brightness required for running lights?

[pegasus1457]

I have been reading a thread on another site on the subject of making a replacement "bulb" out of multiple high intensity LEDs to fit in an existing fixture for running lights. The LEDs are the 360 deg high intensity variety available from

Super Bright LEDs - LEDs

RL8-W110-360 (white), RL8-G50-360 (green), RL8-R25-360 (red).

My question is: how do I translate the USCG requirements for visibility at 1 n.m. (or 2 n.m. for boats over 12m LOA) to mcandelas or lumens? Does anyone know how to make this conversion? I understand that the fixture plays a role in the process, but there oiught to be a way to make an estimate.

Another way to phraase the question: how much light does a standard 10W incandescent bulb provide? In the case of red/green, most of the white light generated by a bulb never gets past the red/green filter...

[sailingdog]

Umm... why bother... they already sell LED replacement bulbs that fit many common navigation light fixtures, like the Aqua Signal series 25 and 40, and some of the Hella Marine ones. Some of these are also already USCG certified for those fixtures...

Making up your own bulbs is an iffy thing legally. If you aren't seen at night and get hit... the first thing they'll do is say that your boat wasn't lit properly and try blaming you for the collision.

The replacement bulbs I'm talking about aren't that expensive either...about $43 street retail.

[N0NJY]

Another way to phraase the question: how much light does a standard 10W incandescent bulb provide? In the case of red/green, most of the white light generated by a bulb never gets past the red/green filter...

TECHNICALLY, you can't convert "directly". Let me see if I can research that a bit more. If I remember right, there's a forumla, but it involves some other data. I'll get back to you later.

[N0NJY]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Umm... why bother... they already sell LED replacement bulbs that fit many common navigation light fixtures, like the Aqua Signal series 25 and 40, and some of the Hella Marine ones. Some of these are also already USCG certified for those fixtures...

Making up your own bulbs is an iffy thing legally. If you aren't seen at night and get hit... the first thing they'll do is say that your boat wasn't lit properly and try blaming you for the collision.

The replacement bulbs I'm talking about aren't that expensive either...about $43 street retail.

Did you make that "iffy thing legally" up or what? What "regulation" covers making lights?

[norsearayder]

hi there,got her on the hard yet,mine went up last friday.last 4th of july i was parked ina mooring field gettin ready to watch the fire works...there was 3or4 cg,marine patrol&harbor police etc swarming around me like i was jack sparrow!finnally one of these brave defenders of homeland secrity drifted close to me and requested i snap on an anchor lite.problem was my anchor lite was temp out of order due to corrosin ,,,sooo i hoisted a small oil trawler lantern...that seemed to satisfy them,,,or at least kept them from boarding me and spilling my Quevro gold,,,i used that as anchor lite the rest of the summer even after reparing elc anchor lite,,,no further problems with compliance,,,rayder

[tommays]

WELL

uscg approved lights - Google Search

They do seem to have there hand in everything electric on boats

now carries USCG approved LED replacements bulbs for ...

[sailingdog]

N0NJY-

If you make your own light bulbs... and the fixtures aren't certified by the USCG to be visible for the 1, 2, or 3 NM required by law... a good lawyer is going to carve you to pieces if someone hits you at night. All they have to say is that you were negligent and had improper navigation lights on your boat...and chances are pretty good you'll lose the suit.

Unfortunately, the USA has become an overly litigious society, where people tend to sue at the drop of a hat... and if the guy who hits you thinks that you have any money because you have a nice big sailboat... he's gonna sue you—and his lawyer will use every dirty, underhanded tactic to make you look as responsible for the accident as possible.

From one of the LED replacement bulb press releases:

Seattle, Washington, December 18, 2006 – Dr. LED today announced that it’s White Polar Star 40TM after-market replacement LED light bulb for the Aqua Signal series 40 anchor light has been certified by a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) accepted independent laboratory as compliant with the USCG COLREG 1972 (International Maritime Organization, “IMO”) standards and verified to be in conformance with the navigation light regulations of ABYC A-16. This is the only after-market navigation replacement light bulb that has received such certification.

This is the first of a series of certifications for its Polar Star 40™ and Polar Star 25™; a series of after-market LED replacement bulbs for navigation lights. The Polar Star series have built-in patent-pending circuitry to maintain constant 2 nautical mile visibility brightness from an input voltage range of 11VDC to 15VDC while only drawing 0.09A.

From one of the LED navigation light manufacturer press releases:

Austin, Texas, May 13, 2004 – Orca Green Marine Technology Corporation (OGM) announces today that the TriAnchor, it’s latest LED product in their expanding Argo NavisTM LX Series of LED Marine Navigation Lights, has received certification to the US Coast Guard standard 33 CFR 183.810. OGM’s recently introduced Tricolor/Anchor combo underwent testing by IMANNA Laboratories, Inc (an independent US Coast Guard approved testing laboratory) for both ABYC and NMMA compliance. OGM is the first to achieve compliance to the USCG standard with an LED-based Tricolor and Anchor combination light.

So, no, I'm really not making this up... having uncertified lights can open you up to a world of hurt legally and financially, even if the other person is really at fault for the accident. All their lawyer has to do is say that you were negligent in using non-compliant navigation/anchor lights...

[badsanta]

Make sure you use the right color LED. A white led under a red and green lense will come out pink and blue. They make the proper bulbs. Red under red and green under green. But SD is right

[N0NJY]

sIf you make your own light bulbs... and the fixtures aren't certified by the USCG to be visible for the 1, 2, or 3 NM required by law... a good lawyer is going to carve you to pieces if someone hits you at night. All they have to say is that you were negligent and had improper navigation lights on your boat...and chances are pretty good you'll lose the suit.

Fixtures are electrical connections, I was talking about the lights themselves. But I get the point.

[J36ZT]

There has got to be some sort of rule as to brightness/visibility for nav lights. I say this because a careful inspection of both the LED anchor light and LED stern light I bought revealed the lettering "USCG approv. to 2nm" on them (haven't replaced the bow light(s) yet). I have enough knowledge and skill to build my own nav lights that would be brighter than required but wouldn't for legal reasons in the event of a collision. At about $100 a pop, LED nav lights are expensive, but I'd guess you'll end up paying about the same in parts if you were to build one yourself.

By the way... USCG Navigation Rules, Part C, Rule 21 - Rule 31, should give you a clue as to how bright nav lights need to be...

Skipper, J/36 "Zero Tolerance"