wrote in message
...
On Apr 1, 8:45 am, "Capt. JG" wrote:
Might be, might not be... at the masthead? without taking off the lens on
the bowlights? And, then s/he would have to know if the particular
fixture
is USCG approved. Without a close inspection, that might not be so easy.
Unless the lenses on your lights are badly fogged you can see the
bulbs through them clearly in the day in the lit and unlit states.
LED clusters also have distinctive bright spots when lit. I don't
have a clue if any particular surveyor would refuse to pass leds in an
incandescent lamp but if he doesn't even notice them he's
incompetent. Since the surveyor is not going to be able to insure
that the lamps are compliant with 22 by testing he could reasonably
insist on a USCG approved fixture. The CFR is specific: fixtures are
approved with the supplied bulb only. Putting in a different kind of
bulb makes them not USCG approved (that's different from not legal as
running lights under COLREGS). AFIK, the whole point of having USCG
approved fixtures is so end users and interested parties can be
assured that a lamp meets Annex I without testing the color,
luminosity and so on. As soon as you modify the lamp all bets are
off. There aren't all that many USCG approved fixtures out there.
Surveyors will be familiar with the common ones and should closely
inspect any they don't recognize.
-- Tom.
Hmm.. well, I can't tell during the day when the bowlight is unlit, as least
I don't recall being able to tell. I looked at the hi-res images of the
following, but next time I'm at the boat, I'll look again.
Isn't the point whether or not the lights are visible from the prescribed
distance? And, this would be at night of course. So, it seems to me that if
you're involved in a collision at night, and you could show that no matter
what you had was in fact visible, does the CG care that they're "approved?"
I don't know the answer... just wondering.
http://picasaweb.google.com/SailNOW....49198843692818
http://picasaweb.google.com/SailNOW....18970863861506
--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com