Boat headlights amps and cable size

[ditchcrawler]

6 hours ago, Rob-M said:

Or just wait till they pass me in the tunnel as I'll tell them there tunnel lamp is bloody blinding.

 

I told one recently and he hadn't even entered Braunston tunnel but his twin LED lights were blinding me in daylight.

I had that with a day boat down the Staff and Worc

 

2 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I had that with a day boat down the Staff and Worc

 

Even bikes in the Netherton tunnel coming along the towpath can be a pain 

Edited July 20 by ditchcrawler

[Redhawk106]

Is there any chance I can simply reduce the voltage to these to make them more suitable? I just need something that looks ok in the current mounts, will pass bss etc, and not piss off other boaters if we do use a tunnel. 

 

I like the suggestion of fitting both lights yet only using one. That makes the mounts still look good when they are off yet not blind people.

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, Redhawk106 said:

Is there any chance I can simply reduce the voltage to these to make them more suitable?

 

Is it possible to open the case and replace the LED with something more suitable ?

[nicknorman]

The lights don’t seem to have much in the way of focussing so I don’t think altering the direction would help, even if that was feasible with the style of mounting. I am wondering if a detachable light deflector could be fitted a few inches in front of the light - attached eg by hooks so that it could be easily installed prior to entering a tunnel, and then removed so it didn’t look ugly. Thus blocking light straight ahead, but illuminating the tunnel sides and roof in the immediate vicinity of the bows.

 

There are 2 uses for a light, one being tunnels where you mostly want the light near the bows shining to the sides and roof, and the other is for night cruising when you need a more powerful light shining forwards to illuminate the canal ahead. A detachable deflector would allow one light to serve both purposes.

[Redhawk106]

I had another look around, I wonder if these would be more suitable: 

 

https://www.atenlighting.co.uk/product/18w-tunnel-light/

 

Maybe two of these, size wise they look just about right, maybe slightly too small for the mount hole, and the power looks a lot less, and there's mention of a 30 degree beam? And specifically a tunnel light for canal boats? 

 

Btw, is tunnels the only need for these lights or is there another function in general navigation, like fog? I assume the light would be able to cater for both?

[IanD]

On 19/07/2024 at 22:08, Ronaldo47 said:

The dipped filament of a traditional dual filament car headlamp bulb  has an internal metal shield so that an approaching driver does not have a direct view of the dipped filament. Most modern LEDs I have encountered have no such anti-dazzle provision, possibly the reason why so many people (myself included) complain about being dazzled by modern car headlights.

All car headlights -- LED or not -- have what you refer to as "anti-dazzle provision", which simply means a controlled beam pattern where you can’t see the filament/LED (or it wouldn't be controlled).

 

None of this applies to the cheap rubbish LED lights/light bars where you can see the LEDs, these should be avoided at all costs, especially for boats.

 

The reasons people find modern car headlights dazzling -- assuming they're correctly aimed -- is that they're brighter and smaller area than incandescent ones, so they look more like a bright point source. Bike lights are even worse, they look like a tiny bit of the surface of the sun... 😞

[nicknorman]

5 minutes ago, Redhawk106 said:

I had another look around, I wonder if these would be more suitable: 

 

https://www.atenlighting.co.uk/product/18w-tunnel-light/

 

Maybe two of these, size wise they look just about right, maybe slightly too small for the mount hole, and the power looks a lot less, and there's mention of a 30 degree beam? And specifically a tunnel light for canal boats? 

 

Btw, is tunnels the only need for these lights or is there another function in general navigation, like fog? I assume the light would be able to cater for both?

from the description of these lights: “Ideal for use as a tunnel light on canal boats as the 30 degree beam provides a penetrating light into the tunnel.”. Exactly what you DON’T want is a “penetrating light into the tunnel” into the face of oncoming steerers. The manufacturer / seller has obviously never been in a 2-way tunnel!

[Tony Brooks]

32 minutes ago, Redhawk106 said:

Is there any chance I can simply reduce the voltage to these to make them more suitable? I just need something that looks ok in the current mounts, will pass bss etc, and not piss off other boaters if we do use a tunnel. 

 

I like the suggestion of fitting both lights yet only using one. That makes the mounts still look good when they are off yet not blind people.

 

Most LED lamps "bulbs" contain integrated electronics so simply reducing the voltage to below 10V may stop them working - see your link to Arten - and the electronics may well maintain the operating voltage so you get no reduction in light output.

Edited July 21 by Tony Brooks

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Redhawk106 said:

I had another look around, I wonder if these would be more suitable: 

 

https://www.atenlighting.co.uk/product/18w-tunnel-light/

According to https://bristolkitcarclub.co.uk/smf2/index.php?topic=4355.0 an old fashioned bulb car headlight with a standard reflector from about 1970 would have been about 3 - 500 lumens and modern halogen bulbs at 55 Watts are about 900 lumens . That light claims to be 1440 lumens, so definitely much brighter than what would have been fitted to narrow boats a few years ago.

