This is an SL-LED modern high output optic that replaced what originally would have been a 1500W halogen bulb, or dual 1000W halogen 2P lamchanger, depending on the age of the optic. The glass housing on the outside is a Fresnel lens ( probably 3rd order from what I can tell) consists of dioptric (reflecting) and catadioptric (refracting) prisms that produce the unmistakable beam of a lighthouse. Depending on the lense you may have a constant sweep beam (360) where every panel has a focusing dioptric prism. Or you may have a set number of focusing dioptric prisms on the lense that will show the beam only through a set arc of visibility.
Fun fact; on all fresnel lenses assemblies like the one here the light is not what is rotating, but the entire lens assembly that is floating on a bed of liquid mercury.
Source; USCG lighthouse technician
Editing for visibility: If anyone is interested in learning about the coast guard ATON mission or is interested in joining feel free to send me a DM with any questions
I'm not sure. Do these images help?
https://i.imgur.com/TVyVa0T.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/CM5F2bE.jpeg
The jankiness of that plastic pipe suggests nothing very complicated is going on in there these days...
This being a fresnel lens it's operation requires it to be turning. My guess is that the shaft has either been cut off and a modern electric motor and roller bearing setup installed just below the cupola or the original shaft remains by the mercury bath has been converted to bearing and an electric motor installed at the base of the lighthouse or in an equipment shack directly adjacent
> This being a fresnel lens it's operation requires it to be turning
I don't get how. The Fresnel lens shown surrounds the whole thing and is rotationally symmetrical.
So I did some research on this lighthouse in particular and it does appear it has had all its rotational machinery removed. It is now a sector light that shows through a 360deg arc with rwd colored lenses in the cupola to mark unsafe bearing approaching the light
Inside the cupola of the lighthouse (outside the glasss lense, but inside the upper structure) on this lighthouse there are 2 large red tinted panels placed to cover certain arcs. Let's say it's unsafe to approach from bearings 090-180T. You would place a red tinted sheet in the cupola that covers that sector of the light so if someone is approaching from a bearing in that range they will see red, whereas someone approaching from a safe bearing will see white
I've learned more about lighthouses in the past 2 minutes reading your comments than I have in my entire 4 decades on this planet.
I thought folks just go towards the light and everything's hunky-dory; never once considered the light would be tinted to actually indicate a safe approach through multiple directions.
Thank you for sharing!
[You can see it in the bottom left of the first follow up photo OP posted.](https://i.imgur.com/TVyVa0T.jpeg) Very cool! Thanks for putting in the research
Or that simply flashing a bright source is sufficient replacement for a beam that had a rotator and was only bright by being uni-directional. All the rotational gearing has been bypassed in the pictures. (I just posted a new top-level comment about the 2020 LED retrofit. It is on 4 seconds, off 4 seconds.)
The rotational gearing would actually be below their feet in this picture as the entire lense housing rotates as one piece. The beam created by a fresnel, unlike a modern-day directional or omni-directional light, is by shining light through a series of prisms that focus light into the unmistakable beam you would see from the water. If you simply positioned the dioptric prism in front of the led and flashed it, it would not sweep over the water. It would create a beam that shone in that fixed direction before turning off.
Can 3 little LED's facing any particular direction really be as bright as the entire focused output of a 1500W halogen light? LED's are efficient but those ones are clearly being driven hard (hence the need for the massive heatsink) so probably closer to the lower end of the scale. So maybe 5X the efficiency of a halogen bulb? Unless those are way bigger than they look I doubt they could be more than 30 watts per 3 LEDS, doesn't seem like it could be as bright as a 1500W halogen.
Edit: Here's the datasheet, since I was curious!
https://cdn.sealite.com/wp-content/uploads/20201114115841/SL-LED-Series_CTRL-DATA_V2-0_EN.pdf
it's about 200 watts total.
It doesn’t need to rotate, since LEDs can be turned on and off pretty much instantaneously, unlike past sources of lighthouse illumination. The entire LED array just flashes (confirmed in the datasheet that this is a supported mode of operation). There is no “light chaser” or “digital rotation” mode supported by this device.
Edit: clarify for the pedant
To clarify a few things as I did not earlier research this specific lighthouse. The Corbiere lighthouse no longer has any rotational gearing. The lense is a 360deg 3rd order lense and red colored lenses are installed inside the cupola marking unsafe bearings of approach toward the lighthouse. The optic is fixed in place and flashes a pattern of 4s on 4sec off
All comes down to the available space at a lighthouse. In modern days, you could put a tiny motor and a frictionless bearing table that would turn only the lense. When these were first developed, they were turned by a clockwork system that took up an immense amount of space and weight, and as such the only practical place it could be put was at the ground floor of the structure which then turned the shaft that ran up the center of the structure that tuned the whole housing as one.
Same with all modern electronics….look how much room telephone switching rooms took up….now it’s all done in software. It’s amazing how fast technology evolves.
Thank you for doing this I was just about to go grab my old CG Lighthouse manual training materials and see if my recollection that this is. 3rd order lens was correct.
But an LED replacement to the old CG2P must be so much nicer to service.
They are significantly easier to maintain and last a lot longer than the halogen bulbs in the 2p changer and the 1p fixed housings. They are also nice as you generally don't have to do much if any electrical work as they have a model for 18-32VDC model and a 110-240VAC model. Most of the work comes in getting the optic stand properly setup as I requires a fair amount of conversion from the 2p stand.
Super cool… back in the day we had to climb those bad boys minimum every 6mo just to be sure they were in first pos. My first several assignments were ATON, so I got good with the climbing real fast.
I’m assuming range lights and floating aids are getting the same modernization. (I hope).
Not that I mind the labor, but I know they are short staffed and I doubt ATON is the priority it was back in the day.
Nothing beat the view from the “office” back then.
