Intermittent anchor/steaming light-suggestions?

[Buoy Scout]

I've got a combo (Perko) anchor/steaming light that is on a mast. This 18 inch mast plugs into a socket at the top of my windshield. There are three prongs in the socket that engage the three sockets in the bottom of this 3/4 inch aluminum tubing mast. The connections between the pins and the sockets are not so good, and I have to fiddle with the mast to get the bulbs to light. And the mast tends to accumulate rain water, so that doesn't help either. What do you guys suggest for a permanent reliable fix? Thinking about a brand new installation with all soldered connections and LED lamps...The other nav lights, port and starboard on the pulpit and the stern light, all work as intended.

[slief]

Clean out the female connector with some steel wool. Apply a liberal amount of dialecrtic grease. Wire brush the male connections. In some cases, the male pins have a split down the middle. In that case, you can take a razor blade to spread/widen the male pins. Double check all of the wires to insure there are no questionable connections. If you have butt splces, I would do away with them and solder and shrink tube instead.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Buoy Scout

I've got a combo (Perko) anchor/steaming light that is on a mast. This 18 inch mast plugs into a socket at the top of my windshield. There are three prongs in the socket that engage the three sockets in the bottom of this 3/4 inch aluminum tubing mast. The connections between the pins and the sockets are not so good, and I have to fiddle with the mast to get the bulbs to light. And the mast tends to accumulate rain water, so that doesn't help either. What do you guys suggest for a permanent reliable fix? Thinking about a brand new installation with all soldered connections and LED lamps...The other nav lights, port and starboard on the pulpit and the stern light, all work as intended.

Certainly a brand new installation would be the best fix, especially if you don't need a removable light.

Don't solder the connections, use adhesive lined heatshrink crimp connectors. West Marine sells them.

If you want to try to repair what you already have, get some electrical contact cleaner at a home center or Radio Shack. Spray it on the connections and clean them (if possible) with a really fine grade of emery cloth. For recessed contacts, a brand new pencil eraser works well but be sure to turn the power off first so the metal on the eraser doesn't short anything. Steel wool could be a real problem around electrical contacts because the strands can break off and short the contacts.

[slief]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Certainly a brand new installation would be the best fix, especially if you don't need a removable light.

Don't solder the connections, use adhesive lined heatshrink crimp connectors. West Marine sells them.

If you want to try to repair what you already have, get some electrical contact cleaner at a home center or Radio Shack. Spray it on the connections and clean them (if possible) with a really fine grade of emery cloth. For recessed contacts, a brand new pencil eraser works well but be sure to turn the power off first so the metal on the eraser doesn't short anything. Steel wool could be a real problem around electrical contacts because the strands can break off and short the contacts.

Agreed on the steel wool but simple solution is taking a peak inside and or having a small shop vac handy. Either way, the emery cloth is a great idea..

I am curious as to why you dont suggest soldering and shrink tubing. Every connection on my boat that I added was soldered and shrink tubed.. I did add some liquid electrical tape and added shrink tube over the liquid stuff while it was still wet. I agree that the adhesive shrink tube connectors are nice in a pinch, but I personally am not very fond of crimp connections.. Not faulting you.. Just looking for a logical explanation as to why you dont suggest soldering connections.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by slief

Agreed on the steel wool but simple solution is taking a peak inside and or having a small shop vac handy. Either way, the emery cloth is a great idea..

I am curious as to why you dont suggest soldering and shrink tubing. Every connection on my boat that I added was soldered and shrink tubed.. I did add some liquid electrical tape and added shrink tube over the liquid stuff while it was still wet. I agree that the adhesive shrink tube connectors are nice in a pinch, but I personally am not very fond of crimp connections.. Not faulting you.. Just looking for a logical explanation as to why you dont suggest soldering connections.

I'm just repeating what most authorities recommend for marine electrical connections. USCG, ABYC, etc. You'll also find this is what manufacturers use when building boats. Soldering will create a "solid" portion of the splice by wicking up the conductors. This is a point of potential failure. Many people think they know how to solder but really don't. This may or may not apply to you but unless you do a lot of electrical soldering, you probably are not making a good, reliable connection.

Properly done, a crimp makes a solid mass of metal that's not subject to corrosion. The insulating sleeve provides strain relief and the adhesive seals the entire connection. With the proper tool, there's not a lot of skill involved to produce a solid and reliable connection.

