Nav Lights ?

[Malcolm]

After it was brought to my attention at the BRC that my portable nav lights were very hard to see I need to fix this problem.

I have bought some lights and now need to put them on.

I will hook them up to a battery but can I buy a thing where I can hook up several different things maybee even with switches and is this easy enough to do at home or should I just get the pro's to do it

[uglyfish]

bias boating and bcf have multable switches mate..its easy enough to do ya self

[noname]

make sure you put a white light down the back somewhere, if you don't have already, ask nitris why!

[Malcolm]

Thanks gents I do have the white light as well

To join the wires can you just twist them together and tape or is that a bit to dodgee

[noname]

run the 2 nav lights on 1 switch and the white light on another switch, as you only need the white light on when anchored, no nav lights required when anchored

[kriso]

Malcolm wrote:

Thanks gents I do have the white light as well

To join the wires can you just twist them together and tape or is that a bit to dodgee

way dodgee mate! lol use solder or crimp connectors

[shortie]

get some paint on elecrical tape.

twist wires and paint.

Crimp connectors end up rusting.

If it was going on a big $$$$ boat then take the time to solder but its not.

[kriso]

still beats a fire. if not solder use heat shrink its made by narva and pretty cheap just use a lighter to shrink it much better then the paint on stuff

[username_taken]

Definately take the time to solder, and or use crimps. Can seal either with heatshrink to slow corrosion. Twisted wires can slowly untwist until they have bad connections which is a fire hazard.

Make sure you use appropriate fuses as close to the battery as possible as well to reduce the possibility of fire.

[shortie]

;)

Bring her around Mal im sure we can take care of it in an arvo drinking session.

should take about 10 minutes then into some bourbons.

[Malcolm]

shortie wrote:

;)

Bring her around Mal im sure we can take care of it in an arvo drinking session.

should take about 10 minutes then into some bourbons.

Now that sounds like a plan

[Smiderman]

I'd second the soldering motion.. with the heat shrink to prevent shorts etc.. you can buy liquid electrical tape for about $10-12 which will over come corrosion eventually taking over.

When I did my nav lights i soldered then liquid taped the solder joints then heat shrinked over that....... no dramas to date ..

PS you can pick up any of this stuff at Jaycar or any good electrical shop... the boat places like whitworths or bias generally load the price a fair bit .. particularly for heat shrink

[dhess]

I do my electrical connections exactly the same way as Smiderman. Solder, liquid electrical tape, heat shrink. Its not worth being a tightarse when your life could potentially be on the line.

Its being pedantic, but the only thing I would add is to use tinned core wire as over time uncoated copper will corrode if any moisture gets in.

One more thing to do is to zip tie everything up securely so there is no excessive swing in the cables from motion as soldered joints can be brittle and will break from metal fatigue with excessive motion.

On another board I remember reading something written by a marine electrician and apparently quality crimps crimped using the correct tool are the way to go. They are less likely to fail from excessive movement. A spray of Lanox or similar is going to stop corrosion in its tracks anyway.

[rayke1938]

There are two different types of heat shrink. Get the one with the resin inside that melts when you heat it and you get a complete waterproof seal.

I always solder everything.I twist joint will work untill you need your bilge pump in an emergency or 5 minutes before the water police arrive. Murphys law says that is when it will fail.

Cheers

Ray

[dunney]

if you cant be bothered soldering use a bp connector for each wire after twisting together. its miles quicker than solder and also electricially safe and also fool proof ..sure it will rust eventually but it will take a long time and will be safe.and if your not using aluminium core wire of marine grade wire it will rust anyways....

if your using LED nav lights u will only need a 1amp fuse...even one amp is too much but thats the smallest you can get in blade fuses...

[wesfish]

noname wrote:

run the 2 nav lights on 1 switch and the white light on another switch, as you only need the white light on when anchored, no nav lights required when anchored

the water police told us that the white anchor lite is to be on the whole time even under motor, plus it has to be the highest point on your boat and visible 360 degrees, if not its 150 dollars, but true you dont need nav red and green on while anchored!!

[Gad]

wesfish wrote:

noname wrote:

run the 2 nav lights on 1 switch and the white light on another switch, as you only need the white light on when anchored, no nav lights required when anchored

the water police told us that the white anchor lite is to be on the whole time even under motor, plus it has to be the highest point on your boat and visible 360 degrees, if not its 150 dollars, but true you dont need nav red and green on while anchored!!