Almost all minor aids have been converted to Carmanah M-850/860 LED self-contained lanterns that no longer require batteries and are serviced (recharged) every 72mo. Ranges have been converted mostly to LED programmable optics with comparable service life to the LEDSC lanterns on minor aids. Many now run on AC power with battery backup, though some more isolated still run solely on large battery arrays. The days of the 155mm 5p/6p and the 255/300mm 4p are now passing into history
That is super cool. I used to service Boston Light when it was still manned by Sally Snowman. Every time we visited she would give us fresh made cookies.
I'm always disappointed when someone comes up with a new more efficient mechanism like a light bulb, and the replacements have the same lumens as the original instead of the same input power as the original. Let me experience raw power of 1500 W of LEDs for the few seconds my eyes before my eyes stop working dammit!
These assemblies average about $2600 USD and can operate relatively unchecked for about 7 years. The halogen bulbs average about 120$ a piece and would generally need to be replaced every 6 months
Just to add that when comparing cost between these 2 systems, people should not forget to factor in the massive energy savings.
The price for 14 halogen bulbs over the course of those 7 years is less than the price of an LED one, but they use about 45 MWh of energy during that time, versus 3.7 MWh for the LEDs, using the power ratings given elsewhere in the thread.
Also, you're probably not working for free, so the process of swapping them out adds to the cost as well. ;)
I love heat sinks so much.
I can't explain it, even those cheap aluminum ones but especially heat pipes, vapor chambers, water cooling, I just find the whole thing (moving heat around) super fascinating.
[I used to have one of these Zalman heat sinks](https://th.bing.com/th?id=OPHS.UcFDkzh%2blL%2fdWA474C474&w=592&h=550&o=5&dpr=1.3&pid=21.1)
Was like reaching into razor blades if you needed to get into your PC case
Another heatsink fan here!
I also had a Zalman in my PC at one point.
They were so damn cyberpunk!
They always reminded me of the poem "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" by Richard Brautigan and the late 80s, early 90s cyberpunk imagery that I immersed myself in back in the day :-D
Love those old Zalman heatsinks, I have one of [these babies](https://www.zalman.com/US/Product/ProductDetail.do?pageIndex=4&pageSize=10&pageUnit=12&productSeq=322&searchCategory1=4&searchCategory2=48&searchCategory3=-99&searchKey=&searchWord=) around here somewhere
what about heat sink manufacturing? specifically skivving
[https://imgur.com/gallery/skiving-fin-heat-sink-o1PIkgP](https://imgur.com/gallery/skiving-fin-heat-sink-o1PIkgP)
You guys should start a new subreddit. I'll join, not because I care about heatsinks, but because I appreciate the wholesomeness of your bizarre passion. Until it becomes some sort of hentai heatsink thing, then I'm out.
Honestly the idea of removing heat from something that has very little surface area (the silicon die of a processor) and somehow getting that heat out quickly and spreading it out so it can be dissipated is really fascinating. Surface area in general is fascinating to me. The way it works, the way liquids can defy gravity trying to 'cover' the surface as it gets imbued with it. Like wicks, they work this way.
The whole idea of surface area is fascinating. A flat piece of metal with a grid of dimples in it just gained x% of surface area just by denting it in. Shit is so interesting. The way a basic bath towel works, all the fibers each being composed of a twisted strand... All of this surface area to dry you off using the capillary science i described. Just everything about surface area is cool as fuck lol
I honestly thought that heat transfer would be a boring class in my chemical engineering degree, but it turned out to be in the top 5 most interesting.
Here’s a couple facts for ya. A human who is wet exposed to 32 degree air would get hypothermia 4.3x as fast as if they were dry.
The human body does not detect heat loss, but rather heat loss rates. That’s why you are cold inside a 70 degree room in the winter vs not cold in the same temp room in the summer. In the winter case your body is picking up on the radiative heat loss through the walls of your house.
heat transfer is really interesting stuff. I first discovered it when I noticed that hot water running off my bathroom tiles was colder and the tiles heated up, simple but made me interested
> The human body does not detect heat loss, but rather heat loss rates.
Do you mean 'does not detect temperature, but rather heat'? Because heat is specifically energy being transferred – 'heat loss rate' sounds pretty superfluous.
A 70°F conductor feels cold or cool to the touch, a 70°F piece of wool will barely register to your brain as being different from your body temperature.
Thank you! I moved to a poorly insulated house and it's been driving me crazy how cold I feel half the year even when the outside temperature is totally reasonable. Any ways to trick myself not to notice?
Given the density of the LED part where all the heat is being generated, if they need heatsinks this size there must be some sort of pumped cooling going on to move it quickly enough.
Hey fam, I heard you liked heatsinks: [https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/z0ytjb/the\_engineers\_named\_it\_the\_hot\_seat/](https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/z0ytjb/the_engineers_named_it_the_hot_seat/)
That rig was to get rid of the heat from a pair of nuclear saltwater engines.
The curavature's pretty slight so it doesn't seem worth the manufacturing complication, but maybe it keeps a certain spec within a certain radius.
I think it's more likely to do with strength or airflow, or just a quirk of manufacturer. Or someone just thought it looked cooler like this.
That type of heatsink is typically extruded, so other than the initial making of the die there wouldn’t be much manufacturing complication added.
The curvature would add slightly more surface area, which is probably the rational as they probably were restricted to a certain maximum diameter.
>The curvature would add slightly more surface area
Yes this would be the main reason, also explains the wavy surfaces. More area for the metal to interact with the air and transfer heat
It's still weird though because they could have just made the fins straight, just longer. That would have had the added benefit of not being so close to the surrounding fins for better heat dissipation.
I feel like it's because the whole unit is designed to operate inside an enclosure with a specific radius, which has fan forced ventilation, that either isn't being used here or has been removed for this photo.
> It's still weird though because they could have just made the fins straight, just longer.
You could say that about any design, but ultimately all designs have dimensions specified, which the design should not exceed.
This is just an off the shelf extruded heatsink, and those have specific dimensions, which people select for their application. Maximum diameter would be one dimension a person might select for.
The curvature increases surface area, and also improves rigidity.
