Gang, I've been absent from posting. Sorry.
I replaced the bulbs in my Running Lights with double contact bayonett LED bulbs purchased online from www.Superbrightleds.com (see previous posts) I have the original Bronze / Chrome hardware that is pictured way up in the front of this thread. Some tips for those of you contemplating this:
I found that although the Superbright LED #1142 wide angle bulbs fit just fine within the glass colored lenses, they could not be depressed quite far enough into the socket bases to allow me to twist them and lock them in place. So, I had to buy new bulb base inserts, remove the old ones, and install the new ones inserted slightly farther into the fittings. The old bases were soldered into place too low in the sleeve-- ok for a GE-90 bulb, but the collar on the 1142 LEDs bottomed out too soon when pushing them in.
I found that the easiest way to get the old bulb base sockets out of the fitting was to soften the solder, heat up the fitting on the gas range (please hold with pliers or something) until toasty, then put the fitting on the vice and hit the edge of the bulb socket from the inside with a flat blade screwdriver (move around the bulb base edge from the inside). All other methods I tried just wasted time. The stern light was fused together and it still parted fairly easily after the heat treat. Heat is the ultimate. I polished the inside of the fittings after taking the old bases out to make it easy to insert the new ones and allow me to adjust them. And BTW, the old silicone gooped on these fittings was still soft. That stuff will outlast any dinosaur fossil.
I used a little Gorilla glue to hold the new bases in place at the right position (Double contact bases don't need electrical contact from the base itself). Make sure that when the bulb is inserted that you can still put the lens cap in place all the way until it seats with the gasket, that you can still depress the bulb and twist it into place, and that you can still access the two set screws in the bulb base that hold the wires in place.
These lights are very bright and cost $6-$9 depending on the type. Worth it if you need to conserve power and do a lot of sailing at night. Otherwise, buy a subscription to a good sailing magazine and stick with the GE-90s for a buck apiece.
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