wrote:
With few people at work, its hard to get much done. Today I woulda got
more done on the boat but spent it at work. I'll go to the boat to
change the oil and engine zinc on my Yanmar 2GM tomorrow.
Tried to find some 600 ohm resistors at Radio Shack for my homemade
ultra-bright LED anchor light but no luck, will havta order em.


It seems the LEDS are the thing, trucks etc & I assume your traffic stop
& speed limit lights are all LED arrays now??? Here they're replacing
them with LEDS, apparently much less power & of course if one dies the
traffic light is still functional.

Torches are all going LED & still seem to have plenty of punch.

As for anchor lights we have used them for about 3 yrs now, but we buy them.

The problem with using them as a "real" anchor light is compliance, in
the probably unlikely even you were run down in the night while at
anchor the insurance people would use whatever they could to claim you
were not using legal lighting.

The one on my boat is "maybe" visible at 2 miles, in complete darkness
you can see a pin prick of light but it's so tiny you're not sure if
it's just what you see when you look that hard at the dark:-) but by
well over a mile it's definitely in play & by 1 mile very clear.

Here the pleasure boat rules just require "visible" at 2 miles.

K

"K. Smith" wrote in message
...
wrote:
With few people at work, its hard to get much done. Today I woulda got
more done on the boat but spent it at work. I'll go to the boat to
change the oil and engine zinc on my Yanmar 2GM tomorrow.
Tried to find some 600 ohm resistors at Radio Shack for my homemade
ultra-bright LED anchor light but no luck, will havta order em.


It seems the LEDS are the thing, trucks etc & I assume your traffic stop &
speed limit lights are all LED arrays now??? Here they're replacing them
with LEDS, apparently much less power & of course if one dies the traffic
light is still functional.

Torches are all going LED & still seem to have plenty of punch.

As for anchor lights we have used them for about 3 yrs now, but we buy
them.

The problem with using them as a "real" anchor light is compliance, in the
probably unlikely even you were run down in the night while at anchor the
insurance people would use whatever they could to claim you were not using
legal lighting.

The one on my boat is "maybe" visible at 2 miles, in complete darkness you
can see a pin prick of light but it's so tiny you're not sure if it's just
what you see when you look that hard at the dark:-) but by well over a
mile it's definitely in play & by 1 mile very clear.

Here the pleasure boat rules just require "visible" at 2 miles.

K

Here, at least some are being sold as "USCG approved" and suprisingly have
only 2 or 3 LEDs. Same requirements: visible at 2nm. Part of the
brightness secret is the use of a molded Fresnel lens. Even the truck
lights have mini Fresnel lens molded into the plastic housing. Fresnel lens
have been used in lighthouses since they were first built and concentrate
the light for maximum visibility.

Eisboch

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
K. Smith wrote:

As for anchor lights we have used them for about 3 yrs now, but we buy
them.


I wonder what that means in English?

I think it means she buys used anchor lights.

Eisboch

JimH,

I have a deep cycle gel battery, When I use my anchor light, it has never
made it through the night without being completely discharged. Is this
normal?


" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
.net...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
news
wrote in message
ups.com...
First version, otherwise why use 6 resistors instead of one single
lower ohmage one of higher power.


I was trying to roughly calculate the power requirements. You said
600 ohm resistors, correct? The voltage drop on the LED will be
minimal when forward biased or "on", so each branch must be about .02
amps, times six equals .12 amps, so the power must be about 12v times
.12 or about 1.4 watts. Probably a bit more when you factor in the
LED drop, whatever it is. Significantly less than a regular light
bulb!

Eisboch


Most LED's are in the 400mw range.


How about the standard 12v bulb used for anchor lights?

I don't know what their wattage rating typically is. My guess would be
somewhere between 10 - 20 watts, given that they are required to be seen,
what, 2 miles away at night?

Eisboch



What is the benefit for a boater on the hook overnight besides having a
brighter anchor light? Is there a significant less draw on the house
battery over a 10 hour period?

"Reggie Smithers" wrote in message
...
JimH,

I have a deep cycle gel battery, When I use my anchor light, it has never
made it through the night without being completely discharged. Is this
normal?


" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
.net...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
news
wrote in message
ups.com...
First version, otherwise why use 6 resistors instead of one single
lower ohmage one of higher power.


