brass tunnel light

[Miffy]

I am in the process of fitting out my new narrowboat and have been looking for a suitable tunnel light. I will not be having a cratch so will need to mount the light on to a pole. Any ideas where I can buy a reasonable brass search lamp, say 8 - 10 inch diameter?

Edited January 15, 2012 by Miffy

[mrsmelly]

I am in the process of fitting out my new narrowboat and have been looking for a suitable tunnel light. I will not be having a cratch so will need to mount the light on to a pole. Any ideas where I can buy a reasonable brass search lamp, say 8 - 10 inch diameter?

 

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeese do NOT mount a searchlight on you boat, they simply blind people coming the other way and were not designed for or suitable for a narrowboat. All that is needed is a flat wide beam to hit the roof of the tunnel. But if you must....my brother in law got a fab one off ebay......Not cheap.

[steve hayes]

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeese do NOT mount a searchlight on you boat, they simply blind people coming the other way and were not designed for or suitable for a narrowboat. All that is needed is a flat wide beam to hit the roof of the tunnel. But if you must....my brother in law got a fab one off ebay......Not cheap.

 

Agreed

 

What ever type of light you have should be pointed upwards onto the tunnel roof. NOT straight ahead.

 

Oh sod it go for one of these

Ebay

Edited January 15, 2012 by steve hayes

[The Pipe]

Francis searchlights are good and available ex-military. Don't listen to the "don't fit a" brigade mount it on the cabin roof as far aft as possible. They have beam adjustment so you can adjust to suit yourself.

[steve hayes]

mount it on the cabin roof as far aft as possible.

 

Oh, that's great fun to meet in a long foggy tunnel, when the bows appear 50ft ahead of the light.

[David Schweizer]

Francis searchlights are good and available ex-military. Don't listen to the "don't fit a" brigade mount it on the cabin roof as far aft as possible. They have beam adjustment so you can adjust to suit yourself.

I seriously hope you could not find a "Tongue in Cheek" Smiley to accompany your post.

 

Spotlights are nightmare in tunnels, and you risk being hit by a blinded oncoming boat!

[The Pipe]

I'm quite serious about mounting it as far aft as possible because it lights up the roof of the boat so you see the boat in relation to the tunnel.

Don't knock it till you have tried it and I do use a Francis lamp and I doubt if it is any worse than any other lamp when on wide beam.

I've passed boats in tunnels with them fitted and it was never a problem.

[by'eck]

Have a look at P.R.O. Cast site, or get lucky on eBay

[ditchcrawler]

Oh, that's great fun to meet in a long foggy tunnel, when the bows appear 50ft ahead of the light.

especially when it keeps swinging about (the light beam, not the bow, you never know where they are)

[mrsmelly]

Francis searchlights are good and available ex-military. Don't listen to the "don't fit a" brigade mount it on the cabin roof as far aft as possible. They have beam adjustment so you can adjust to suit yourself.

 

The clue is in the word SEARCHLIGHT !!! All that is required to navigate a tunnel is a low intensity wide beamed lamp mounted at the front of the boat aimed completely at the roof. Searchlights are for err searching for something which is why the francis was fitted to fire engines and NOT to narrowboats. I have had several pricks over the years dazzle me with inappropriate lights. They usualy then polish their brass before going home on sunday evening in their company repmobile.

[onionbargee]

1: you don't aim a front lamp up at the roof, you aim it dowm slightly so it doesn't dazzle on coming boats, you want to see whats in the water in front of you.

 

2: the brass lamps that are seen in chandlry's are puny rubbish ( i'd use the word Gay, if it wasn't going to be moderated ), real ones can be got from vintage car scrappers for half the cost.

[mrsmelly]

1: you don't aim a front lamp up at the roof, you aim it dowm slightly so it doesn't dazzle on coming boats, you want to see whats in the water in front of you.

 

2: the brass lamps that are seen in chandlry's are puny rubbish ( i'd use the word Gay, if it wasn't going to be moderated ), real ones can be got from vintage car scrappers for half the cost.

 

 

Oh no not another one that needs to dazzle me !!!. If someone is coming the other way you see their beam aimed nicely upwards away from your eyes. If the beam is suitably dim as it should be then it shouldnt throw a beam far enough to see anything coming the other way.

[Guest wanted]

I was always told that the idea was to keep the arc of the light central to the tunnel in order to ensure you are going straight and hence why i needs to be pointing up. Not sure who told me that, may well be rubbish.....

