and the rewards of LED are so worth it.
Good luck

Mike

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