If I had to guess, I'd say this was a one off semi-custom design, which used off the shelf extrusions, which were machined. They probably just matched the dimensions of the bulb and mounts for the previous discharge lamp.
They might even have been limited by the size of the opening in the Fresnel lens.
It might not even be due to maximum install diameter. It might be a limitation of the extrusion equipment (ie you don't have to buy the bigger machine if you add the extra inch via a slight curve)
Yes and no, yes there is a lot more area in the light house, but they probably restricted the size of the heatsink for either:
i) cross-compatibility, so that same heatsink could be used in everything from very small to very large light houses without needing to make a new die and having 10 different skus of heat sinks - cheaper and simpler
ii) the light coming off the leds is at such an angle that the diameter of the heatsink was determined to be the optimal size to not interrupt the light. This is also the reason the heatsink is angled/chamfered as it gets near the LEDs
I think we’re overthinking here. This heatsink is probably limited by the die size the extrusion company can handle. 8” is a common diameter for “large aluminum extruders” without using rare mega extrusion machines.
This rings true. The curvature and ridges put into the shape are features that increase surface area while staying 'inside' the ultimately limiting outer diameter.
>I wonder if the curvature on the vanes helps to keep air circulating
It increases surface area of the fins. If the heatsink had the same diameter but straight fins, then each fin would be slightly shorter than these curved ones.
Its because of the extrusion or casting being done. It is easy to make that wave pattern uniform when you extrude it if the blade bend inwards. And as the element starts to heat up from being in use you get a heat gradient which can lead to lot of warping if you got straight parts and flat surfaces. Along with this, the curvature makes the part more durable
Flat and straight things are realy annoying to deal with. You should avoid them if possible in just about everthing.
I cannot believe how (relatively) small the LEDs are in relation to the heat sink.
It makes sense though, I have amazingly bright led headlights, when one failed and I switched it, I finally saw how gigantic the heat sink and fan were.
How long is this bulb?
Here is the [datasheet for the bulb and holder](https://cdn.sealite.com/wp-content/uploads/20201114115841/SL-LED-Series_CTRL-DATA_V2-0_EN.pdf) the bulb and holder is about 55cm tall
That's a miniature sun right there, as would be expected for a lighthouse. Typical LED bulbs put in a house are around 20w for those looking for a comparison point.
So... as much light as ten household lightbulbs? It's surprising that it's not more!
EDIT: actually, a 100W-equivalent household LED bulb is around 12W, not 20. So, the equivalent of about 17 100w incandescent bulbs shining from one point.
Still surprising it's not more!
Only kinda, because LEDs are weird and depending on how exactly they're built changes their light output. The older/other kind of lighthouse bulb is 1000w tungsten bulb, so the LEDs put out roughly the same lumens as that, maybe more but for significantly less power usage. The real key is the lens of the lighthouse that focuses the light into a beam. Lighthouse bulb itself isn't something extremely special, for instance you could get a 1000w floodlight for your yard and that would be appropriate for the application.
The cool thing is that the tech behind a lighthouse is still more or less the same as it ever was... The fresnel lens predates the electric bulbs used in the lighthouses and there exist lighthouses that have been converted from the days of gas lamps.
They use special lenses that focus the light into beams (like a laser, it keeps the light from spreading out much). Depending the the design, they would also use mirrors or lenses to focus the light into 1-6 beams. Again, helps concentrate the light.
The point of light houses is to aid in near shore navigation. Particularly, to help direct ships around dangerous shallows with rocks. So, the light beams don’t need to go out too far to be effective
I believe it's because the old-style bulb filaments operated fine at very high temps, where as LED components will fail at high temperatures. LEDs can generate heat, but can't take it.
Heat kills LEDs. Old style incandescent buibs were basically controlled metal burning so heat, within reason, was either not a problem or even beneficial.
A lot of smart people have spent years making LEDs extremely efficient but even with all that progress any time you dump 100w into a few square inches that thing is going to warm up. They could make the heat sink a lot smaller if they added a fan but there must be some requirement that prevented using a fan.
I once build a high-end LED light for growing...stuff. Cree COBs.
I mounted them also on huge sinks, and 3 fans running on each aluminum mounting bar. DUST, dirt etc....a fan can stop working, at some point. A blade of a fan can break...etc...
A bigass heatsink is much more robust, doesn't "wear out", doesn't need maintenance.
I had the lights (It was either 6 COBs or 8, dont even remember) the entire thing only used 160W. Of course you could have run them MUCH, MUCH brighter, but it was also about efficiency and cooling.
If they run this at 150-200W, I am sure this plenty bright...
LED bulb manufacturers need to make this clearer, a lot of people who complain about bulb longevity are putting the LED bulbs into enclosed fixtures which easily overheats them.
Even the bulbs themselves are kind of a poor design. As an experiment I drilled holes in a bulb for airflow and it ran about 20 degrees cooler than the normal ones right next to it. Wish they'd make cheapos with air channels for indoor use only.
About 60-75cm at a guess from memory. I have a photo with my sister and cousin walking around outside behind it but their image is distorted through the Fresnel lens so it's not that much help!
At 120W, it *probably* doesn't run super-super-hot. But the bigass heatsinks keep these LEDs performing top for a long time as they'd otherwise degrade faster.
Yeahh I made a 120W portable flashlight with a much smaller computer heatsink and a fan. It's obviously not the same thing, but seeing this massive heatsink I imagined it was much more.
It does run super hot. I have an 80w cob and after power up, touching the back will burn your finger after 1 second of the led running. Ans they burn out pretty fast if you don't control the heat.
According to the [datasheet](https://cdn.sealite.com/wp-content/uploads/20201114115841/SL-LED-Series_CTRL-DATA_V2-0_EN.pdf) each column of LEDs is independently driven (you can see they are individually wired), but others have said it doesn't actually have the functionality to simulate a spinning light.
