Replacement Lens for Combined Sidelight Bi-color Lamp

[carzadon]

I found a source for a replacement [bi-color red-green lens for the combined sidelight lamp used on a 2014 170 MONTAUK and other Boston Whaler boats] that fits just like the OEM lens. [Moderator's note:in a second post in a different thread, the replacement lens was identified as a Aqua Signal Part Number 24121-1, but no source information was given. Information from the second post is joined with and is now part of this post.]

Fig. 1. A navigation lamp assembly.

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You need to remove the metal inside the [replacement lens.]
Moderator's note: I believe this refers to the hidden electrical contact, seen in Figure 3, as perhaps the only part of the lamp to be used will be the lens.]

Fig. 2. Interior of replacement lamp showing lower electrical contact for a Festoon-style lightbulb.

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I also modified my lamp to use a two-wire No. 196 lightbulb socket and a sealed LED lightbulb, replacing the "wedge-looking" lightbulb. [The term "wedge-looking" lightbulb may refer to the Festoon-style and vertically-mounting miniature incandescent lightbulb used in the lamp assembly from which the replacement lens is taken.]

Fig. 3. Detail of the replacement lens assembly which contains part of the electrical connection for the Festoon-style lightbulb used in this lamp.

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Fig. 4. The well-known Boston Whaler combined chock and navigation lamp, now with a replacement red-green lens.

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[Moderator's note: illustration images have been rotated to appear in normal orientation and cropped to remove background elements. The illustrations are also now identified with designations (Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4) in order to more easily make reference to them. Nomenclature or terms describing the navigation lamps have been conformed to use the standard terms used throughout this website. Temporary captions have been added. The thread has been moved to SMALL BOAT ELECTRICAL for further discussion. Soon afterwards I discovered there was a second post on the same topic attached to an older thread. The two posts on the same topic are now combined into one post.]

[jimh]

The usefulness of this information would be much enhanced if a retail source and cost for the lamp from which the lens is harvested could be known. Please append that information in a new post.

Also, please give more information about the "196" lightbulb socket and the "sealed LED" lightbulb you used.

Given that the replacement lens appears to be identical in size and shape to the original, and an Aqua Signal part number is specified, and the use of the Festoon bulb and socket in the replacement lamp assembly is identical to the original parts in the Boston Whaler lamp, to assume that Aqua Signal was the original OEM source for the lamp that was subsequently incorporated into the Boston Whaler lamp and chock assembly seem very reasonable.

Aqua Signal navigation lamps are generally expensive, so buying an entire Aqua Signal lamp just to harvest the lens seems like an expensive route for getting a replacement lens.

[jimh]

Technical Nit-Pick

Technically, the modified OEM combined sidelight red-green navigation lamp is no longer a certified navigation lamp

Lamps sold for use on boats in the United States are typically certified to be compliant with the U.S. Coast Guard rules for display of navigation lighting. The emitted light from a navigation lamp is specified by the chromaticity and intensity of the light. Both the new lens and the new illuminating lightbulb can affect the chromaticity and intensity of the light emitted by the lamp.

Of course, this assumes that the OEM lamp was a certified lamp. But that assumption seems reasonable due to Boston Whaler's reputation for quality.