[mrsmelly]

I was always told that the idea was to keep the arc of the light central to the tunnel in order to ensure you are going straight and hence why i needs to be pointing up. Not sure who told me that, may well be rubbish.....

 

Nope.not rubbish, thats spot on.

[Guest wanted]

Nope.not rubbish, thats spot on.

 

Ah good, makes a change!

[PhilR]

1: you don't aim a front lamp up at the roof, you aim it dowm slightly so it doesn't dazzle on coming boats, you want to see whats in the water in front of you.

 

 

If you aim the lamp down towards the water the reflection will probably dazzle the oncoming steerer, which is why it is best to aim upwards at the tunnel roof.

 

Francis searchlights have been mentioned on here and I must admit to owning one. They do have the advantage of being quickly adjustable for beam width and for aim.

I also have a couple of low intensity lamps which can be switched from the steering position.

 

If anyone doesn't want to fit a low intensity lamp in addition to a powerful main lamp there is always the possibility of fitting a dimmer/rheostat?

[Albion]

I have used round Bosch fog-lamps in the past for both my boats. They were about 10 ins in dia and had a superbly flat beam top and bottom. This, when shone upwards at the tunnel roof, gave a good arc of light which didn't cut across any approaching steerer's eye line until they were passing through the beam when already alongside us in the tunnel. Some of the cheaper fog-lamps are flat on the top only but rounded below that which won't give the same lack of dazzle to oncoming boats. Unfortunately, I think that Bosch must have discontinued those fog-lamps now as I can't find any reference to them on the web.

Roger

[David Schweizer]

1: you don't aim a front lamp up at the roof, you aim it dowm slightly so it doesn't dazzle on coming boats, you want to see whats in the water in front of you.

 

2: the brass lamps that are seen in chandlry's are puny rubbish ( i'd use the word Gay, if it wasn't going to be moderated ), real ones can be got from vintage car scrappers for half the cost.

 

Whilst I agree with your second point, (I bought my 1930's Lucas King of the Road Foglight for a Fiver at a boot sale) I cannot concur with you first observation. The light, which should be a wide flat beam, should be aimed at the centre of the tunnel roof, where it scribes a narrow arc of light, Once you are inside the tunnel and your eyes have adjusted , it is perfectly adequate to t=steer by, Pouinting upwards it cannot dazzle any oncoming boats, however aiming it at the water reflects the light upwards from water level into the eyes of the oncoming boat.

 

Many people have too bright a light, sometimes even more than one. I find my sinbgle 35watt tungsten bulb perfectly adequate, and I cannot understand why some people need to illuminate the whole tunnel for half a mile, when a hundred yards is more than enough, you are only doing 4mph, it's not a motorway!.

[luctor et emergo]

My lights are to move in the dark, therefor bright, wide, and plentyful...

in a tunnel I use(d) a powerful handtorch.

[bizzard]

My lights are to move in the dark, therefor bright, wide, and plentyful...

in a tunnel I use(d) a powerful handtorch.

Same here,just one wide beam oblong driving light.

[Athy]

Our headlamp, also mounted on a pole, is of the type used to replace old headlamps on MG sports cars, so it comes with a nacelle - but I can't remember the name of the supplier.

One function of a headlight is to illuminate the towpath when you're moored somewhere dark, so one which always points upwards will be of little use.

[Nine of Hearts]

2: the brass lamps that are seen in chandlry's are puny rubbish ( i'd use the word Gay, if it wasn't going to be moderated ), real ones can be got from vintage car scrappers for half the cost.

 

I've got a brass lamp procured from a chandlery and although you may be correct that I paid too much for the case, its core is a standard BMC 6" sealed beam headlight. If they're "gay", then every car I drove up until 1996 (and quite a few after) was "gay". Granted, they all had two of the buggers (usually), but I was travelling at considerably more than 4mph under their illumination.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Nine of Hearts

[David Schweizer]

Our headlamp, also mounted on a pole, is of the type used to replace old headlamps on MG sports cars, so it comes with a nacelle - but I can't remember the name of the supplier.

One function of a headlight is to illuminate the towpath when you're moored somewhere dark, so one which always points upwards will be of little use.

What happens when the topwpath is on the other side?

[bizzard]

Years ago there was a car called the Hillman Californian,and the deluxe version was called the Gay look.

[Nine of Hearts]

Years ago there was a car called the Hillman Californian,and the deluxe version was called the Gay look.

 

You're not kidding, either! I wonder if when it broke down, you had to get on the other bus?