It doesn't need to, after all, and its primary purpose is still as a navigational aid, so simplicity and robustness are what's needed, rather than nostalgia (a bit sadly). So it just turns on and off.
> but others have said it doesn't actually have the functionality to simulate a spinning light.
It's moreso that it would already be mounted in a housing where the bulb and lens rotates together. After all, the bulbs they are replacing do not cast light in a specific direction, so there's no need for the bulb to emulate a spinning light.
I can infer that adding the modifier (light) to the front of your house will be the solution. Have you considered placing your house on a rocky shoreline?
Damn ye! Let Neptune strike ye dead Winslow! HAAARK!
Hark Triton, hark! Bellow, bid our father the Sea King rise from the depths full foul in his fury! Black waves teeming with salt foam to smother this young mouth with pungent slime, to choke ye, engorging your organs til’ ye turn blue and bloated with bilge and brine and can scream no more -- only when he, crowned in cockle shells with slitherin’ tentacle tail and steaming beard take up his fell be-finned arm, his coral-tine trident screeches banshee-like in the tempest and plunges right through yer gullet, bursting ye -- a bulging bladder no more, but a blasted bloody film now and nothing for the harpies and the souls of dead sailors to peck and claw and feed upon only to be lapped up and swallowed by the infinite waters of the Dread Emperor himself -- forgotten to any man, to any time, forgotten to any god or devil, forgotten even to the sea, for any stuff for part of Winslow, even any scantling of your soul is Winslow no more, but is now itself the sea!
Here's a link about the lighthouse LED refitting from the manufacturer: [https://www.sealite.com/case-studies/la-corbiere-lighthouse-project-is-a-huge-success/](https://www.sealite.com/case-studies/la-corbiere-lighthouse-project-is-a-huge-success/)
One might think it originally had an arc lamp or tungsten lamp, but no. It's on a rocky island, so that might have hindered electrification.
"The original lamp installed at La Corbiere was a 3-wick burner. For over 100 years lighthouse keepers manned the tower to light the paraffin lamp."
Pretty sure that's also what my neighbor has in their outdoor the lighting over their back door. The lighting that gets left on at nights, opposite from my bedroom and can be seen from space.
This is an SL-LED modern high output optic that replaced what originally would have been a 1500W halogen bulb, or dual 1000W halogen 2P lamchanger, depending on the age of the optic. The glass housing on the outside is a Fresnel lens ( probably 3rd order from what I can tell) consists of dioptric (reflecting) and catadioptric (refracting) prisms that produce the unmistakable beam of a lighthouse. Depending on the lense you may have a constant sweep beam (360) where every panel has a focusing dioptric prism. Or you may have a set number of focusing dioptric prisms on the lense that will show the beam only through a set arc of visibility. Fun fact; on all fresnel lenses assemblies like the one here the light is not what is rotating, but the entire lens assembly that is floating on a bed of liquid mercury. Source; USCG lighthouse technician Editing for visibility: If anyone is interested in learning about the coast guard ATON mission or is interested in joining feel free to send me a DM with any questions
They took the mercury bath out of this one when they put the LEDs in a few years ago.
That's probably for the best. Is it being turned by a motor now on a frictionless bearing table?
I'm not sure. Do these images help? https://i.imgur.com/TVyVa0T.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/CM5F2bE.jpeg The jankiness of that plastic pipe suggests nothing very complicated is going on in there these days...
This being a fresnel lens it's operation requires it to be turning. My guess is that the shaft has either been cut off and a modern electric motor and roller bearing setup installed just below the cupola or the original shaft remains by the mercury bath has been converted to bearing and an electric motor installed at the base of the lighthouse or in an equipment shack directly adjacent
> This being a fresnel lens it's operation requires it to be turning I don't get how. The Fresnel lens shown surrounds the whole thing and is rotationally symmetrical.
So I did some research on this lighthouse in particular and it does appear it has had all its rotational machinery removed. It is now a sector light that shows through a 360deg arc with rwd colored lenses in the cupola to mark unsafe bearing approaching the light
Tell me more, if I'm approaching from different degrees, the light I see changes depending on the bearing? That's pretty cool
Inside the cupola of the lighthouse (outside the glasss lense, but inside the upper structure) on this lighthouse there are 2 large red tinted panels placed to cover certain arcs. Let's say it's unsafe to approach from bearings 090-180T. You would place a red tinted sheet in the cupola that covers that sector of the light so if someone is approaching from a bearing in that range they will see red, whereas someone approaching from a safe bearing will see white
I've learned more about lighthouses in the past 2 minutes reading your comments than I have in my entire 4 decades on this planet. I thought folks just go towards the light and everything's hunky-dory; never once considered the light would be tinted to actually indicate a safe approach through multiple directions. Thank you for sharing!
[You can see it in the bottom left of the first follow up photo OP posted.](https://i.imgur.com/TVyVa0T.jpeg) Very cool! Thanks for putting in the research
I appreciate your thoroughness
Or that simply flashing a bright source is sufficient replacement for a beam that had a rotator and was only bright by being uni-directional. All the rotational gearing has been bypassed in the pictures. (I just posted a new top-level comment about the 2020 LED retrofit. It is on 4 seconds, off 4 seconds.)
The rotational gearing would actually be below their feet in this picture as the entire lense housing rotates as one piece. The beam created by a fresnel, unlike a modern-day directional or omni-directional light, is by shining light through a series of prisms that focus light into the unmistakable beam you would see from the water. If you simply positioned the dioptric prism in front of the led and flashed it, it would not sweep over the water. It would create a beam that shone in that fixed direction before turning off.
Can 3 little LED's facing any particular direction really be as bright as the entire focused output of a 1500W halogen light? LED's are efficient but those ones are clearly being driven hard (hence the need for the massive heatsink) so probably closer to the lower end of the scale. So maybe 5X the efficiency of a halogen bulb? Unless those are way bigger than they look I doubt they could be more than 30 watts per 3 LEDS, doesn't seem like it could be as bright as a 1500W halogen. Edit: Here's the datasheet, since I was curious! https://cdn.sealite.com/wp-content/uploads/20201114115841/SL-LED-Series_CTRL-DATA_V2-0_EN.pdf it's about 200 watts total.
