Back to the main site

Nav Light LED Replacement?

C

Come Monday

Well-Known Member
Messages
149
Reaction score
26
Location
Sarasota FL
Has anyone ever had their LED Nav light burn out?  Is this possible?  I have the new lights with the SS housing and turning on the navigation lights after the fireworks revealed that only the green works.  Over a 2 hour ride home and only one light - ahh boats.  Luckily, one of the kids recommended taking some glow necklaces and looping the red parts on the front port corner, lol.  It worked great but now I need to get this fixed.  I was out on the water yesterday at a sand bar so I could take a look and all there is are two blue wire harnesses.  One is for the nav light and the other has to be for the docking led's.  I disconnected each of them and both were clean with no corrosion on the contacts.  The fuse lights up at the panel and the green glows.  Leads me to believe the LED is burnt out.  I can have this warrantied, but that involves getting the boat to the dealership.  Seems like I could replace a LED by myself, but didn't see how to do it.  Does anyone have any experience or advice?
 
I don't think the leds are replaceable, I think it comes as a unit. Have the dealer come to you or have them send you a new light if you're handy.
 
Test the light first with a battery (9 volt will probably work) to verify its the bulb and not the wiring. I'd trace the wiring to verify the ground also. I'm not sure if the lights are grounded separately or back via the harness.
 
Also, how far from the dealer? Mine comes out to our dock for minor stuff, but they are only 2-3 miles away.
 
It looks like it's one Phillips head screw on the underside that holds the entire stainless steel assembly to the top of the deck. My dealer ordered me an entire assembly to replace it with. I took a good look at it and I think water got in there. The silicone or caulk that surrounds the wires going up through the deck and into the assembly looks weak. It makes sense that most of the opposing wakes we break are on the port side since most of us drive on the right side of the channel. The starboard side looks foggy but still works. I bet it's letting water into the assembly from the bottom and shorted out the led. I'll let you know if the new assembly works when it comes in. If so, maybe I'll replace the starboard side and silicone that area as well.
 
I pulled the housing from the deck (it's just two screws) and the plastic LED unit comes right out.  Once out, you can see on the opposite side of the LED lens that the inside is totally corroded with salt.  The docking lights are cloudy all the way around the center and it's probably just a matter of time until they stopped working.  I think I'll have them send me a starboard side assembly as well.  The two ways that water is getting in there is from the bottom where the wires come up through the deck and also where the SS housing meets the deck.  If water comes over the front of the deck, or even rain for that matter, water can get in.  These housings are not sealed and I'm willing to bet others will start to have these problems.  Anyone with these new housings should take a close look at your nav and docking lights to make sure the lenses aren't clouded.  If they are, then water is getting in there.

The solution I suppose would be to seal the through hole where the wires come through the deck, but how do we seal the SS housing to the deck?  I have the sea grass flooring so what would a bead of clear silicone do.  If it kept the water out, it would work, however, if the housing needed to be pulled in the future would the silicone damage the sea grass flooring?  What do you guys think?
 
Any way you can seal the bottom of the unit before mounting it on the deck?
 
That is a great idea. Any suggestions of what would work? Maybe I could run a bead of silicone around the bottom perimeter of the housing, then place it on a sheet of rubber so it would bond. After it sets I could trim the excess off with a razor blade and make a small slit for the wires to come through. That, along with caulking the through hole should do the trick. All Bennington would have to do is put a waterproof bottom plate on the underside of these housings and the lights would work for a long time. You could make it out of plastic even. My last Bennington had corrosion problems with the Nav lights as well. Seems like they either need to design a more waterproof system or even put them on the top corner rails of the bow to get them up higher.
 
Well... Got the call my new housing was in. Bennington sent a starboard light. Not only did they send the wrong light, they didn't send the housing. A little disappointed in how slow and careless they are about the warranty issues. My dealer ordered it right / they sent it wrong. Come on Bennington...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top