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Illumination for wind indicator during squalls

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Zeiler

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Hi All

I live on a circumnavigating sailboat presently in Thailand and plan to leave for South Africa in the late fall. On this passage we expect to encounter heavy rain, high winds and very poor visibility in many squalls especially at night. It then becomes difficult when operating the yacht from a pilothouse to tell where the wind is coming from.

On a recent squall filled passage from India I experimented with illuminating a small flag from the transom. I found that very little light is required and essential to maintain night vision. In fact one collimated LED of the type sold in multiple strips of three was more than sufficient. The light needs a little collimation to prevent stray light reflecting from other surfaces besides the flag again to maintain night vision. It probably should be white since red lights aft on a sailboat or any boat is a nono (-:

I would like to power this LED with a battery and package the light in PVC fittings which I intend to clip on the transom rail.

The battery needs to power the light for two to three weeks. I have a solar switch bought in India but it is rated at 12 v. I am not sure if it will operate at lower voltages.

Since I lack sufficient expertise to judge the various possibilities like battery types, voltage requirements and LED types to fulfill my requirement of two to three weeks I would very much appreciate any help offered.

Cheers

Jim
 
Many thanks fo the promp reply. Years ago I used these garden lights for general lighting at anchor and also as low anchor lights as fishermen in these parts complain about our mast head lights claiming they mistake them for stars! However I found them to be unreliable and had not sufficient recharging capacity to last the 12 hr tropical nights. As well they would be far too bright! I need the flag to be barely illuminated for the reasons mentioned. My guess is that I would need to leave a hole 1/8th of an inch in diameter and then I would need to aim it somehow at the flag and possibly collimate it as well as I want only the flag to get lit up.

The flag is Canadian so has some white. It must not reflect too much!

I would prefer to make something hence my inquiry about battery capacity and required voltages. Making my own light would also enable me to make it saltwater proof.

And in case I did not make it clear I would need the light to be on for 12 hrs a day for two to three weeks.

I will however have another look at the lights you suggest to see if I can adapt something although not at Walmart (-: as they are not to be found in SE Asia just in case things have changed. Thanks for the suggestion.

Jim
 
I bought some of these extremely cheap solar garden lights from WalMart, tested them then returned the bad ones:
1) Some of the Chinese Ni-MH battery cells do not work.
2) Some of the solar panels are so weak that they barely charge the battery during the day and/or turn the LED on too soon and turn it off too late.
3) Some have an IC that draws a high battery current but the LED has the same brightness as the ones with a COB (black blob of a Circuit On Board) but the COB draws a low current.

The ones that work do not last longer than a couple of months because they leak rain water and the battery, battery contacts and LED pins are steel that rusts away. I seal the top of the case and replace the cheap Chinese battery cell with an Energizer one that has a stainless steel case.

The solar panels that work are glass and are much better than the plastic ones that get sunburned on other cheap solar garden lights.
 
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