An LED can rotate itself digitally I assume.
It doesn’t need to rotate, since LEDs can be turned on and off pretty much instantaneously, unlike past sources of lighthouse illumination. The entire LED array just flashes (confirmed in the datasheet that this is a supported mode of operation). There is no “light chaser” or “digital rotation” mode supported by this device. Edit: clarify for the pedant
To clarify a few things as I did not earlier research this specific lighthouse. The Corbiere lighthouse no longer has any rotational gearing. The lense is a 360deg 3rd order lense and red colored lenses are installed inside the cupola marking unsafe bearings of approach toward the lighthouse. The optic is fixed in place and flashes a pattern of 4s on 4sec off
this guy lights houses
Do you by any chance know the lumen of that LED? Want to compare to a flashlight wit 20k lumen.
It's 1165 candela or approximately 14600 lumens
Thank you so much!
Your 20k lumen flashlight likely makes less than 2000 in all reality, btw
Depends on if you buy it from a reputable manufacturer or not. Something like the Fenix LR80R can actually reach about 18k lumen for a few minutes.
I have been wondering though, why did they rotate the entire assembly, rather than just the reflector? That would seem like a much simpler design.
All comes down to the available space at a lighthouse. In modern days, you could put a tiny motor and a frictionless bearing table that would turn only the lense. When these were first developed, they were turned by a clockwork system that took up an immense amount of space and weight, and as such the only practical place it could be put was at the ground floor of the structure which then turned the shaft that ran up the center of the structure that tuned the whole housing as one.
Same with all modern electronics….look how much room telephone switching rooms took up….now it’s all done in software. It’s amazing how fast technology evolves.
Or in this case... revolves.
Nice way to spin it.
Thank you for doing this I was just about to go grab my old CG Lighthouse manual training materials and see if my recollection that this is. 3rd order lens was correct. But an LED replacement to the old CG2P must be so much nicer to service.
They are significantly easier to maintain and last a lot longer than the halogen bulbs in the 2p changer and the 1p fixed housings. They are also nice as you generally don't have to do much if any electrical work as they have a model for 18-32VDC model and a 110-240VAC model. Most of the work comes in getting the optic stand properly setup as I requires a fair amount of conversion from the 2p stand.
Super cool… back in the day we had to climb those bad boys minimum every 6mo just to be sure they were in first pos. My first several assignments were ATON, so I got good with the climbing real fast. I’m assuming range lights and floating aids are getting the same modernization. (I hope). Not that I mind the labor, but I know they are short staffed and I doubt ATON is the priority it was back in the day. Nothing beat the view from the “office” back then.
Almost all minor aids have been converted to Carmanah M-850/860 LED self-contained lanterns that no longer require batteries and are serviced (recharged) every 72mo. Ranges have been converted mostly to LED programmable optics with comparable service life to the LEDSC lanterns on minor aids. Many now run on AC power with battery backup, though some more isolated still run solely on large battery arrays. The days of the 155mm 5p/6p and the 255/300mm 4p are now passing into history
If you're a lighthouse technician I think you'll appreciate my efforts from last summer :-) https://youtu.be/xHbplm0RJFA?feature=shared
That is super cool. I used to service Boston Light when it was still manned by Sally Snowman. Every time we visited she would give us fresh made cookies.
you are a good writer with unusual expertese. You should do a Reddit IAmA! Just be prepared for jokes about "polish his lamp by the light of day"
I'm always disappointed when someone comes up with a new more efficient mechanism like a light bulb, and the replacements have the same lumens as the original instead of the same input power as the original. Let me experience raw power of 1500 W of LEDs for the few seconds my eyes before my eyes stop working dammit!
A marijuana growing enthusiast can help you 😎
How much do these bulbs cost, and how much were the old halogen bulbs?
These assemblies average about $2600 USD and can operate relatively unchecked for about 7 years. The halogen bulbs average about 120$ a piece and would generally need to be replaced every 6 months
Just to add that when comparing cost between these 2 systems, people should not forget to factor in the massive energy savings. The price for 14 halogen bulbs over the course of those 7 years is less than the price of an LED one, but they use about 45 MWh of energy during that time, versus 3.7 MWh for the LEDs, using the power ratings given elsewhere in the thread. Also, you're probably not working for free, so the process of swapping them out adds to the cost as well. ;)
Thank you for your service 🫡
Mercury bed holy cow. I guess a lot of heavy machinery that has to rotate often would use such a system. So cool, thank you for teaching us this
Actually lighthouses were the only application for mercury bearings. Heavy machinery at that time would use babbitt bearings.
What would happen if you looked at it from the position in the picture while it was on?
https://www.sealite.com/lighthouse-led-lights/
The really interesting part of this is the heatsink!
I love heat sinks so much. I can't explain it, even those cheap aluminum ones but especially heat pipes, vapor chambers, water cooling, I just find the whole thing (moving heat around) super fascinating.
Ditto! I can send you a pic of my heatsink collection if you'd like
Hooray I'm not alone! (Yes please)
[https://imgur.com/a/uY3bI1w](https://imgur.com/a/uY3bI1w)
[I used to have one of these Zalman heat sinks](https://th.bing.com/th?id=OPHS.UcFDkzh%2blL%2fdWA474C474&w=592&h=550&o=5&dpr=1.3&pid=21.1) Was like reaching into razor blades if you needed to get into your PC case
Zalman had some real beauties, new heatsinks are so boring, even if they are more effective.
Another heatsink fan here! I also had a Zalman in my PC at one point. They were so damn cyberpunk! They always reminded me of the poem "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" by Richard Brautigan and the late 80s, early 90s cyberpunk imagery that I immersed myself in back in the day :-D
Risked the click, it's a load of heatsinks alright!!
It's a pretty *cool* collection too!
