hiya
good on ya Dave, dont listen to the guys who have more money than sence its
them that inflated marina prices are there for.
I save money where i can too, big companies rip off the men with money and
they pay 200 times too much for stuff and we have to suffer because of their
stupidity.
( a fool and his money are soon parted )

fragged


"Dave Erickson" wrote in message
news:2Lxkb.817241$YN5.825132@sccrnsc01...
I was in Costco and saw white LED night nights at 6 for $10. I bought
them,
took a few apart. With slight modifications they will work on 12VDC
instead
of 120VAC. They automatically turn on at dark, and use a whopping 30mA
when
on, 150uA when off. They can be used as inside night lights, utility
lights
and even as anchor lights albeit not very bright, probably in violation of
a
handful of admiralty laws. The light output is pretty good thanks to the
lens, a diffuser, and a reflector. They can be used without the optics or
even without the base cover.

Compared to the Davis lights they're lower power, cost 5% as much, so when
you step on one, the expensive and hard to find Davis lamp burns out, or
lightning causes it to explode, you will have a couple of spares.

If you happen to find the same type of night lights I did, here's the
mods:

Take out the one screw and pry apart the two lens halves carefully. After
you take the first one apart you'll get the hang of it.
Unsolder the AC plug pins and pull them out with pliers while unsoldering.
Remove the little circuit board.
Short out the big film cap C1 with a small wire.
Change Rxx from 560K to 68K.
Apply +12 to the AC pin that has R1 on it.
Apply GND to the other AC pin with the two diodes.
Put it back together. Test it first, then apply lots of epoxy to seal it
up.
Since it's LED you should never have to take it apart again.

I ran a red and black wire out the holes formerly used for the AC pins.
18GA
zip cord would work fine.

Remember to fuse it externally. If you want to fuse it internally, replace
C1 with a 1A picofuse instead of a wire.

Have fun with your new $2.00 anchor light.

Dave Erickson
Apache 37 "Second Sojourn"
www.djerickson.com for lots of Bahamas and ICW pictures

Disclaimer:
If you hurt yourself, blow up your boat, or get rammed at night, it's not
my
fault.