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LED Nav Lights

tuna_man

tuna_man

Regular Contributor
"Off topic from engines, but y

"Off topic from engines, but you guys will know.
I need new nav lights (Pt/Star/trans).
Are LED nav lts avail yet? Has anyone fitted them yet? Mark."
 
"Yes the are available. Perko

"Yes the are available. Perko is one mfgr. that makes them. They're a little pricy compared to conventional bulb lights.
Individual, vertical mt., rd. grn. run about $145.00. horizontal 'bout $175.00 and a combo rd. grn. 'bout $90.00. Stern/anchor lts. vary on style & size but figure around $60.00 to $170.00 (for a motorized)."
 
"Keep this in mind if converti

"Keep this in mind if converting to LED. Unlike filament lights that simply open a circuit when they burn out, LED lights short out when they fail. This is very important to know because if you do not have proper circuit protection, this can overload your wiring and cause a fire. Make sure you have a dedicated fuse for your new LED light and that it is properly sized for your particular light.

Rick"
 
"Yes this may make sense...an

"Yes this may make sense...an LED is a diode that emmits light. (Light Emmiting Diode).

A diode is two wire electronic device thats passes current in one direction only. (like a check or non return valve), very handy for blocking un wanted reverse current. This makes them perfect for rectifying alternating currents (AC). I digress...

So if a diode goes bad, it can lose its ability to block reverse direction flow, and freely conduct in both directions. This possibly can be a short circuit thru the device. good fuse needed. This fuse would be sized slighlty above the measured running current of the LED or LEDS. so the fuse could be sized in mA, not amps..

Im goin out to my boat to measure current of my lights...

For me this is the base theory.

I am only last year taking on board general theory and practice of high Lumen per watt LED illumination, after studying base analog electronics thru the 80s and 90s. Mark."
 
"yep,knew all that,...except f

"yep,knew all that,...except for the shorting out part....was gonna put led on my trlr lites,now may re-think that,..dont want my trk / trlr lites all of a sudden dead at 10 pm dr down the hwy,.."
 
"I still opted for LED trailer

"I still opted for LED trailer lights (and will use the led replacement bulbs to change out the 1156/1157 automotive lights that are currently in my nav lights on the boats as well since the price has dropped at a local retailer to below 10 bucks a bulb).

I understand JWB's concern but I kinda look at it the other way.

Since it seems that most "bulbs" barely last a season on the trailer in some cases (can't count how many times I've been fiddling with the wiring/bulbs in the driveway or boat launch trying to get one side to light up) and the LED's are often advertised to last 10,000 hours (2 or 3 times the life of my trailer I'm sure), I have simply added inline fuses to the harness (the assemblies cost less than a buck at most auto supply places - even got a little waterproof (box) that mounts on the tongue to contain all the connections for a few extra dollars).

Now I don't worry about having NO trailer lights, which used to be a constant issue (however, to be fair both my boat trailers have only been fitted with LED's for the past two seasons, but holding up perfectly so far).

In fact, in Ontario where I am, all commerical vehicles above a certain weight, including their trailers and all vehicles transporting compressed gas products MUST have LED's for brake, signal and running lights (too many burned out convential bulbs which posed a safety issue).

At least here, it's probably just a matter of time before it's law on all new vehicles/trailers which is why I kitted my trailer(s) with them."
 
"Graham
ditto <[img]"http://

"Graham
ditto
thumbs_up.gif


following on from Ricks comment regarding overloading wiring and causing a fire. This cant happen if the 10amp wiring, is using a 10 amp fuse.

Standard elect wiring design centres around sizing fuses to protecting the wiring, not the load or device. Irrespective of LED load or Incandecsant load. Mark"
 
"interesting info...so i assum

"interesting info...so i assume graham,u used 3 fuses??...i do want to go to led on my trlrs.another question,on the led's,...when they r lit,u see numerous dots of lite...now,..can u just lose some...of those r the whole rack...i am a lil behind in my LED knowledge...I'm stuck in the 80's i'm afraid..."
 
"Re-wired my trailer with LED&

"Re-wired my trailer with LED's this spring. They work great and seem impervious to saltwater, so far. Yes - three inline fuses. I installed mine about 3 feet behind the 4-prong plug so I can strap them high on the trailer's bow receiver post to keep them out of the water and road grime."
 
"I actually use 4 on one trail

"I actually use 4 on one trailer (back up lights operate the lock out solenoid for the hydraulic brakes).

I used fused lines even with conventional bulbs to protect the tow vehicles lighting system.

Nothing worse than a short taking out all your lights - so for the extra 10 bucks worth of parts figure it's best to put it on every trailer.

There is another option as well. Reese (and others) make a little box (relay's really) that simply senses which light on the tow vehicle is "on" and then powers that circuit on the trailer.

It was designed for vehicles whose electrical systems couldn't handle the extra load, ultimately keeping the circuits separate. I have used that as well (on a Ford Taurus) and is an option on any vehicle, but at 30 or 40 bucks for the little unit, the in-line fuses are cheaper if your electrical can handle the trailer's electrical load as well...."
 
"Graham - I think most pick-up

"Graham - I think most pick-ups and minivans with even minimal towing packages will easily handle the load with conventional lights, and especially with LED's."
 
"I have never heard of LEDs sh

"I have never heard of LEDs shorting out. Failure is usually reduced light emmission. I was an electronic field engineer and a supervisor of a large electronics department for over 18 years so I am suprised that I would not have encountered this.
I also searched wikipedia and did not find this on their rather extensive LED article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode
I think with line fuses this is the way to go."
 
"Just throwing my 2 cents in.

"Just throwing my 2 cents in. While what Mark is saying may be true in some instances, as there are two types of LEDs, lighting in the auto & marine industries, where lights are sold as a "unit" they are all assembled with resistors to protect the LEDs (which acts almost as a fuse). The only way they'll fail if there is too much voltage going to them and they short or "burn out the resistor.Or it's a mfging flaw. Once that does happen they are dead. Same as an incandescent. You still have to fuse your +, same as an incandesdcent but you do not have to fuse every single wire going to each lamp. So in a nutshell, just wire and fuse LEDs the same as you would do any lights. Contact any of the manufacturers that supply these lights and they will tell you the same.
How many of you have seen, lets say, a truck with LED running lights and one or two out of, oh, maybe six LEDs, are not illuminated. Did they start a fire or short out the electrical system? Nahh.
I've been running LEDs for a couple seasons now.
My only complaint is the pole mount stern light is too bright.
Do as you like but that's my position."
 
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