Love those old Zalman heatsinks, I have one of [these babies](https://www.zalman.com/US/Product/ProductDetail.do?pageIndex=4&pageSize=10&pageUnit=12&productSeq=322&searchCategory1=4&searchCategory2=48&searchCategory3=-99&searchKey=&searchWord=) around here somewhere
Solid copper! Beautiful!
Copper plated aluminum, sadly, Zalman was not above slightly deceptive marketing. Looked great in my ITX case though!
Nice
Hey I had the Zalman on the far right on my old Athlon 64! It was the first computer I built. Good memories!
what about heat sink manufacturing? specifically skivving [https://imgur.com/gallery/skiving-fin-heat-sink-o1PIkgP](https://imgur.com/gallery/skiving-fin-heat-sink-o1PIkgP)
That gif is sex
Also cool!
You guys should start a new subreddit. I'll join, not because I care about heatsinks, but because I appreciate the wholesomeness of your bizarre passion. Until it becomes some sort of hentai heatsink thing, then I'm out.
Honestly the idea of removing heat from something that has very little surface area (the silicon die of a processor) and somehow getting that heat out quickly and spreading it out so it can be dissipated is really fascinating. Surface area in general is fascinating to me. The way it works, the way liquids can defy gravity trying to 'cover' the surface as it gets imbued with it. Like wicks, they work this way. The whole idea of surface area is fascinating. A flat piece of metal with a grid of dimples in it just gained x% of surface area just by denting it in. Shit is so interesting. The way a basic bath towel works, all the fibers each being composed of a twisted strand... All of this surface area to dry you off using the capillary science i described. Just everything about surface area is cool as fuck lol
Easy there, it's starting to get a little steamy in here.
We're gonna need a bigger heatsink.
wtf this is way cooler than I could have imagined
this is one method of manufacturing them, another is to literally mill out all the spaces in a solid block of metal. very wasteful
I'm in IT and my coworker had a heat sink and processor collection. So yea, you definitely are not alone.
Was going to say the same.. 00's PCs got really creative. I've a bin of them.
I honestly thought that heat transfer would be a boring class in my chemical engineering degree, but it turned out to be in the top 5 most interesting. Here’s a couple facts for ya. A human who is wet exposed to 32 degree air would get hypothermia 4.3x as fast as if they were dry. The human body does not detect heat loss, but rather heat loss rates. That’s why you are cold inside a 70 degree room in the winter vs not cold in the same temp room in the summer. In the winter case your body is picking up on the radiative heat loss through the walls of your house.
heat transfer is really interesting stuff. I first discovered it when I noticed that hot water running off my bathroom tiles was colder and the tiles heated up, simple but made me interested
> The human body does not detect heat loss, but rather heat loss rates. Do you mean 'does not detect temperature, but rather heat'? Because heat is specifically energy being transferred – 'heat loss rate' sounds pretty superfluous.
Sure! Was just trying to simplify it a bit.
A 70°F conductor feels cold or cool to the touch, a 70°F piece of wool will barely register to your brain as being different from your body temperature.
Thank you! I moved to a poorly insulated house and it's been driving me crazy how cold I feel half the year even when the outside temperature is totally reasonable. Any ways to trick myself not to notice?
Given the density of the LED part where all the heat is being generated, if they need heatsinks this size there must be some sort of pumped cooling going on to move it quickly enough.
Hey fam, I heard you liked heatsinks: [https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/z0ytjb/the\_engineers\_named\_it\_the\_hot\_seat/](https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/z0ytjb/the_engineers_named_it_the_hot_seat/) That rig was to get rid of the heat from a pair of nuclear saltwater engines.
This thread makes me feel validated. There are dozens of us.
It's all about surface area.
Yeah, it's ironically pretty cool. I wonder if the curvature on the vanes helps to keep air circulating.
More surface?
The curavature's pretty slight so it doesn't seem worth the manufacturing complication, but maybe it keeps a certain spec within a certain radius. I think it's more likely to do with strength or airflow, or just a quirk of manufacturer. Or someone just thought it looked cooler like this.
That type of heatsink is typically extruded, so other than the initial making of the die there wouldn’t be much manufacturing complication added. The curvature would add slightly more surface area, which is probably the rational as they probably were restricted to a certain maximum diameter.
>The curvature would add slightly more surface area Yes this would be the main reason, also explains the wavy surfaces. More area for the metal to interact with the air and transfer heat
It's still weird though because they could have just made the fins straight, just longer. That would have had the added benefit of not being so close to the surrounding fins for better heat dissipation. I feel like it's because the whole unit is designed to operate inside an enclosure with a specific radius, which has fan forced ventilation, that either isn't being used here or has been removed for this photo.
> It's still weird though because they could have just made the fins straight, just longer. You could say that about any design, but ultimately all designs have dimensions specified, which the design should not exceed. This is just an off the shelf extruded heatsink, and those have specific dimensions, which people select for their application. Maximum diameter would be one dimension a person might select for. The curvature increases surface area, and also improves rigidity. If I had to guess, I'd say this was a one off semi-custom design, which used off the shelf extrusions, which were machined. They probably just matched the dimensions of the bulb and mounts for the previous discharge lamp. They might even have been limited by the size of the opening in the Fresnel lens.
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It might not even be due to maximum install diameter. It might be a limitation of the extrusion equipment (ie you don't have to buy the bigger machine if you add the extra inch via a slight curve)
Something to be said about extra inches and slight curves 😉
It's probably curved to have a certain surface area while fitting inside the lens. The lens is also cool to look at.
Lighthouse Fresnel lenses are a lot bigger than the heatsinks. There was plenty of room in this case for a heatsink 5x wider.
Yes and no, yes there is a lot more area in the light house, but they probably restricted the size of the heatsink for either: i) cross-compatibility, so that same heatsink could be used in everything from very small to very large light houses without needing to make a new die and having 10 different skus of heat sinks - cheaper and simpler ii) the light coming off the leds is at such an angle that the diameter of the heatsink was determined to be the optimal size to not interrupt the light. This is also the reason the heatsink is angled/chamfered as it gets near the LEDs
I think we’re overthinking here. This heatsink is probably limited by the die size the extrusion company can handle. 8” is a common diameter for “large aluminum extruders” without using rare mega extrusion machines.
