GT27 Build (Wes K)

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jonnymac
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Re: GT27 Build (Wes K)

Post by jonnymac »

The challenge of Leds in a closed housing is the heat tends to kill them faster. I hand an Ikea light fixture that did this, drilled a vent hole and the bulbs lasted for years. so you almost needs to use a stainless housing as a heat sink to keep them alive. I suspect someone who lives up north would have much more success than someone in the south. If you made sure they were off as much as possible, I bet you would have better success too.

wkisting
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Re: GT27 Build (Wes K)

Post by wkisting »

That's good information! I don't plan to use the red/green nav lights very much as I doubt we'll be underway very often after dusk or before dawn. The white all around light will get used a lot more. Those seem to hold up better. For whatever reason, it's the red LEDs specifically that seem to burn out most often or present the most trouble for people, according to reviews. If the red lights burn out once every five years, I can live with that. If it's every year or less, as some people report, that will drive me nuts. I assume those with the latter problem are probably running at night a lot more than I will, though.
Wes
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My build thread is here --> viewtopic.php?f=12&t=63644

jonnymac
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Re: GT27 Build (Wes K)

Post by jonnymac »

they also might be the kind of people that just leave them on all the time too. I had a buddy that everytime we went out in his boat he turned all the switches on everytime. that’s the hard part about reviews is people don’t leave enough info.

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VT_Jeff
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Re: GT27 Build (Wes K)

Post by VT_Jeff »

BrianC wrote: Tue Dec 01, 2020 1:19 pm The side mounts work great IF you mount them at the right angle. All the well designed side mounts have a 112.5° beam angle and must be mounted such that the forward extreme of the beam is in-line with the boat's center line. The mounting surface also should be vertical. You'll need to look at the particular model's installation instructions. Some, like the Taco, are symmetric and need to be installed 45° from the boat's centerline. Others are asymmetric and need to be installed at some other angle; e.g. the Oznium needs to be at 34°:
About 34°.jpg
Great explanation, I'll use this to locate mine, hopefully soon!
There are only two seasons in Vermont: boating season, and boat-building season.

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wkisting
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Re: GT27 Build (Wes K)

Post by wkisting »

Okay gents, in case anyone cares for an update on my nav light decisions...

I'm going with a bi-color 2nm LED bow light, set on a 10" high pole. That way I don't have any clutter on the bow deck except a very discrete stainless steel cover over the plug in light base. The light also has a built in, button operated task light on the back of it which might be nice to use in the cockpit at night when coming up to a dock, etc. http://old.attwoodmarine.com/store/prod ... ole-lights

For the all around light, I decided to try the somewhat expensive Attwood LED masthead/anchor light. It can be wired as an all around (360 deg) light, and is visible for 3nm so should be very bright! It's about twice as expensive as their other all around lights, but seems to be made from higher quality 316 SS components instead of polymer. At 12" high, I think should be visible to the front (over the long/tall cabin roof) for any craft that is more than 20' away from us, which I think is adequate. http://old.attwoodmarine.com/store/product/7812
Last edited by wkisting on Sun Dec 06, 2020 1:24 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Wes
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My build thread is here --> viewtopic.php?f=12&t=63644

wkisting
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Re: GT27 Build (Wes K)

Post by wkisting »

I did a little geometry to figure out if the all around light would be visible to the front over the cabin roof. It depends a lot on how high the eyeline of other boat operators is above the waterline, but I figure somewhere around 4' high is typical for someone seated and driving a normal size craft. At that height, they can see the all around light until they're within 25 feet. I think that's adequate, but welcome comments from others. Of course, there are also bi-color bow lights that will be visible at any distance. This is just to check forward visibility of the all around white light. Here's a sketch...
all around light.jpg
Wes
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My build thread is here --> viewtopic.php?f=12&t=63644

fallguy1000
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Re: GT27 Build (Wes K)

Post by fallguy1000 »

Could also move the masthead light forward.
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viewtopic.php?f=12&t=62495

jonnymac
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Re: GT27 Build (Wes K)

Post by jonnymac »

wkisting wrote: Sun Dec 06, 2020 1:22 pm I did a little geometry to figure out if the all around light would be visible to the front over the cabin roof. It depends a lot on how high the eyeline of other boat operators is above the waterline, but I figure somewhere around 4' high is typical for someone seated and driving a normal size craft. At that height, they can see the all around light until they're within 25 feet. I think that's adequate, but welcome comments from others. Of course, there are also bi-color bow lights that will be visible at any distance. This is just to check forward visibility of the all around white light. Here's a sketch...

all around light.jpg
I would think that is alright for most cases. that is also assuming a no waves at all. Any wave motion is going to make it visible at a closer distance at least part of the time.

silentneko
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Re: GT27 Build (Wes K)

Post by silentneko »

Why not do a masthead and stern light like most do in this situation?
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wkisting
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Re: GT27 Build (Wes K)

Post by wkisting »

silentneko, an all around light is just a little simpler here, in terms of mounting, operation, and efficiency. 99% of the (rare) times this is used, it will be just as be our anchor light at night. I may locate it a little further forward yet, but one thing I really like about this placement is it means little to no light down into the cockpits, and if it attracts bugs in the evening, it draws them away from the forward area where the kids are likelier to sit in the evenings. We'll have separate lights in each cockpit for when we want illumination, but I don't like for the marker/nav lights to shine in your eyes or cast residual light onto the decks/sole. Thus, part of the intent was for the long roof to shade the cockpit areas, and to keep the all around/anchor lighting as far aft as practical. I also want to keep the roof as fixture-free as possible because we expect to mount solar panels later. I'll put a trumpet horn up there, a pair of grab rails, and probably a GPS and VHF antenna, but that's about it except for solar.
Wes
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My build thread is here --> viewtopic.php?f=12&t=63644

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