LED Question for Moe (or anyone else knowledgable!)

[midget]

Moe- I'm tryin to find LED fixtures to use for spreader lights that will be bright enough and yet small enough to not look goofy on my X boat. I got the Orca Green Trianchor Strobe ready to mount, just need spreader lights, and the mast will be ready to go back up! Do you see any thing useable on this site (like maybe the pucks?) http://www.theledlight.com/ice_pucks.html Thanks for any help.

[Moe]

I don't see enough info on them to be able to tell, i.e. illumination angle, etc. Spreader lights are pretty high up and light falls off with the inverse square of the distance. Unless you want more than just a circular spot on deck directly below the spreaders, I don't think anything less than a pair of Luxeon based lights, drawing in the neighborhood of 350mA each, is going to do the job.

How long do you plan to use the lights? If just a few minutes after anchoring to clean up the deck and bag the sails, that might not be enough time to justify LEDs. Even two 55W incandescent floods only use about 2 amp-hours over 12 minutes. Of course, if you plan to party for hours under them, that's a different story.

I'll look around and see what's out there.

[midget]

Thanks for that info, Moe. Don't know how long they'll be on for, just prior planning for worst case scenerios. Plus I only want to drop the mast one time if possible! Thanks for looking further for me.

[Moe]

I'm not seeing much out there yet. My personal preference for working on deck at night is a head torch, like miners wear (and these days bicyclists). No worry about me creating shadows right where I need the light, and it puts the light source closer to the work. Unlike a flashlight, it keeps both hands free... one to work with and one for the boat. But I'll keep lookin'.

[midget]

sorry oreana, the link didn't work--clicking or cutting and pasting.

[Frank C]

THat link works fine for me - a simple click!

[midget]

Works for me now too. Thanks oreana.

[midget]

How about these, Moe? Especially the bottom one? They're 350mA. http://www.chamaeleon-tech.com/Kalaphos.htm

[Moe]

These are definitely worth exploring, but it appears to me they run off special power supplies they call "drivers", and are not something you'd hook up to unregulated 12VDC that may be as high as 14-15V and as low as 10.5. They may also need heat-sinking and a heat-resistant housing. Worth contacting them though.

[ronacarme]

The site you listed may be pricey on some items, e.g. it lists a PALIGHT for USD37 vs. USD17 at www.hosfelt.com ,tho hosfelt may not have 12v lamps of use to you. For that, www.superbrightleds.com may be worth a look. Good luck.....Ron

[Jack O'Brien]

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... 001/151867

I have had one of these mounted on my starboard spreader for a year or two now. I did not want a big bright light. This illuminates the deck when it is dark. If it isn't dark I don't need a spreader light. I leave it on sometimes at anchor as an auxiliary anchor light.

[Moe]

Jack, those look like they may be Hella Marine 8537 lights. These 10-33V rating and description as "multivolt" indicates they may be regulated internally to maintain full brightness. Their picture of the red "hotspot" being about 0.2 meters wide at 0.15 meters distance indicates an angle of about 90 degrees or a 14' wide illuminated area from a height of 10'. Does that sound about right?

Jack, would it be safe to say these two-LED lamps are enough to provide moonlight level illumination on nights with no moon? Or more? That would be a good thing for preserving night vision, with the alternative of using a head torch when that isn't a problem.

Hella also offers these LED strip lights which show the beam strongest (red) at about twice the distance (1.3-1.4m vs .6-.7m), but they don't appear to be regulated.

[midget]

Maybe I'm wrong (unknowledgeable) but I think a 90 degree spread would be too big for what I need and "moonlight" too dim. Maybe the LED approach won't work. I just can't picture me telling "the better half" she has to put on this miner's light to see what's on the deck Since you're an HD guy Moe (ex'88 FXSTC myself), howabout maybe the smallest running light/road lamp (NOT NESS!) I can find with an LED replacement bulb?