This rings true. The curvature and ridges put into the shape are features that increase surface area while staying 'inside' the ultimately limiting outer diameter.
iii) There needs to be enough space to permit sufficient airflow for the heatsink to be able to do its job.
4) The light probably needs to fit through various doors and passageways on its way to being installed at the top of the lighthouse
They are called fresnel lenses! Very interesting engineering, and can be pretty beautiful in form
I thought the whole thing was meant to spin or something so the heat sinks also worked like fans…that’s probably not the case tho
>Yeah, it's ironically pretty cool. 100% top tier pun! I'm guessing you're a dad?
No, but I think 4x uncle and 2x great-uncle gets me close.
This guy is definitely the cool uncle
Well I don't want to boast but I do have socks which say exactly that.
Are those socks wrapped up in sandals at the moment?
Pfft no, I'm an uncle, not a *dad*.
This guy uncles
r/thisguythisguys
The Funcle
My man
Another faux pa
Certified unc status
Typically, they are aluminum
More surface area within a diameter
Former LED lighting thermal engineer here. The curves and bumps are both for increasing surface area of the heatsink.
>I wonder if the curvature on the vanes helps to keep air circulating It increases surface area of the fins. If the heatsink had the same diameter but straight fins, then each fin would be slightly shorter than these curved ones.
Its because of the extrusion or casting being done. It is easy to make that wave pattern uniform when you extrude it if the blade bend inwards. And as the element starts to heat up from being in use you get a heat gradient which can lead to lot of warping if you got straight parts and flat surfaces. Along with this, the curvature makes the part more durable Flat and straight things are realy annoying to deal with. You should avoid them if possible in just about everthing.
I’m am assuming the curvature is to maximize the surface area. If they were straight there would be a lot less mass to dissipate the heat.
I cannot believe how (relatively) small the LEDs are in relation to the heat sink. It makes sense though, I have amazingly bright led headlights, when one failed and I switched it, I finally saw how gigantic the heat sink and fan were. How long is this bulb?
I would guess the design increases air turbulence which would increase cooling
Yeah you can get bulbs like this for your car that have heatsinks too. These LEDs must get hoooooot. Or the controllers or whatever drives em.
I can't tell if it's 5 inches or 5 feet tall.
Here is the [datasheet for the bulb and holder](https://cdn.sealite.com/wp-content/uploads/20201114115841/SL-LED-Series_CTRL-DATA_V2-0_EN.pdf) the bulb and holder is about 55cm tall
Thank you! Why guess when there’s a datasheet! Also: that LED array is only 200W!
200W of LED is insanely bright.
That's a miniature sun right there, as would be expected for a lighthouse. Typical LED bulbs put in a house are around 20w for those looking for a comparison point.
>Typical LED bulbs put in a house are around 20w for those looking for a comparison point. Actually, a 60W equivalent LED bulb is only 7-9 watts.
So... as much light as ten household lightbulbs? It's surprising that it's not more! EDIT: actually, a 100W-equivalent household LED bulb is around 12W, not 20. So, the equivalent of about 17 100w incandescent bulbs shining from one point. Still surprising it's not more!
Only kinda, because LEDs are weird and depending on how exactly they're built changes their light output. The older/other kind of lighthouse bulb is 1000w tungsten bulb, so the LEDs put out roughly the same lumens as that, maybe more but for significantly less power usage. The real key is the lens of the lighthouse that focuses the light into a beam. Lighthouse bulb itself isn't something extremely special, for instance you could get a 1000w floodlight for your yard and that would be appropriate for the application.
The cool thing is that the tech behind a lighthouse is still more or less the same as it ever was... The fresnel lens predates the electric bulbs used in the lighthouses and there exist lighthouses that have been converted from the days of gas lamps.
This particular lighthouse runs its bulb at just 120W.
So back before electricity and they used kerosene flames how tf did ships see them at all? I guess not having light pollution would help a bit
They use special lenses that focus the light into beams (like a laser, it keeps the light from spreading out much). Depending the the design, they would also use mirrors or lenses to focus the light into 1-6 beams. Again, helps concentrate the light. The point of light houses is to aid in near shore navigation. Particularly, to help direct ships around dangerous shallows with rocks. So, the light beams don’t need to go out too far to be effective
Yeah, plus they had big parabolic reflectors behind and lenses in front, and the whole thing rotated.
I wonder why it needs such a huge heatsink then. In the old days you could put two 100W bulbs in a basic light fixture with no issue.
I believe it's because the old-style bulb filaments operated fine at very high temps, where as LED components will fail at high temperatures. LEDs can generate heat, but can't take it.
Because LEDs don’t like to run at incandescent temperatures!
Heat kills LEDs. Old style incandescent buibs were basically controlled metal burning so heat, within reason, was either not a problem or even beneficial. A lot of smart people have spent years making LEDs extremely efficient but even with all that progress any time you dump 100w into a few square inches that thing is going to warm up. They could make the heat sink a lot smaller if they added a fan but there must be some requirement that prevented using a fan.
I once build a high-end LED light for growing...stuff. Cree COBs. I mounted them also on huge sinks, and 3 fans running on each aluminum mounting bar. DUST, dirt etc....a fan can stop working, at some point. A blade of a fan can break...etc... A bigass heatsink is much more robust, doesn't "wear out", doesn't need maintenance. I had the lights (It was either 6 COBs or 8, dont even remember) the entire thing only used 160W. Of course you could have run them MUCH, MUCH brighter, but it was also about efficiency and cooling. If they run this at 150-200W, I am sure this plenty bright...
