"Your lights are blinding!"

[bizzard]

Not so long ago London Transport buses RT's ect and trolley buses only had one tiny red rear light on the o/s which also illuminated the number plate, as did a great many old mainly pre-war cars too. The massive great stupid slanting windscreens on modern cars are also horrid and look horrid too, in my opinion, having to drive along with the visor down permanently. They reflect the suns rays and dazzle oncoming vehicles, and one doesn't normally drive along looking directly upwards unless your an aircraft spotter or weather forcaster or ornithologist.

[Neil2]

Powerful LED's have their place though they have just replaced all the sodium street lights in our village with LED downlighters and they are terrific in fact I think the village looks better at night than it does in the day and a lot less light pollution too.

 

 

[bizzard]

8 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

Powerful LED's have their place though they have just replaced all the sodium street lights in our village with LED downlighters and they are terrific in fact I think the village looks better at night than it does in the day and a lot less light pollution too.

 

 

Some are self contained too. with a solar panel on top.

[rusty69]

6 minutes ago, bizzard said:

Some are self contained too. with a solar panel on top.

I saw a public dustbin with an integrated solar panel today, but couldn't figure out what it was powering.........rubbish idea! 

 

Eta. Google tells me they have compactors, batteries and text messaging abilities these says. Marvelous. 

 

Talk about talking rubbish. 

Edited August 24, 2018 by rusty69

[nbfiresprite]

56 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

I saw a public dustbin with an integrated solar panel today, but couldn't figure out what it was powering.........rubbish idea! 

 

Eta. Google tells me they have compactors, batteries and text messaging abilities these says. Marvelous. 

 

Talk about talking rubbish. 

It powers a senser within to detect when the bin is full and sents a message to waste control that it needs to be empty. 

[Wanderer Vagabond]

4 hours ago, bizzard said:

Not so long ago London Transport buses RT's ect and trolley buses only had one tiny red rear light on the o/s which also illuminated the number plate, as did a great many old mainly pre-war cars too. The massive great stupid slanting windscreens on modern cars are also horrid and look horrid too, in my opinion, having to drive along with the visor down permanently. They reflect the suns rays and dazzle oncoming vehicles, and one doesn't normally drive along looking directly upwards unless your an aircraft spotter or weather forcaster or ornithologist.

I know most of your stuff is in jest, but I can't think of many (if any) occasions when I've been dazzled by the sun reflected off someone's windscreen if the windscreen is angled at 45 degrees the sun would need to be overhead to do that but then I have never driven in equatorial countries (where it might be a problem). An upright windscreen however will reflect the  sun as it goes down perfectly?

[Detling]

4 hours ago, Neil2 said:

Powerful LED's have their place though they have just replaced all the sodium street lights in our village with LED downlighters and they are terrific in fact I think the village looks better at night than it does in the day and a lot less light pollution too.

 

 

Quite agree they really do cut down the light pollution.

 

A simple test for any boater to do is on a dry night when you are moored port side to the bank, turn your headlight on and walk 100 foot in front of your boat. If you can see the side of the boat and towpath alongside the boat your lights are probably OK if all you can see is the glare off the water or are blinded you know what to do.

[Scholar Gypsy]

8 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Just a thought. Instead of going beyond their remit and making CO alarms mandatory with lost of "positioning" regs to allow examiners to gold plate the standards the BSS could justifiably insist such lights as this one are a BSS fail. because they do cause dangers for third parties - other boaters approaching them in tunnels. That would perhaps force the chandlers to stock better lights.

Good point - rather like a car will fail its MOT if the headlights are not properly aligned. I replaced my headlight some years ago with a LED bulkhead light, mainly to illuminate the foredeck when getting on and off the boat in the dark. It doubles as a a light that meets the CRT byelaw requirements for navigation in tunnels and at night.....

[Tony Brooks]

4 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Good point - rather like a car will fail its MOT if the headlights are not properly aligned. I replaced my headlight some years ago with a LED bulkhead light, mainly to illuminate the foredeck when getting on and off the boat in the dark. It doubles as a a light that meets the CRT byelaw requirements for navigation in tunnels and at night.....

But that may well be a flood light without any discernible beam and if so it is likely to dazzle oncoming boats unless its of a very modest wattage4 and has a warm white LED in it. I think its the ice white LED and LED arrays that cause the problems

[Scholar Gypsy]

4 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

But that may well be a flood light without any discernible beam and if so it is likely to dazzle oncoming boats unless its of a very modest wattage4 and has a warm white LED in it. I think its the ice white LED and LED arrays that cause the problems

No it really is low power - at the back of the boat one can hardly tell if it is on., even in pitch dark.  It's certainly not a floodlight. 

[Timx]

I've just been through braunston tunnel, the boat I had facing me had nearly stopped, but it's light was blinding, he had it on his right side, but looking straight ahead, I tried putting my hand up to drflect it's glare , but I just could not see, I glanced off his bow, no problem tho, and he nodded as I went past, I said, you need to adjust your light it's blinding, but he quickly loudly replied he doesn't, it's pointing upwards.

but it wasn't, not enough anyway, and as the tunnel is a bit kinky " their angle to you , can be different to your angle to them.

My light points upwards, it lights the tunnel sides enough, but gives a small extra circle of light just ahead of my bow on the ceiling of the tunnel., if I keep that circle in the centre of the tunnel roof, I am therefore always in the middle, it doesn't distract other boaters, and gives me ample light to negotiate passing other boats.(unless there shining their light in your face)

The man today disagreed with me, but he wasn't facing it, no harm done, but he will probably get hit a lot in tunnels.

