[C320-list] Tender nav lights

[Chris Nichols]

If you have a motorised tender and like us are frequently returning to your c320 after sundowners, the rules where we are require a motorised tender to show red/green/white nav lights. Few seem to bother doing so and historically we made a half hearted attempt to be seen using an all-round white on a stick.
This season I wanted to do better and there seem to be several commercial battery powered options for 30 to 90 bucks. However i rather enjoy tinkering with solar leds so set myself the task of creating one from dollar store components. Turns out it is really simple and while it might not meet USCG visibility rules it is fun and cost only 3bucks!

Have you done something similar or other interesting led lighting project?

Here’s what I did:
Simply get 3 garden solar lights (one of each colour) - one of which ought to have an on-off switch. Rob the joule-thief circuits and leds from the two without a switch and cram them into the one with the switch, wiring them in parallel with the circuit already present but ignoring the solar connections. Cut pieces of old CD to make suitably angled separators and glue these in place between the three led’s.

I get a run time of about 5 hours from a charged 600mAh battery.

Happy days and fair winds fellow 320 sailors,

Chris
AmandaRose#476


>
>