I`m of the same understanding as wesfish,

I `m sure NSW has brought in that your white light must be 1metre above the highest poit of your boat,I think this came about so that if seated in a tinny the light would be above your head,clearly visible 360 around you,that seems a fairly sensible idea to me,because I have seen boats with their white light on a 200mm stem on the stern,unless you were behind them you would not see it

[marty]

Gad wrote:

I `m sure NSW has brought in that your white light must be 1metre above the highest poit of your boat

This is also the law in QLD, although I haven't seen them police it as heavily as they do in NSW. Read the PDF from this page for the info:

/>http://www.msq.qld.gov.au/Home/Safety/Navigation_lights/

...it states:

"An all-round white light shows over a nominal arc of the horizon of 360°. The light fitting must be located at least one metre above the sidelights; and should as far as practicable, be on the centreline of the boat"

Marty

[Gad]

Cheers for that marty,

I`ve missed the part about 1metre above side lights.

Even though my set up for my white light is above my head when seated and is visible 360 my running lights are on my bow rail and it would not be 1 metre above them.

Oh well,i`ll make up an aluminium telescopic pole set up to rectify that.

cheers again

[Feral]

You dont need the anchor light on whilst underway, and it is a bad idea to have it on, it affects you night vision.

What you do have to have on is a white stern light. The confusion occurs because many boats attempt to use the anchor light for dual duty, having it function as the stern light as well. Which then gets them in trouble because those little 12 inch high posts used for "stern lights" are not legal anchor lights!

I run two anchor lights, one at the rear and one at the front (as well as a stern light mounted on the back of the boat, which puts no light at all in to the boat). This is so I know I can be seen at any angle, regardless of what I am doing in the boat (standing etc), they also provide all the internal lighting I need to do anything in the boat.

My front anchor light is 1m above my side nav lights, it is not 1m above the highest point of the boat. (NSW requires it above the boat, Qld requires it above your nav lights) The rear one is shorter, but as it is additional to requirements I dont care!.

[wesfish]

Feral wrote:

You dont need the anchor light on whilst underway, and it is a bad idea to have it on, it affects you night vision.

What you do have to have on is a white stern light. The confusion occurs because many boats attempt to use the anchor light for dual duty, having it function as the stern light as well. Which then gets them in trouble because those little 12 inch high posts used for "stern lights" are not legal anchor lights!

I run two anchor lights, one at the rear and one at the front (as well as a stern light mounted on the back of the boat, which puts no light at all in to the boat). This is so I know I can be seen at any angle, regardless of what I am doing in the boat (standing etc), they also provide all the internal lighting I need to do anything in the boat.

My front anchor light is 1m above my side nav lights, it is not 1m above the highest point of the boat. (NSW requires it above the boat, Qld requires it above your nav lights) The rear one is shorter, but as it is additional to requirements I dont care!.

i do alot of night fishing at the mouth and the water cops, will pull you up and fine you if you dont have a 360 white light under motor, my mate chris found out the hard way with 150 buck fine, that was in a tinnie , my mate mick and i in his 7.3mtr hard top also got a warning for not having the 360 lite on he had his stern lite on but they told us you need the 360 anchor lite on aswell, i dont argue with them cause i dont want the fine, i have a tinnine and keep the 360 white lite on now and i get left alone!!!

[Nitris]

noname wrote:

make sure you put a white light down the back somewhere, if you don't have already, ask nitris why!

Yeh i got ramed on the BRC when i was at anchor with no light on.. i usually have it on but had it off for the come where i was at anchor.. $150 fine.. had to turn on my light and off they went.. they didnt say anything about it being over 1m. Mine would be only about one foot..

they should have pinned me for that then as would have been same fine i guess.. now if i have another copper on a bad day will ram me for that too..

[marty]

Feral wrote:

You dont need the anchor light on whilst underway, and it is a bad idea to have it on, it affects you night vision.

The Attwood nav lights are the best alternative for this - they look a little like a 'flying saucer' and only throw light out in a narrow beam (360 degrees all round). If you are slightly above or below the horizontal there is minimal light and you are not blinded by them - yet they are still very bright when viewed from a distance. These lights come on a 1100mm high removable pole.

Thoroughly recommend these - I believe they should be standard on all boats.

[dhess]

How about surrounding your boat with rope light?

It would look retarded, bit like a party boat but no problems with anyone seeing you.:silly:

Or you could rice out your boat with under water neons. Might attract squid.

[Smiderman]

dhess wrote:

How about surrounding your boat with rope light?

It would look retarded, bit like a party boat but no problems with anyone seeing you.:silly:

Or you could rice out your boat with under water neons. Might attract squid.

no place for neons on a boat without having some doof doof as well :silly: :silly: