Filament to LED

[wethook]

I have a little skiff and run only 1 deep cycle. I am trying to limit my battery draw by swapping all of my regular filament bulbs over to LED ones. My bow light is the old 1 bulb with a red/green lense, my stern light is a pole light with a 360 bulb and I have a few little courtesy lights for fishing at night.

Can I simply swap my bow light with this bulb and be good to go?
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Ffestoon.html

And my stern light with one of these?
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fmini-wedge.html

Thoughts?

[toptech3434]

Yes and yes,all my lights in my boat and truck are leds.

[wethook]

Stoked... I read before that the white light from the LED wouldnt pass correctly through a colored lense. I figure for less than 15 bucks its worth a shot.

[Flybyknight]

White leds' do not work with colored lenses according to the site you referred us to!
Look under "READ BEFORE ORDERING"
Dick

[wethook]

See, I had heard that on another site also. But I realize you cant believe everything you read... So I figured I would ask to see if anyone had any experience with it. I took my bow light apart, stuck my single LED 40 lumen flashlight behind it and walked across the street. I could see the red and green just fine?!

[craigwhite]

Yes, you can see it across the street. Can the overconfident, half intoxicated, a-hole running across the open water see it before he runs over you and your passengers?

This is a safety concern. The LED navigation lights offered by marine equipment mfgs have been USCG approved for visibility at 1 nautical mile (1.2 miles) at a minimum. Your factory equipped nav light is designed to be used with a high-output incandescent/filament light bulb NOT a low draw unknown output LED re-fit. other info: http://www.boatus.com/boattech/uscg.htm

Does that $7 LED light allow light to transmit through the nav light housing as well as the standard bulb? Look at the light bulb offered. It does not produce a 360 degree transmission. I would have little concern if it were used in courtesy lights, but think twice about safety equipment

Will you pass a USCG safety check? Probably, they will only check to see if your lights turns on.

Will you have a working navigation light? Yes.

Are you confident that other boaters will see your boat at night? That's on you! I personally think this is unsafe. For only $35 you can have a USCG certified LED light. (note the clear lens with colored LED bulbs in this version) BOE Offered Nav Light (http://www.boemarine.com/Innovative_Lighting_LED_Deck_Mount_Navigation_Ligh t_-_Stainless_Steel-550-1200-7/)

[wethook]

I am a big proponent of boating safety. I am not trying to find a cheap way... just asking if it will work (and work safely). They make higher output led's and they make 360 degree leds. But bottom line is that if the lense will not allow for enough light to shine through for the minumum 1 NM... then I am not interested. I'd rather buy a proper bow light. Thanks for the input fellas.