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Boat Spotlight: I have always had a Q-beam spotlight and a fixed bow light. My original bow spotlight was the typical off road light, wiring "thru the bolt" design. I anticipated the light being shattered and purchased an aircraft landing light, to be the replacement when the inevitable occurred. However, the bulb/glass was never a problem, when the inevitable occurred (immovable object encounter) the housing and mount would be destroyed, but not the glass, thus I never needed the spare landing light in over a dozen incidents. After the last encounter, I had to accept that the thru-the-bolt, off road spotlights, are now obsolete, so I went with an LED light bar like all of the other cool kids, therefore the aircraft landing light lingered in the spare parts section of the duck cave.

This season my Q-beam hand held crapped out. So, this past weekend I took it apart for failure analysis. It's usually the switch, but this time it was actually the bulb. I can't understand why a bulb would quit after 35 years of abuse (manufactured in November of 1983), a "blue eyed" Q-beam bulb.

A-HA, time to replace this with the old GE4509 landing light.

The replacement was a smaller diameter light than the Q-beam, so I had to figure out how to increase the diameter. Decided that the simplest thing would be to get some 7/16 fuel line, cut it lengthwise and wrap it around the perimeter. It's going to get hot, so I decided to seal it up with high temp gasket sealer. Sealed the hose around the light with the gasket sealer, then had plenty of sealer leftover and since you can't just cap it and use it later, I used it to seal the new assembly to the light housing. Works just fine, and if the this light blows, I can just take a razor blade and cut it out. 99% waterproof too (the switch and screw holes aren't waterproof)

The only tricky part was that the Q-beam bulb was flat and the new bulb is convex, therefore extending beyond the frame of the housing if you just plop it in there. Had to set it back 1/4 inch to protect the bulb. Voila!

I wish I had more time for stuff like this. Completed McGyver set up.

Excellent repair!!

I have a Go-Devil navigating hardhat light that uses those same bulbs and they are plenty bright.

I bet you could put an eye out with that thang. Ha!

A good read. Thanks for posting. Now you need to show us how it looks at night. Will it be able to turn off a street light?

They make LED landing lights now that use draw way less power. They are about 3 times the cost, but are supposed to last a lot longer too. Make sure you carry a spare something, since that thing is designed to have a lot of airflow over it and provide cooling.

Off season--- first repair---- FLOOD!!! Dangit!

yeah, no $#!+ f the corp


So, hntrpat1, are you blaming the Corps of Engineers for all of this rain?

Just wondering your take on what they have to do with the extraordinary amount of rain we have received here and throughout the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys?

Its not their fault for the rain. That is a fact.

But another fact is, it is is their fault how the water runs off now.

Im flooding, and plenty of folk are also. BAD DECISIONS BY THE CORP, ARE RESPONSIBLE!


From the MS to further up, all the way to Grenada. WE ARE FLOODING!!!!!!!The corp is responsible, they said with their direction , That this would not happen. Without the corp, the water spreads out, but is not so deep.



We are screwed! All of us. Read "The rising tide " to get some history.... Every library should have it on cd books....


Yall correct me in my wayward thinking.....

I have often thought that the corp and their infinite wisdom was to blame for a lot of water issues. We all know with out them, and their levy systems a lot of homes would be damaged on a much more regular basis. But by doing that, other areas pay some kind of price in one way or another. There are consequences to both action, and inaction. The LA marshes are a prime example. If the MS river was allowed to do as it pleases, the LA marshes would be in much better shape. So, the action of putting up the levies protects some property and enables the river to be better used as a shipping corridor. Inaction, not putting up levies, would lead to the natural meander path of the river. Thus naturally silting in the marshes. But that's at the cost of property flooding and shipping.

So pick a side. You have an argument either way. I side with inaction.

It’d be one heck of a gamble to say you want to turn back time and see where the USA would be without a MS River primed for industry and commerce over the last century or so. There’s a chance that scenario has us speaking German today.

What the heck are you hens jabberwalling about????????
How did this migrate from cool off season repair projects to people pissin and moanin about flood waters and the gubment???
Anyhow, where is all this dang FLOODING taking place that yall are complaining about??
Just kidding, carry on.

LODI ran this sumbuck off the tracks cause he can’t get a rize out of them duck”south” phasebookers
It’s all good though....just glad to see some people still use this thing.

Hard to piss anybody off these days...

One topic leading to another and jumping the tracks, I wouldn't want it any other way.

Here is a nightime comparison between the rebuilt QBeam with the GE4509 landing light and a 1980's QBeam "Big Max" 400,000 candlepower spotlight.

The camera automatically got more exposure than I wanted but as you can tell the aircraft landing light is slightly brighter and has a wider spread. Not as big of a WOW factor but not a dud either. The heat is a factor, but I held my hand over both bulbs and the heat seemed about the same. It will take another spot failure to switch to an LED. And actually, my backup to the backup was a Streamlight C-battery powered LED pencil beam, but it became entangled in something and I gave that something an angry jerk, launching the light into the river, THEN I found out that they don't float so good.

I figured that a follow up was needed to bring order to the flood chaos.

QBeam:


Landing Light:


QBeam:


Landing light: