Searolf LED FAQ

Searolf LED Frequently asked

questions

Can I use a white LED in the tri-colour masthead light?

No!! LED’s only use their own individual wave length for the production of their
light. Normal daylight as we perceive it is made up of many different colours and
wave lengths. This can best be illustrated by the old classroom lesson with a
prism and sunlight. As the light is shone through the prism it breaks into different
colours, just like a rainbow. An LED is manufactured to take only that section of
the rainbow required for its own particular colour reproduction.

Which way round do the positive and negative go on
the nav light fitting ?

The bulbs have a special circuit built into them, so if they are connected the
wrong way round they won’t light. That is not a problem, just change over the
positive and negative wires on the bulb holder. Please note that no damage
will have been caused to the bulb if it has been connected with the positive
and negative the wrong way round.

How long will the nav light bulbs last?

The bulbs are designed to last for up to 80,000 to 100,000 hours. We at Searolf
LED are happy to offer a manufacturers guarantee for a period of 12 months
against faults in manufacture or materials.

What happens if one LED goes out?

In the event that one of the LED’s should possibly fail you can be assured that the
rest of the LED’s in that unit will still continue to work, so that you will never be left
in the dark.

Do I need to change my nav light fittings?

Most incandescent navigation lights use the standard offset pin BAY15D lamp
holder, and our bulbs are made to be a direct replacement for an incandescent
bulb.

Why are there different prices for different colours?

For each colour of LED, different coatings are used to produce the individual
colour. It is the cost of the coating which dictates the production costs for each
colour of LED. Rather than smoothing the costs over our product range we
decided to pass on any savings to our customers.

Can I just replace one nav light bulb and leave the
rest as they are?

Yes, if you wanted to, but it’s not recommended as you would loose the overall
benefit of the small amount of power required by LED’s compared to incandes-
cent bulbs. Also, once you have replaced your bulbs with LED’s it’s advisable to
lower the fuse rating for the navigation lights.

Why are Searolf LED’s so cheap compared to others?

We at Searolf LED, together with our manufacturing partner in China, who has
ISO9001 and CE&RoHS certification, aim to bring to the market reliable high
quality products at the lowest possible prices.

We are constantly looking at developing more products for the marine market
which will meet the same criteria and high standards.

What regulation do the LEDs have in them, i.e what
is the range of voltages they can happily accept
continuously without any damage?

The 12 volt 20LED navigation light bulbs recommended range is between 10
and 14 volts although we have actually run the lights up to 24volts in order to test
the effects of voltage fluctuation from the engine when charging the battery.

The anchor light bulb, G4, MR11 and MR16 Halogen Replacements are rated
between 10 and 30 volts, as is the chrome-finish cabin light, and the flexible strip,
Is rated 12 volts.

The Solid Linear and Square fittings, are all rated at 10 - 14 volts.

We'd suggest putting a resistor inline if you expect fluctuation beyond these
limits.

How do I convert amps to watts ?

Using Joule’s law P=V x I, therefore P (watts) = V(voltage) x I (amps)

So for our replacement navigation light bulbs, 120mA (milliamps) calculates as :-

P = 12 x 0.120 giving a result of 1.44 watts, which we round up to 1.5 watts
due to leakage and resistance in electrical circuits.

Many sites give this info. Here is a link to a calculator

Temporary Problems Paying with Paypal

Some of our customers have experienced difficulty when trying to proceed
through the checkout with Paypal. We regret that this is due to problems on the
Paypal site and is therefore beyond our control. We have raised the issues with
Paypal, but in the meantime UK customers can order and pay by Credit or Debit
card by calling us on 05602 243142.

If you are outside the UK please e-mail us for alternative arrangements.

Temporary Problems with Paypal Totals

Some of our customers have noticed that Paypal omits our 60p handling charge from
the invoice detail, although it does include it in the total. We regret that this is due to
problems on the Paypal site and is therefore beyond our control.
The total amount is correct. However if you have any queries please call us on
05602 243142, or e-mail us.

Problems with Maestro Cards

We are aware that Maestro cards can present problems when using them to pay for
goods on-line or over the phone. We have been told that the reason for this is that
some Maestro cards have the same first six digits in the long card number as do
some credit cards. It can literally be a lottery when the card validation process
decides if your card is a credit or a debit card, and if it decides you’re a credit card
it will decline your card, saying it is invalid. If you try again it will be 50-50, so some
days you’ll be OK others, not. Banks are steadily replacing Maestro with Visa, so if
you have problems the best thing to do is ask your bank to replace your card now.