Navigation Pole Lamp Bend Angle

[mikegcny]

What is the angle [of the bend in the pole that held] the all-round white light pole lamp on a 1988 SUPER SPORT LIMITED 13?

I want to install a new all-round white navigation lamp on a pole.

[jimh]

Pole lamps that support a white all-round navigation lamp at the stern of a small boat that have a slight aft rake angle due to the method of mounting the pole to the boat then usually have a bend in the pole near the top so that the mounting base for the lamp will be horizontal--here horizontal means aligned to the horizon because it is at the horizon where the light is to be seen over a specific arc and intensity.

[mikegcny]

Figure 1 shows the OEM lamp with the [bend in the pole] highlighted

Fig. 1. A pole lamp with a bend whose angle to be determined by readers of this post.

bend.jpg (10.62 KiB) Viewed 2876 times

[jimh]

I measured the angle of the bend in the image using an image manipulation program and found it to be about 14-degrees, or expressed as the red line is drawn in the illustration, 180 - 14 = 166-degrees

Why are you concerned with the bend angle in the pole?

[mikegcny]

Why are you concerned with the bend angle in the pole?

I want the one I order to sit in correct orientation to the water. Perko makes lots of different options for angles.

[Phil T]

Mike—I had a hard time finding the OEM white all-round navigation pole lamp for my Montauk 17 as it is not in the catalog. I ordered it from Sue at Twin Cities. It is chrome or brass. Very heavy and very expensive, $300 back in 2005. Probably $500 now. Give her a call.

[mikegcny]

Probably $500 now.

That is what I am trying to avoid.

Fig. 2. The particular SUPER SPORT LIMITED 15 that is being discussed in this thread for replacement of a navigation lamp. If you look very carefully a ski pylon can be seen.

ski wee.jpg (47.64 KiB) Viewed 2793 times

I might add a vertical pole to the fiberglass seat back next to the ski pylon. Maybe even something that folds flat that can be out of the way. I am realizing now that where the ski pylon is mounted, having the lamp anchored to the transom might get in the way of the ski rope. This is probably why when I got [this used SUPER SPORT LIMITED 15 boat] there was no [white all-round pole lamp].

There is an electrical connection just below the ski pylon. I could get a lamp that attaches to the ski pylon.

[Phil T]

Keep in mind the light pole should be stowed when not in use. If you leave it installed, it will have a propensity to "freeze" in the hardware or break from someone grabbing it.

Do you have the original light pole hardware for the transom?

[mikegcny]

Do you have the original light pole hardware for the transom?

There is only bottom stand off on the transom. The top one is missing.

[Phil T]

Here is a source for the Upper holder.

[dtmackey]

The biggest problem with that upper holder is the plastic collar fails over time and is not available for purchase.

Sue said I needed to buy the entire expensive mount to get that $0.25 cent collar. So I had to make my own collar.

[jimh]

The lamp pictured in Figure 1 has a Fresnel lens. That means it concentrates the light at the horizon. It will be important to get the lamp orientation vertical.

I infer you do not have the original pole lamp and plan to buy one. If you buy a pole lamp for a white all-round light, get one without the Fresnel lens. A lamp like that won't need to be oriented precisely horizontal. I also think a straight pole could be bent as needed with a tubing bender, as long as it was thin-wall steel [that is, to be perfectly explicit and clear, thin-wall stainless steel tubing that you might find used for very light railings or other purposes on a boat and NEVER common contractor supply store thin-wall electrical metallic tubing or EMT conduit].

[dtmackey]

I also think a straight pole could be bent as needed with a tubing bender, as long as it was thin-wall steel.

I would not recommend using steel as Jim has suggested, I would use 304 or 316 stainless tubing, depending on the level of corrosion resistance desired. Thin-wall used for railings, is rather easy to bend with the common pipe bender.

D-

[jimh]

I would not recommend using steel as Jim has suggested...

Stainless steel is--of course--the only steel appropriate, but stainless steel is still steel, not aluminum, so the inference I was specifically recommended something like thin-wall electrical metalic tubing (EMT) is an inference that was never intended. I will, in fact, emend my remark to remove any doubt.

But I will have to caution that perhaps some experience with a pipe bender ought to be to obtained before attempting to bend a navigation pole lamp that cost several hundred dollars.

In the long run, the real concern is how much boating will be done after dark, and how much do you really need the $400 OEM style lamp. If the boat is only underway an hour or two per season after dark, then maybe just about any white all-round pole lamp would suffice.

I lug around a very long (8-feet tall) very large diameter pole for the white all-round lamp on my boat, but it only comes aboard when I know I might be boating after sunset. Where I am boating in the Spring and Summer, sunset can be late as 9:22 p.m. I cannot recall being underway at that time of day even once in the last ten years. The only reason I would be showing a white all-round light is if I were at anchor. When at anchor there is no particular specified location for the white all-round light to be shown from, nor is there a fore-and-aft location specified.

Only when the boat is underway is the white all-round light specified as to elevation and location.

As a result, for my purposes, I could just tie a small white light onto the radio antenna mast and have a legitimate anchor light.

[mikegcny]

But I will have to caution that perhaps some experience with a pipe bender ought to be to obtained before attempting to bend a navigation pole lamp that cost several hundred dollars.

That is really hard to do. My dad and uncle are both electricians and no matter how many times they show me, I can't get it right -- and that is with EMT.

I decided to go with a modestly priced aftermarket articulating lamp on a 36 inch pole. I am going to attach it to the ski eye to make up some height - I came up with a way to do that that should not interfere with the ski eye performance. Will post an update when done.

I am going to attach a flag to it too. My daughters will be using this boat, and I figured having a fag on it will improve visibility. If the pole cannot stand up to the force of the flag, it should be simple enough to replace it with a heavier piece of 316 stainless tube.

[mikegcny]

This is what I came up with as to not interfere with the ski eye.

skiwee1-0001.jpg (44.52 KiB) Viewed 2650 times

[Mike Brantley]

Mike, please point me to the parts and source for the hardware you used to mount the pole lamp to the ski pylon Thanks.