I was trying to roughly calculate the power requirements. You said
600 ohm resistors, correct? The voltage drop on the LED will be
minimal when forward biased or "on", so each branch must be about
.02 amps, times six equals .12 amps, so the power must be about 12v
times .12 or about 1.4 watts. Probably a bit more when you factor in
the LED drop, whatever it is. Significantly less than a regular light
bulb!

Eisboch


Most LED's are in the 400mw range.


How about the standard 12v bulb used for anchor lights?

I don't know what their wattage rating typically is. My guess would be
somewhere between 10 - 20 watts, given that they are required to be
seen, what, 2 miles away at night?

Eisboch



What is the benefit for a boater on the hook overnight besides having a
brighter anchor light? Is there a significant less draw on the house
battery over a 10 hour period?







I never had that problem.

Something you can consider is a portable anchor light such as this one
http://tinyurl.com/akeg7

JimH,

This is exactly what I need, it uses one tenth the power of a 12 volt bulb.

I saw that there were some all around LED lights to replace the 12 volt
bulbs, but they were substantially more expensive, and only saved 1/2 the
power.

I forgot to mention that the Gel Deep Cycle battery also powered the
refrigerator, so that is probably why it always died during the night.


" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Reggie Smithers" wrote in message
...
JimH,

I have a deep cycle gel battery, When I use my anchor light, it has never
made it through the night without being completely discharged. Is this
normal?


" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
.net...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
news
wrote in message
ups.com...
First version, otherwise why use 6 resistors instead of one single
lower ohmage one of higher power.


I was trying to roughly calculate the power requirements. You said
600 ohm resistors, correct? The voltage drop on the LED will be
minimal when forward biased or "on", so each branch must be about
.02 amps, times six equals .12 amps, so the power must be about 12v
times .12 or about 1.4 watts. Probably a bit more when you factor
in the LED drop, whatever it is. Significantly less than a regular
light bulb!

Eisboch


Most LED's are in the 400mw range.


How about the standard 12v bulb used for anchor lights?

I don't know what their wattage rating typically is. My guess would be
somewhere between 10 - 20 watts, given that they are required to be
seen, what, 2 miles away at night?

Eisboch



What is the benefit for a boater on the hook overnight besides having a
brighter anchor light? Is there a significant less draw on the house
battery over a 10 hour period?







I never had that problem.

Something you can consider is a portable anchor light such as this one
http://tinyurl.com/akeg7

I'll bet it was the bulb in the refrigerator that did it!


On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 10:37:53 -0500, "Reggie Smithers"
wrote:

JimH,

This is exactly what I need, it uses one tenth the power of a 12 volt bulb.

I saw that there were some all around LED lights to replace the 12 volt
bulbs, but they were substantially more expensive, and only saved 1/2 the
power.

I forgot to mention that the Gel Deep Cycle battery also powered the
refrigerator, so that is probably why it always died during the night.


" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Reggie Smithers" wrote in message
...
JimH,

I have a deep cycle gel battery, When I use my anchor light, it has never
made it through the night without being completely discharged. Is this
normal?


" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
.net...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
news
wrote in message
ups.com...
First version, otherwise why use 6 resistors instead of one single
lower ohmage one of higher power.


I was trying to roughly calculate the power requirements. You said
600 ohm resistors, correct? The voltage drop on the LED will be
minimal when forward biased or "on", so each branch must be about
.02 amps, times six equals .12 amps, so the power must be about 12v
times .12 or about 1.4 watts. Probably a bit more when you factor
in the LED drop, whatever it is. Significantly less than a regular
light bulb!

Eisboch


Most LED's are in the 400mw range.


How about the standard 12v bulb used for anchor lights?

I don't know what their wattage rating typically is. My guess would be
somewhere between 10 - 20 watts, given that they are required to be
seen, what, 2 miles away at night?

Eisboch



What is the benefit for a boater on the hook overnight besides having a
brighter anchor light? Is there a significant less draw on the house
battery over a 10 hour period?







I never had that problem.

Something you can consider is a portable anchor light such as this one
http://tinyurl.com/akeg7





--
John H.

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

JohnH,
You might be correct, we keep the refrigerator door open so we could have a
nightlight on. ; )


"JohnH" wrote in message
...
I'll bet it was the bulb in the refrigerator that did it!


On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 10:37:53 -0500, "Reggie Smithers"

wrote:

JimH,

This is exactly what I need, it uses one tenth the power of a 12 volt
bulb.

I saw that there were some all around LED lights to replace the 12 volt
bulbs, but they were substantially more expensive, and only saved 1/2 the
power.