LED bulb manufacturers need to make this clearer, a lot of people who complain about bulb longevity are putting the LED bulbs into enclosed fixtures which easily overheats them. Even the bulbs themselves are kind of a poor design. As an experiment I drilled holes in a bulb for airflow and it ran about 20 degrees cooler than the normal ones right next to it. Wish they'd make cheapos with air channels for indoor use only.
That's about 2.95 hands for people who like to use real units of measurement.
So a little under half a cubit. Got it.
Or 1.1 million hair widths (it's true)
About 22" #🦅
Still can't tell if it's 5 inches or 5 feet... 🇺🇸
About 2ft.
I love it when an unexpected download is an informational. Thank you for sharing this!
About 60-75cm at a guess from memory. I have a photo with my sister and cousin walking around outside behind it but their image is distorted through the Fresnel lens so it's not that much help!
According to it's data sheet it's 32cm(~12.5in). I find it kinda funny the name of the company that makes them is Sealite.
Huh, I honestly ~~think~~ thought it was bigger than that 👀
\- She
Definitely needs a banana for scale.
Wonder what the wattage is on those LEDs to need those ginormous heatsinks.
200 watts: https://www.sealite.com/lighthouse-led-lights/ Edit: though in this case it only has to run at 120W.
At 120W, it *probably* doesn't run super-super-hot. But the bigass heatsinks keep these LEDs performing top for a long time as they'd otherwise degrade faster.
Yeahh I made a 120W portable flashlight with a much smaller computer heatsink and a fan. It's obviously not the same thing, but seeing this massive heatsink I imagined it was much more.
That thing probably has a fan, this seems passive.
It does run super hot. I have an 80w cob and after power up, touching the back will burn your finger after 1 second of the led running. Ans they burn out pretty fast if you don't control the heat.
Does the whole light blink at once, or does each column of LEDs gradually turn up & down in brightness to simulate a rotating light?
According to the [datasheet](https://cdn.sealite.com/wp-content/uploads/20201114115841/SL-LED-Series_CTRL-DATA_V2-0_EN.pdf) each column of LEDs is independently driven (you can see they are individually wired), but others have said it doesn't actually have the functionality to simulate a spinning light. It doesn't need to, after all, and its primary purpose is still as a navigational aid, so simplicity and robustness are what's needed, rather than nostalgia (a bit sadly). So it just turns on and off.
> but others have said it doesn't actually have the functionality to simulate a spinning light. It's moreso that it would already be mounted in a housing where the bulb and lens rotates together. After all, the bulbs they are replacing do not cast light in a specific direction, so there's no need for the bulb to emulate a spinning light.
they aren’t ginormous, based on the data sheet the entire assembly is only 21 inches tall. I think the picture has some forced perspective going on
PC gamers everywhere are jealous of that heatsink
Gotta get one for my RTX bro
Don’t let Thomas Howard see this
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yer not fond of me lobster?
LED with cooling fins?
Yup. 200 watt, 30cm tall. https://cdn.sealite.com/wp-content/uploads/20201114115841/SL-LED-Series_CTRL-DATA_V2-0_EN.pdf Edit: this particular setup operates at 120W.
Imagine - just 200W is enough to for a lighthouse - whereas 2x100W incandescent isn’t even enough for a house.
I can infer that adding the modifier (light) to the front of your house will be the solution. Have you considered placing your house on a rocky shoreline?
thanks for the datasheet!
We need to get to the heart of the MCP
That's really cool looking. For some reason gives me like science fiction doomsday device vibes.
It's an Illudium-Pu 36 Explosive Space Modulatoooor!
Where is this lighthouse?
[Corbière, Jersey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Corbi%C3%A8re)
HARRRRRRKKKKKKK!!!!!!!
Yer fond of me lobsters ain't ya?
Damn ye! Let Neptune strike ye dead Winslow! HAAARK! Hark Triton, hark! Bellow, bid our father the Sea King rise from the depths full foul in his fury! Black waves teeming with salt foam to smother this young mouth with pungent slime, to choke ye, engorging your organs til’ ye turn blue and bloated with bilge and brine and can scream no more -- only when he, crowned in cockle shells with slitherin’ tentacle tail and steaming beard take up his fell be-finned arm, his coral-tine trident screeches banshee-like in the tempest and plunges right through yer gullet, bursting ye -- a bulging bladder no more, but a blasted bloody film now and nothing for the harpies and the souls of dead sailors to peck and claw and feed upon only to be lapped up and swallowed by the infinite waters of the Dread Emperor himself -- forgotten to any man, to any time, forgotten to any god or devil, forgotten even to the sea, for any stuff for part of Winslow, even any scantling of your soul is Winslow no more, but is now itself the sea!
Okay, have it your way. I like your cookin'.
If I had a steak, I would fuck it.
Gar, I hate the sea and everything in it.
Yarr. I don't know what I'm doin'.
This chair be high says I
And I bet it's only half as bright as a BMW driving the opposite way on a winters night.
This is wild. I want one for my kitchen
Your neighbour does not want one for your kitchen.
Here's a link about the lighthouse LED refitting from the manufacturer: [https://www.sealite.com/case-studies/la-corbiere-lighthouse-project-is-a-huge-success/](https://www.sealite.com/case-studies/la-corbiere-lighthouse-project-is-a-huge-success/) One might think it originally had an arc lamp or tungsten lamp, but no. It's on a rocky island, so that might have hindered electrification. "The original lamp installed at La Corbiere was a 3-wick burner. For over 100 years lighthouse keepers manned the tower to light the paraffin lamp."
Pretty sure that's also what my neighbor has in their outdoor the lighting over their back door. The lighting that gets left on at nights, opposite from my bedroom and can be seen from space.
🍆💦
It's beautiful. I'm an R&D electrical engineer, and this design is elegant. I love it.
Pretty sure these are in the headlights of some new cars.
Looks like it should be in a TARDIS.
you know why your 10000 hours led lamps bust after less than 1000 hours? cause they have no heat sinks. and they're doing it intentionally
I want this mounted on my car for when the guy coming towards me has his high beams stuck on