Someone will be along shortly to dispute this and it may go to several pages. For more information, do a web search on the subject and consider the credentials of whoever is giving advice on the subject.

[gerg]

Nope, Ron is correct, you never want to solder anything on a boat. It creates a stiff section of wire that is prone to breaking and causing havoc (as in fires). If your insurer finds soldered connection on a fire claim, it's lights out.

But in general, there is no system simpler than nav lights, and no system more infuriating and unreliable. They fail constantly, either because the bulbs burn out or because of corrosion or loose contacts.

My solution is to replace traditional nav/anchor lights with LED. At least the bulbs won't burn out as quickly, and they draw a lot less power on the hook or at drift.

[thataway]

I also agree with Ron, although there are exceptions--such as the PL 259 connectors on radio antenna leads. I have also soldered some very small connectors, as well as connectors on a 6 position rotary switch for battery voltage monitering, where I could not use crimp fittings.

The solder is more likely to fail under vibration and the hard place. However, frankly if you do a good solder job, and also shrink wrap that it will work fine. You do need a proper crimping tool with appropiate dies for the connectors you are using, and the heat shink adhesive lined is better than the liquid tape.

I do NOT use steel wool. It leaves small iron particles which will rust and discolor the boat deck. I use bronze wool. I keep 3 different thickness in stock for any burnishing work. Also there are some nylon pads which work well in todays world.

As for replacing the light, I have re-done my anchor light with LED, and it is brighter and much more effecient with only a fraction of the current draw. You can make your own tubing if you want. The two bulb fittings are usually only of value if you have a separate foreward steaming light and a separate stern light, for navigation and then the combined 360 degree two bulbs for anchoring. If you run a single white light all around as allowed in smaller boats, then go for a single bulb, and the LED bulbs are a great replacement.

[slief]

Interesting.. I guess if I feel lazy, I will at least feel better about using a crimp connector. The right crimps at least. Truth be told, I have been soldering for more than 20 years and would never think of using a crimp in a connection that I want piece of mind with. That said, your learn something new every day but I would never worry about my solder connections. I guess that doesnt make my decision the best choice by others. Then again, I have never had my soldering fail me but I have had crimps fail me. I can however see the point about the stiff parts of the wire and can see how the wires beyond the solder could fail if under constand stress.. This will eat at me now.. LOL

[gerg]

Originally Posted by slief

Interesting.. I guess if I feel lazy, I will at least feel better about using a crimp connector. The right crimps at least. Truth be told, I have been soldering for more than 20 years and would never think of using a crimp in a connection that I want piece of mind with. That said, your learn something new every day but I would never worry about my solder connections. I guess that doesn't make my decision the best choice by others. Then again, I have never had my soldering fail me but I have had crimps fail me. I can however see the point about the stiff parts of the wire and can see how the wires beyond the solder could fail if under constand stress.. This will eat at me now.. LOL

Again, it isn't the solder connection that fails - it's the wire at the transition point from solder to non-solder. And this only applies to wires carrying power - signal wired like antennae and nmea stuff is fine for solder, though you still want to shrink tube it if appropriate and make sure it isn't going to flex if possible.

Your solder connections can be perfect, and the wire can still break. Just one of the quirks of a boat.

[Buoy Scout]

Ok, solder vs. crimp. I seldom solder connections on the boat, opting for crimp connections almost exclusively, and often, where water intrusion is a concern, heat shrink over the crimp or the (very expensive) heat shrinkable crimps.

The problem with the anchor/steaming light (two lamps) is that the 3 pins are loose where they go into the mast's 3 little connector sleeves. They aren't dirty, just loose. The mast socket is mounted to the windshield, the wires are run inside the windshield frame, so none of this is replaceable easily. I need a way to make the pins tighter in the sockets and ensure that the connection is waterproof. But it seems that water enters the light assembly and comes down the tube to eventually flood the socket assembly at the bottom of the mast.

So I was thinking about soldering a few strands of tinned wire to each of the three pins to make them fatter, so they would make better connections inside the mast's sockets. Or shimming the sockets with a small sliver of tinned copper or brass to make the connections tight. Then, I might replace the two festoon lamps with LED lamps, and silicone caulk the whole assembly together making it waterproof, assuming I will never need to change the lamps again.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Buoy Scout

Ok, solder vs. crimp. I seldom solder connections on the boat, opting for crimp connections almost exclusively, and often, where water intrusion is a concern, heat shrink over the crimp or the (very expensive) heat shrinkable crimps.