I forgot to mention that the Gel Deep Cycle battery also powered the
refrigerator, so that is probably why it always died during the night.


" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Reggie Smithers" wrote in message
...
JimH,

I have a deep cycle gel battery, When I use my anchor light, it has
never
made it through the night without being completely discharged. Is this
normal?


" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
.net...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
news
wrote in message
ups.com...
First version, otherwise why use 6 resistors instead of one
single
lower ohmage one of higher power.


I was trying to roughly calculate the power requirements. You
said
600 ohm resistors, correct? The voltage drop on the LED will be
minimal when forward biased or "on", so each branch must be about
.02 amps, times six equals .12 amps, so the power must be about
12v
times .12 or about 1.4 watts. Probably a bit more when you factor
in the LED drop, whatever it is. Significantly less than a regular
light bulb!

Eisboch


Most LED's are in the 400mw range.


How about the standard 12v bulb used for anchor lights?

I don't know what their wattage rating typically is. My guess would
be
somewhere between 10 - 20 watts, given that they are required to be
seen, what, 2 miles away at night?

Eisboch



What is the benefit for a boater on the hook overnight besides having
a
brighter anchor light? Is there a significant less draw on the house
battery over a 10 hour period?







I never had that problem.

Something you can consider is a portable anchor light such as this one
http://tinyurl.com/akeg7





--
John H.

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to
resolve it."
Rene Descartes

"Reggie Smithers" wrote in message
. ..
JohnH,
You might be correct, we keep the refrigerator door open so we could have
a nightlight on. ; )


"JohnH" wrote in message
...
I'll bet it was the bulb in the refrigerator that did it!


On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 10:37:53 -0500, "Reggie Smithers"

wrote:

JimH,

This is exactly what I need, it uses one tenth the power of a 12 volt
bulb.

I saw that there were some all around LED lights to replace the 12 volt
bulbs, but they were substantially more expensive, and only saved 1/2 the
power.

I forgot to mention that the Gel Deep Cycle battery also powered the
refrigerator, so that is probably why it always died during the night.


" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Reggie Smithers" wrote in message
...
JimH,

I have a deep cycle gel battery, When I use my anchor light, it has
never
made it through the night without being completely discharged. Is
this
normal?


" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

" JimH" wrote in message
...

"Bill McKee" wrote in message
.net...

"Eisboch" wrote in message
news
wrote in message
ups.com...
First version, otherwise why use 6 resistors instead of one
single
lower ohmage one of higher power.


I was trying to roughly calculate the power requirements. You
said
600 ohm resistors, correct? The voltage drop on the LED will be
minimal when forward biased or "on", so each branch must be
about
.02 amps, times six equals .12 amps, so the power must be about
12v
times .12 or about 1.4 watts. Probably a bit more when you
factor
in the LED drop, whatever it is. Significantly less than a
regular
light bulb!

Eisboch


Most LED's are in the 400mw range.


How about the standard 12v bulb used for anchor lights?

I don't know what their wattage rating typically is. My guess would
be
somewhere between 10 - 20 watts, given that they are required to be
seen, what, 2 miles away at night?

Eisboch



What is the benefit for a boater on the hook overnight besides having
a
brighter anchor light? Is there a significant less draw on the
house
battery over a 10 hour period?







I never had that problem.

Something you can consider is a portable anchor light such as this one
http://tinyurl.com/akeg7





--
John H.

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary
to resolve it."
Rene Descartes



It also keeps the cabin cool. ;-)

wrote:
With few people at work, its hard to get much done. Today I woulda got
more done on the boat but spent it at work. I'll go to the boat to
change the oil and engine zinc on my Yanmar 2GM tomorrow.
Tried to find some 600 ohm resistors at Radio Shack for my homemade
ultra-bright LED anchor light but no luck, will havta order em.


For those not inclined to make their own LED lights, here's a link to a
site with additional information about one particular brand:


http://www.mmboatyard.com/New_From_MMBoatyard.html



The one disadvantage to these lights, so far, is their cost. The offset
could be that for
any lights (like a masthead light) that some boaters might currently be
paying somebody to replace the price of installing one LED light that
should last 50,000 hours (will never wear out in typical pleasure boat
service) will be less than sending a worker up the mast
a second or third time during the ownership of the vessel.

They are very bright, and far more bulletproof than a lightbulb.

Lopo also makes interior cabin lights.