Anchor Light reflection

M

marvin4239

New member
Yesterday I went to the Christmas boat show on the St John's in downtown Jacksonville (pics in album). I had a 25 mile cruise back home in the dark and it was pitch black. I noticed a really annoying reflection from my anchor light on my deck and railings. I think this has been discussed before but can't seem to find the link. I seem to remember someone fabricating some sort of diffuser on the anchor light to prevent the reflection. Does anyone remember this discussion or what have you done to eliminate the reflection short of moving the light to the rear of the cabin.
 
Perko has a disc that mounts on the light pole just under the light to address this situation. I have no experience with the product, just saw it on their website. It shouldn't be too hard to mock one up using materials on hand just to see if it might work.
Some people put foam water pipe insulation on the rails to kill the reflection.
 
You could take the lid from a 5 gallon plastic pail and cut the rim off with a bandsaw, drill a hole of the appropriate size in the center and play with that to see if it will do the trick.
 
Anna Leigh":1s5lwro1 said:
You could take the lid from a 5 gallon plastic pail and cut the rim off with a bandsaw, drill a hole of the appropriate size in the center and play with that to see if it will do the trick.
Click to expand...

Thats sort of what I had in mind but I thought someone had already done something similiar but can't remember what they used.

This is the post I remember reading...

One thing that helped tremendously with night running (which I avoid as much as possible) was making a light shield for the all around light to shade the fore-deck. I used cardboard cereal boxes for cut-and-try sizes until I got full shading of the deck and handrails and made the permanent one from natural gas or propane flue pipe; it is a thin aluminum that can be cut with scissors (not the admirals sewing scissors, please). To mount it I cut a hole the size of the spigot on the plastic lens and simply slip it on the lens and screw it all back onto the light fixture (which is an extra long one from Perko to get above canoes or kayaks I have on a roof rack I made).
 
Our anchor light is at the rear of the cabintop, on a mast that reaches above the radar - no problem with reflection on the bow rail or forward deck. One thing to keep in mind if you make any kind of light-block: be sure that your light can be seen from up close, all around near the boat... you don't want someone to whack into you at anchor because they came by close up in a dinghy and couldn't see the light because of the shade.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
On follow up I cut a 4" disk from some scrap aluminum with a hole the size of the base of the light in the center then removed the globe and put the disk on held in place by the globe. It's just enough to eliminate the glare and not enough to block the light as Jim mentioned. Now I'm working on a way to block the glare from my chart plotter.
 
As Wandering Sagebrush mentions, chart plotters have a brightness adjustment, usually with a night setting. If you're cruising at night, I'd think that chart plotter/radar info would be most helpful, and I'd find the night level. This is red on the JRC we use.

Boris
 
Marvin,

I should have sent you my 757. It had a bad display and was so dim that you couldn't see it if there was any outside light.

On the 757, and I suspect that your 797 is the same, hit your power switch after you turn it on. It should pop up a display that you then adjust using the left and right arrows on the rocker switch. Left to dim, Right b bright.

Let me know if that works.

Kind Regards,

Steve
 
Milehog":1zhtkgdc said:
Perko has a disc that mounts on the light pole just under the light to address this situation. I have no experience with the product, just saw it on their website. It shouldn't be too hard to mock one up using materials on hand just to see if it might work.
Some people put foam water pipe insulation on the rails to kill the reflection.
Click to expand...
Perko # 1192DPOBLK ... West Marine part # 192411 ... $12.99 ... Shields the light, but not completely.
 
Steve thanks for the tip. On my unit after your turn it on and it completely boots up you hit the power button and the dimming control appears. High time thanks for the part number I was at West Marine the other day and asked about a shade and they looked at me like I had two heads. I'll go back armed with the part number. Some of these manufactures and suppliers should pay royalties to this site.
 
For those of us curious about the design of this shield and specifically what it looks like:

192411.jpg


PERKO Glare Shield, 3/4IN

Perko Part # 1192DPOBLK

Stop and think: Which end faces forward?

Joe. :teeth :thup

As always, a picture is worth 1000 words!
 
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