Edited July 21 by David Mack

[Tony Brooks]

How about these - says it has a 12V bulb that I expect is 21W https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/83mm-chrome-bezel-reverse-light-pair

 

Comes as a pair, but you may not like the price.

 

or these https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/95mm-reverse-light

Edited July 21 by Tony Brooks

[Redhawk106]

Thanks Tony, sadly a bit out of the budget, and the other one won't fit the space.

 

Thanks for the input all, think I've got enough to go on now

Edited July 21 by Redhawk106

[Ronaldo47]

1 hour ago, Redhawk106 said:

Thanks Tony, sadly a bit out of the budget, and the other one won't fit the space.

 

Thanks for the input all, think I've got enough to go on now

Perhaps there is a need for a modern version of these! 

 

 

 

Perhaps a louvred air vent would work.

 

 

 

[system 4-50]

It's time for the BSS to require autodipping technology (powered by Windows 10 or 11 of course).🙂

[IanD]

3 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

It's time for the BSS to require autodipping technology (powered by Windows 10 or 11 of course).🙂

Or even better, those fancy LED matrix lights like my car has got which even on full beam steer dark areas over oncoming cars or ones you're following -- spooky... 😉

[Slim]

1 hour ago, IanD said:

Or even better, those fancy LED matrix lights like my car has got which even on full beam steer dark areas over oncoming cars or ones you're following -- spooky... 😉

My  Volvo has these and they are indeed spooky. They're also eye watering expensive  at over £2K per pop.

[IanD]

27 minutes ago, Slim said:

My  Volvo has these and they are indeed spooky. They're also eye watering expensive  at over £2K per pop.

I never said they were cheap... 😉

[jim mitchell]

Found these - dimmable settable and just 6watts  you may be able to use as  dual purpose if you set one low for tunnels and one high for nights

 

https://www.atenlighting.co.uk/product/aten-halo-106/

[Bod]

Thats an interior light, probably not suited to exposure to the UK weather.

 

Bod

[Stroudwater1]

On 19/07/2024 at 22:12, dmr said:

I don't like long tunnels at all, but they are sort of magical. Our headlight casts just a gentle arc of light around the tunnel so I can keep the boat in the middle. I put the nav lights on and these are mounted at the back of the boat so put a gentle glow onto the walls so I can see that the back is central. A big bright light would wreck the magic for me as well as everybody else. It's also nice to have a quick word with the steerer of any passing boats and you can't enjoy that without a bit of night vision.

I thought you had an engine room Dmr? A light in there is great. An empty tunnel bar our boat is great too. 
 

Only taken us 2 years to realise that the light in the engine room with side hatches open perfectly illuminates the side of the boat and tunnel just ahead of you. Couldn’t understand why the one light switch for the engine room was in the back of the rear cabin by the tunnel light… 

[jim mitchell]

2 hours ago, Bod said:

Thats an interior light, probably not suited to exposure to the UK weather.

Agreed Bod, but they are slightly less in dia at 106 mm and only 7.5mm depth  - looking at the OPs original photo they would easily fit into the recesses, adjustable for brightness (max for the warm white 455 lumens)  and draw only 6 watts - once set up a simple  glass or perspex type cover could be overlaid to seal out water - aided by what seems to be a reasonable overhang of the 'roof' above.

 

 

 

[Stroudwater1]

Another thing with tunnel lights we notice some people put lights on behind nowadays. It’s pretty disorienting if they are white. Kept slowing down the other week following a boat we shared locks with going through Braunston tunnel. We knew they were ahead and they knew we were behind (by 150+ yards) but the white light that was quite strong was very disorienting when we could see other white lights coming 
 

Cant they at least be red? 
 

I suppose an option is to come up close behind and switch it off for them though that may not be appreciated 

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Another thing with tunnel lights we notice some people put lights on behind nowadays. It’s pretty disorienting if they are white. Kept slowing down the other week following a boat we shared locks with going through Braunston tunnel. We knew they were ahead and they knew we were behind (by 150+ yards) but the white light that was quite strong was very disorienting when we could see other white lights coming 
 

Cant they at least be red? 
 

I suppose an option is to come up close behind and switch it off for them though that may not be appreciated 

 

No, because a red light indicates a boat's port side to approaching boats. Best just leave any stern lamps turned off or rely on scatter from cabin lights to show where you are to following boats.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

20 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

No, because a red light indicates a boat's port side to approaching boats. Best just leave any stern lamps turned off or rely on scatter from cabin lights to show where you are to following boats.

If I remember right, Col Regs say to turn to starboard to go behind the boat with the red light showing. Tricky in a tunnel!

[MtB]

3 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

If I remember right, Col Regs say to turn to starboard to go behind the boat with the red light showing. Tricky in a tunnel!

 

Also IIRC, colregs specify a stern light must be white.

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Also IIRC, colregs specify a stern light must be white.

 

YYRC