How to bring a kerosene anchor light into the 21st century
Issue 34: Jan/Feb 2004
FIRST I FOUND A GREAT KEROSENE ANCHOR LIGHT AT A MARINE swapmeet. Then I brought it into the 21st century with an LED bulb. The housing of the lamp had a big Fresnel lens. I decided to use it and install an electric bulb. I found a white LED bulb that has six diodes arrayed in a circle. It is quite bright, and uses less than 0.07 amps. If I forget to turn it off in the morning, who cares? The project itself proved to be absurdly simple.
I took the original burner unit out of the bottom and threw it away. Next, I cut out a disc of 1⁄4-inch plywood that would fi t under the top lid. On the plywood I installed a surface-mount socket that would take a standard double-contact, 12-volt bulb. The socket placed the LED almost in line with the center of the Fresnel lens, so I used a couple of washers to shim it up. Since the bottom of the housing was now open, due to the absence of the burner, the cable was able to dangle out of the bottom. I had already installed a plug in the cockpit for my searchlight, so this provided a ready power source.
Instead of hoisting it aloft, I hang the light on my backstay about six feet off the deck. I like this arrangement much better than a masthead site, as my boat is more likely to be seen by a vessel at night in close quarters, where it really counts.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
