Bertram33 User Forum

The red/green lens on my original Bertram stock combined bow light has faded quite a bit, so I am thinking of leaving the fixture there and mounting new running lights on the sides of the flybridge. I need to replace my masthead and anchor lights as well, and have looked at some of the LED versions on the market. They are very expensive, but I like the fact that they are supposed to last over 50,000 hours (meaning you should never have to change a bulb again), and with such a long life they can be sealed. They also use a small fraction of the power of traditional incadescent bulbs. Does anyone here have any experience with them? Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC Wilmington, NC

Frank, the next time my lights need replacing I'm going to LED. The price is coming down and I think they are worth the difference. Buzz

I want to change my anchor,stern and spreader lights to LED type also but do not know what manufacturer to buy. Does anyone have LED spreader lights and if so are they as bright as the incadesent type. Michael

I have been looking at AquaSignal LED lights, since they have a full range of stern, sidelights, anchor and masthead lights, in a couple of product lines. Hella's prices are somewhat higher, but they have only side and stern lights as far as I have been able to determine. There are two other manufacturers shown in West's catalog.. Lopolight and OGM, but they are much more expensive, and I don't like the look of either. Perko also has them in the West catalog, but I have seen so many of their products fail over the years that I just can't get myself excited about them. They never impressed me as being a quality producer of marine gear, while AquaSignal focuses mostly on marine lighting and signaling products, and a check in a local marina showed me that probably 75-80% of the boats (most of which were in the 30-60' range) had AquaSignal, although I could not tell if they were incadescents or LEDs. Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC Wilmington, NC

I switched over to LED's about a year ago. They're brighter and very maintenance free. I opted for the Perko chrome on bronze fixtures with a sealed LED inside for the side lights. This unit was very good quality & the LED is somewhat bullet proof. I couldn't find a combo anchor/running light in LED for the hardtop as yet. I'm sure someone will come out with that product soon as well. I ran new wires from the switch on the bridge & mounted them just ahead of the grab rail along the flybridge sides. Visibility is much better up high. Just remember that your forward steaming light has to be at least 3 feet above the side lights. 1988 Sportfish Attitude Adjustment II Fort Lauderdale, FL

AquaSignal now has a combined masthead/anchor light... part number is 32411.. West list price for it is $725.. yes.. $725. I can get them online for $435. This cost is about $27 more than if you bought seperate anchor and masthead lights. You can check all of AquaSignal's LED lights starting on page 455 of the 2008 West catalog. Frank B - IRGuy@aol.com "Phoenix" 1983 FBC Wilmington, NC

Looks like I'll be changing light bulbs for a while. 1988 Sportfish Attitude Adjustment II Fort Lauderdale, FL

I don't think it will take long and the prices will be coming down. Lucky for me my lights have recently been replaced but I hope the price comes down before I need to replace them again. Because I want to replace them with LED, I think that is the way to go. Buzz