papawads
Full Member
Posts: 49
Jeanneau Model: SO 43 DS
Country: Greece
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Post by papawads on Apr 7, 2023 18:15:52 GMT
Anyone replaced their anchor light (or just bulb) and therefore know what parts I will need? I'd like to go for LED. Any wisdom welcome. Thanks :-)
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Post by rxc on Apr 9, 2023 20:20:24 GMT
There are direct replacements available for the unit you have, but if your boat is anything like mine, it is very difficult to see the anchor light because it is so small and close to the top plate on the mast. And then there is all the "stuff" up there that gets in the way. I replaced my anchor light in 2016 with a combination anchor light and R-G-W steaming light up there. Much larger and more visible, and also a redundant set of lights for sailing at night. Not cheap, but I figured that it was worthwhile. I also added a small light to illuminate the wind indicator at night, which required the addition of another wire up the mast. It was not hard to do with the mast on the ground for the rigging replacement, but replacement of the anchor light itself with the mast up would be a bit of a challenge. You would have to drop the mast or drill some additional holes to run new wiring. The wiring for the light comes up thru a small hole in the cap on top of the mast, but it is secured down inside the mast and you cannot pull on it to get some slack. I remember that there was very little wire available to make connections, so an additional length would have to be spliced in, and then that pigtail would go into the new light. Oh, and if you want to just replace the bulbs, I think that there are LED options available, but don't have any ID on them. The inside of the light was pretty well corroded. I have photos of the inside of the masthead. There is a large, heavy casting up there that holds the sheaves, and the wires are anchored inside that casting. It is not a simple place to do work.
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papawads
Full Member
Posts: 49
Jeanneau Model: SO 43 DS
Country: Greece
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Post by papawads on Apr 10, 2023 13:27:07 GMT
Great information, do you have the model of light that you installed
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Post by rxc on Apr 10, 2023 15:40:53 GMT
The light at the top is a Series 34 combined Masthead/ Anchor light from Aqua Signal. It has several bad reviews at West Marine but I did not have any problems with the light itself. Realize that if you buy it, you will have to run an additional single wire up the mast. The existing pair of wires supply the existing anchor light, but you will need another single wire for the tricolor lights.
There is a light somewhere that lets you switch it between tri and anchor function from down below. I don't remember the mfg, but it might be worth the extra cost to avoid running the new wire.
And I forgot to mention that I used this opportunity to replace the TV antenna, which had finally succumbed to UV death. This is particularly important to me because the boat is parked behind my house, and the TV antenna also serves the house.
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Post by shira45ds on Apr 11, 2023 10:34:35 GMT
NASA marines Supernova LED light lets you use existing two wires, and by reversing the polarity you can have anchor or tricolour. They supply a switch, but how on earth do you integrate that with the Sun Odyssey switchboard? If I could work it out I'd fit one in a flash. Any suggestions greatfully received. Used the Supernova before on other boats and it's excellent!
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SY Racer
Full Member
Posts: 49
Jeanneau Model: SO 34.2
Yacht Name: Racer
Home Port: Kiel
Country: Germany
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Post by SY Racer on Apr 11, 2023 13:42:51 GMT
You need to add a switch to your switchpanel. The existing switch will switch on/of and the additional switch will let you between the two funktions. Polarity Switch
You can buy the additional switch pre-wired as a so called latching switch which will eliminate the need for the original switch as it has a neutral middle position: Amazon Link
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Post by rxc on Apr 11, 2023 16:50:41 GMT
Polarity control would be another way to work. The light I am thinking about has you flick the switch/breaker inside the boat several times to cycle thru the different functions - OFF, Anchor, Masthead. I think the intelligence is in the light. Probably done with a latching switch. Sorry I don't remember the brand.
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Post by saltymetals on Aug 9, 2023 8:50:24 GMT
Papawads, if you want to add a tri-colour then clearly you need a new fitment. If you just want to change yr anchor light to LED then you can get a LED bulb which will go into the existing bulb fitting. I have gone one step further and i got the LED anchor light which has a light sensor incorporated so you can leave the switch at the chart table ON and then the light looks after itself, coming ON at dusk and then OFF at dawn. When you stop and think of the number of times you might have left the boat in the evening when it is still light to go for a drink or dinner and also that dawn is often about 06:30 when everyone is still sleeping you realise that the auto facility saves so many extra hours from being ON. The light looks after itself. Magic.
I also changed my nav lights to LED so have no need of a tri at the top of the mast
Andrew
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Post by Zanshin on Aug 9, 2023 12:30:16 GMT
rxc - it looks like your light is blocked by both the VHF antenna and even more by the radar mount. Couldn't you raise it a bit to at least become legal and let the port/starboard light be seen through their whole vectors of 120° each at 2 miles?
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Post by rxc on Aug 9, 2023 18:38:06 GMT
The very first photo in this list showed the top of the mast as I bought it, with the original light and the other stuff up there. The second photo shows the top of the mast as it now exists, with the new TV antenna and the new light. The old TV antenna suffered death by UV to the plastic shell, and I wanted both an LED anchor light and a sailing tri-light. The mast was down in 2015 for a summer on the hard in Florida, and a rigging replacement (no signs of deterioration, but I got a good deal on the rigging). So I got a good look at the insides of the mast and did a bunch of re-wiring while it was down. (Fighting off the red ants in the field where it was stored while doing this was the worst part of it)
Jeanneau must have thought that the light they installed was "legal", but then "someone" (probably the dealer) decided to add the TV antenna and the VHF antenna, which blocked a large part of the light. Jeanneau installed the wind instrument up there and could easily see that it blocked some of the light so you have to wonder whether they considered that the boat might want to have a VHF radio with an antenna up there, and a TV antenna. I am not picking on Jeanneau - they are doing what I see on lots of other boats, and people have to mount lots of stuff up there, without thinking about visibility of the anchor light.
I could probably have raised the light even a bit further, with a block of plastic, so that the new TV antenna did not block the light, either. Did not think of that at the time.
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Post by Charlie-Bravo on Aug 10, 2023 17:33:50 GMT
I like to use an led light suspended between genoa and mast about 8 feet above deck if I suspect an anchorage is going to get busy, a lower light might not be as well seen at distance, but it’s the close approaches at night that are going to get me ! and the lower light is more in the sight line of approaching skippers. I have also used the masthead and steaming / deck light, plus a 50 led string of lights just to be sure, …….. and still get near misses! (non colreg compliant )
CB
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Post by Zanshin on Aug 11, 2023 4:44:41 GMT
I installed dimmable cockpit LEDs which don't draw much power and leave those on at night in a busy anchorage to discourage things going bump in the night. That's in addition to the anchor light. charlie-Bravo - I wonder about that suspended red light. It could be confused with either a running light or with one of two vertical red lights (vessel aground). Wouldn't a white light be more appropriate?
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Post by Charlie-Bravo on Aug 11, 2023 8:22:20 GMT
It is a L.E.D . white light, I should have used capitals for clarity, …… red would be dodgy I agree, a bright purple might draw attention well. CB
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Post by Zanshin on Aug 11, 2023 8:45:30 GMT
OOPS - I read "red" instead of "led" --- mea culpa!
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Post by fma on Aug 15, 2023 2:11:07 GMT
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