The problem with the anchor/steaming light (two lamps) is that the 3 pins are loose where they go into the mast's 3 little connector sleeves. They aren't dirty, just loose. The mast socket is mounted to the windshield, the wires are run inside the windshield frame, so none of this is replaceable easily. I need a way to make the pins tighter in the sockets and ensure that the connection is waterproof. But it seems that water enters the light assembly and comes down the tube to eventually flood the socket assembly at the bottom of the mast.

So I was thinking about soldering a few strands of tinned wire to each of the three pins to make them fatter, so they would make better connections inside the mast's sockets. Or shimming the sockets with a small sliver of tinned copper or brass to make the connections tight. Then, I might replace the two festoon lamps with LED lamps, and silicone caulk the whole assembly together making it waterproof, assuming I will never need to change the lamps again.

Are they loose because they are on springs and/or need to be able to move slightly to line up with the sockets?

Do you need to be able to remove the pole?

I don't think your plan of soldering wires or shims is a good plan. Replacing the socket and pole is a better solution.

[gerg]

I guess I should clarify where the risk is. As the wire flexes, it will break individual strands at the solder connection. The whole wire won't break right away, but it will lose strand after strand as the wire flexes and returns.

When a sufficient number of wires are no longer carrying current, you could have a wire that used to be 10 or 12 gauge that is suddenly the equivalent of 24 or 32 gauge, carrying the same current.

The wires that remain can eventually heat up from current load (if there is enough current and the guage of the effective conductor is small enough) and fires can result.

Back to your original question. I've used those pole lamps before with the bayonet bases. They were never reliable. No matter what I did the connection would always be flakey. It's best to just get rid of the whole thing and just hard-wire all of the connections.

[Buoy Scout]

I don't think the mount is even replaceable--it's built into the windshield frame. Thus, I am stuck with the pins in this mount. The light pole is new. I believe the pins in the mounting socket have corroded over time and lost some of their diameter, and are now loose in the pole's sockets. Hence the suggestion to shim them. My other choice is to relocate the entire arrangement to the radar arch, but I will need to install a pole that will clear the radome--perhaps replacing the entire radome mount with a new one that accommodates a light pole.

[rwidman]

Buoy Scout,

Do you need the ability to remove the pole when not in use?

[Buoy Scout]

No, I don't normally need to remove the pole. It's only a few inches higher than my radome.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Buoy Scout

No, I don't normally need to remove the pole. It's only a few inches higher than my radome.

In that case, remove the plug and socket inserts from the base and pole and run new wires directly from the light, through the pole and socket, and to wherever it's convenient to splice them to the original wiring or to the source.

You can seal the pole/socket joint and secure it with a pop rivet or screw.

[Buoy Scout]

This is good advice. I'll see if I can get to the wiring. It's run inside the windshield frame, I'm not sure how much slack is available. My other thought is to use butt connectors, crimped slightly so they are a tight fit over the pins, with the wire leads crimped on the other side. Then run the leads up the pole to the light fixture. My two LED festoon bulbs arrived last night. I feel a project coming on this weekend..,

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Buoy Scout

This is good advice. I'll see if I can get to the wiring. It's run inside the windshield frame, I'm not sure how much slack is available. My other thought is to use butt connectors, crimped slightly so they are a tight fit over the pins, with the wire leads crimped on the other side. Then run the leads up the pole to the light fixture. My two LED festoon bulbs arrived last night. I feel a project coming on this weekend..,

You should be able to pull new wires in with the old. After all, someone put them in there in the first place. If you can get to the pins, you should be able to cut them off and strip enough wire to use butt connectors. I don't think you'll have much luck crimping connectors over the pins because you'll have to use connectors that are too large for the wire (on the other side). A "trick" I have used when the wire is too small for the connector is to strip extra wire and double it over to make it larger.

Just one caution:

Unless they were designed as navigation light replacements, LED replacements are usually too directional for navigation lights. An incandescent festoon lamp emits equal light 360 degrees. An LED replacement may only emit light in a ten or twenty degree arc.

For broader coverage, manufacturers use several lamps, mounted at different angles.

[Buoy Scout]

Rwidman,
The LEDs are 360 degree lamps. I'll have to confirm that they work properly before I commit to them, though. You are correct that they must be visible throughout the required arc(s). And two miles out (for my boat). We'll see.

[rwidman]

Keep us posted.