[LadyG]

On 23/08/2018 at 20:35, cuthound said:

 

Or the cellophane of a Lucozade bottle ? (do they still do Lucozade in bottles with yellow cellophane wrapper?).

nope, horrid plastic bottles, and it just does not taste the same.

yellow glass paint from art shop, it is best colour in fog.

Edited October 19, 2018 by LadyG

[Movin' on]

On ‎23‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 14:01, Jennifer McM said:

Consider it done! Our lights are tilting more upward - they were slightly though in our defence. ?

 

 

Interesting, the lights were bought as tunnel lights. Thanks for the feedback.

 

Yes, we do have the curtains drawn back and inside lights on.

Surely you have cruised against on coming LED's and been blinded as we all have - IMHO change them asap - the fact that "swindlers" sell them doesn't make it right?

[Wanderer Vagabond]

4 hours ago, Timx said:

I've just been through braunston tunnel, the boat I had facing me had nearly stopped, but it's light was blinding, he had it on his right side, but looking straight ahead, I tried putting my hand up to drflect it's glare , but I just could not see, I glanced off his bow, no problem tho, and he nodded as I went past, I said, you need to adjust your light it's blinding, but he quickly loudly replied he doesn't, it's pointing upwards.

but it wasn't, not enough anyway, and as the tunnel is a bit kinky " their angle to you , can be different to your angle to them.

My light points upwards, it lights the tunnel sides enough, but gives a small extra circle of light just ahead of my bow on the ceiling of the tunnel., if I keep that circle in the centre of the tunnel roof, I am therefore always in the middle, it doesn't distract other boaters, and gives me ample light to negotiate passing other boats.(unless there shining their light in your face)

The man today disagreed with me, but he wasn't facing it, no harm done, but he will probably get hit a lot in tunnels.

Exactly my method.

[MtB]

 

I prefer to go through tunnels at night, when its dark. This means there are very few boats coming the other way with stupidly bright lights, as boaters with stupidly bright lights tend not to cruise at night. 

 

 

[reg]

1700 lumens from these lights us far too much. 

 

I'm tempted to mount a large mirror on the front of the boat so that oncoming boats can blind themselves. 

 

Just a thought as nothing else seems to work. 

[MtB]

2 minutes ago, reg said:

1700 lumens from these lights us far too much. 

 

I'm tempted to mount a large mirror on the front of the boat so that oncoming boats can blind themselves. 

 

Just a thought as nothing else seems to work. 

 

GRATE eye deer....

 

 

Getting the mirror angle dead right will be critical though. And the other bote might just think the insanely bright light is yours!

[Scholar Gypsy]

3 hours ago, reg said:

1700 lumens from these lights us far too much. 

 

I'm tempted to mount a large mirror on the front of the boat so that oncoming boats can blind themselves. 

 

Just a thought as nothing else seems to work. 

If it was slightly concave, and mounted at the rear of the boat, then you use it to burn out their lights, or boil a kettle of water ...

 

Here's my tunnel light. I do have an alternative and rather neater mounting system, but you get the idea. ... (Crick tunnel, I think).

[jonathanA]

Actually I think one of the big advantages of  LED lights IS the low power consumption meaning a bit of bell wire will do to connect them (exaggeration before the forum police get in a  tizz). I have a quite low powered one , less than 10w replaced the 55w halogen car spot lamp, but it is a warm white one rather than a blue/white one, so a more yellow light 

 

the midland swindlers durite unit at 1700 lumens is OTT, I haven’t checked but I’m guessing it’s probably a work light for a tractor or lighting  the back of a flatbed truck. 

[Chewbacka]

Another advantage with LED lights if you have children on board is they run cool unlike halogen fog lights which can burn little fingers if touched.

[RichLech]

I had a similar experience in Braunston tunnel back in early September. I just couldn't see as a boat with LED tunnel light approached. I slowed right down but unfortunately gave him quite a clout as I just could not see the outline of his boat. 

 

I find my old halogen light perfectly adequate. It's pointed slightly upwards and sufficiently illuminates both the roof and sides of the tunnel.

[cuthound]

9 hours ago, jonathanA said:

Actually I think one of the big advantages of  LED lights IS the low power consumption meaning a bit of bell wire will do to connect them (exaggeration before the forum police get in a  tizz). I have a quite low powered one , less than 10w replaced the 55w halogen car spot lamp, but it is a warm white one rather than a blue/white one, so a more yellow light 

 

the midland swindlers durite unit at 1700 lumens is OTT, I haven’t checked but I’m guessing it’s probably a work light for a tractor or lighting  the back of a flatbed truck. 

 

But given that a tunnel light is only used when traversing tunnels or moving at night, and thus the engine is running, it isn't necessary to save energy.

 

The cost saving on a new boat of replacing say 120 odd feet of wire with thinner wire is inconsequential.

[frahkn]

5 hours ago, RichLech said:

I had a similar experience in Braunston tunnel back in early September. I just couldn't see as a boat with LED tunnel light approached. I slowed right down but unfortunately gave him quite a clout as I just could not see the outline of his boat. 

 

I find my old halogen light perfectly adequate. It's pointed slightly upwards and sufficiently illuminates both the roof and sides of the tunnel.

 

I came through Braunston tunnel this morning. I passed 3 boats two of which had lights which were to bright or poorly positioned. I really could not see the hull of the boats concerned until I had reached them.

[bizzard]

The aurora around bright lights can be magnified hugely if your eyes are not focusing properly.   Specsavers?

[Boater Sam]

I run a pair or 27w LED work lights pointing up and outwards. To light the cratch I can turn them right over.

They are great for lighting raves in tunnels or even in the fields. Bat spotting, signalling to aircraft and frightening nighttime towpath walkers and cyclists are all good clean fun.

 Very safe for working locks at night.

Is 54 watts of pure white LED too much? I can see for miles and miles and miles and mil...........