home made solar powered running lights

[hearsejr]

  I built some home made solar powered running lights last year and just went through  my Field test to see how they would hold up. they are still working great!
it will soon be time to replace the batteries, but I am sure that will be easy enough to do. mounting is the main thing I have to figure out. my plans are too build a wooden triangle's shaped board and glue a mirror sheet thing ...you get it from advance auto parts for about $5-6 and cut it the shape you need with scissors, then peel the sticky tape off the back and stick it on the old mirror of the car or truck. I would stick to the board and fix the angle to reflect the light out the side and front of the boat.
the only trouble will be finding a lens. I got mine as little acorn , or bee hive running light at a truck stop. here is sort of what it looks like.. but it was not an LED type.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=beehive+truck+Clearance+Light&hl=en&rlz=1T4ADBF_enUS318US332&prmd=ivns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&wrapid=tlif130041250426410&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=7620962562987799014&sa=X&ei=aLiCTZvyOtKD0QGq4NHOCA&ved=0CFUQ8wIwAA#
I'm sure I can find a source of lenses somewhere that I could make work just as easy. I used the Westinghouse solar powered spot light from walmart. here's a link to the ones I got...
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Westinghouse-2-Piece-Deluxe-Solar-Spot-Light-Set/10848176
 they have them here today for $15. I have also seen a few other brands for around the same price...some cheaper and some higgher but all were between $12 and $25.
when I took it apart, to epoxy the lens on to the reflector of the spot light, I sealed it with seal-a-cone as I put it back together.
here is what I did and how it looked.

 

[s/v Faith]

Bill,

  I am all for innovation, but have you considered the need for the lights not to overlap and to shine 112.5 degrees on either side of the bow?

  Here is a link to the regs, you may well be able to use some material to block part of the arc to accomplish this... not sure on the color though...



 

[hearsejr]

thanks, it's a work in progress.. more for extending the house battery by not having to use the hard wired running lights all night. you could use these for a few hours then turn the hardwired lights on maybe.. 
I did take up the issue of over lapping, and turned the lights so it would be seen from dead ahead.
  I had some issue about the 112.5 degrees things though. I think it would easy to fix. maybe I can build a side board somehow that would extend in front of the beam of light, a glue a mirror to the side board so you get the light from only the side of the boat and dead ahead of the boat.
I was more worried about the lights getting to dim and not being bright enough. it turns out that it stayed bright enough well in to the very wee hours of the morning. like 3:30 am early! I figure that you will need to replace the batteries at least once a year. the batteries are easy to replace and I found out they are not hard to find. they are cheap too.

as for the color, my camera wouldn't do it justice. the color is spot on, though.  I am starting to wonder if someone could replace the white light LED with a red  and green one.
the Coasties stopped by and told my docks master that it was looking very good to them but I will need to re aim them for the best results.

[hearsejr]

uuupppss I forgot to let everyone know that I'm useing these for a 29' 11" boat.. sorry.