Saving amps of money

For quite some time it’s been on the Captain’s long list of ‘to do’s’ in wanting to change the navigation and anchor lights to LED. We are very conscious with regards to how many amps are being used on our short trips away as Emma Ward’s solar panels are quite aged and in need of replacing – definitely another thing on the to do list. The old bulbs used just over one amp per hour, so having them on all night used about ten amps. The new LED bulbs use about 0.15 amps per hour, which is a total of 1.5 amps over ten hours. This then will save us 8.5 amps each night.

Well, the day finally came in needing to change those bulbs.

We started our day at the Yacht Shop NT. Who can resist an end of lease sale?? We were chatting to Wayne Bateman regarding impending works for Emma Ward when the discussion turned to replacing existing bulbs to LED. Wayne showed us the universal bulbs he designed and developed, as through his many years of experience, other brands were not performing well. Here is a picture of Wayne’s product at a cost of $45. We bought two and received a generous discount of $10. One for the anchor light and one for the navigation light.

So, now it’s determined that today is the day for going up the mast. We were going to get Wayne to complete the task before heading out for a week of sailing. but really, it’s a task that we need to learn how to do and should give it a go. So up the mast it is for our Captain……as I have already been 🙂

On the marina, we collect all necessary tools for the job, an assortment of screwdrivers to loosen the screws for the light housing, some WD40 if the screws need assistance in being removed and said bulbs. Up I winch. Winding, winding, winding. Captain gets to the top. Tries to take of the housing, no luck. Down down down he comes.

First dilemma. How do we actually take off the housing? Good ole Google. What would we do without you. During smoko break, I find out that some require screws, no not ours. Some require a push down and twist motion, maybe ours. One fellow on a forum I read used a strap wrench to loosen the housing. No problem, ‘what’s a strap wrench?’, I ask myself. Google again to find out it’s one of these. So off we head to Bunnings to make a strap wrench purchase. Well, actually two strap wrench purchases as we were not sure of the size and figured they would come in handy anyway.

Up the mast take two. Captain has decided that he would go up the 60 ft mast and bring the housing down in order to clean it and we could then note the model and make number in case it ever needed replacing. Up I winch winch winch.

Task complete. Down down down.

We clean the housing, note the model and make number for future reference and collect all necessary tools for the next task.

Up up up I winch winch winch. Captain replaces bulbs and puts the housing back on.

Up the mast take 3 is now complete. Navigation light works. Anchor light works. A task well done. Hip hip hooray…….we did it and saved few dollars. In fact, amps of them.