58 Sedan Bridge Official Thread

That reminds me to remind you I have a spare RED one of these, new in July 2021 and hardly ever used. Our whole port-side lens housing fell off, so I have to replace and the more current Series 44 replacement fixtures (hope it fits, as advertised) are already LED.

IOW, I have no reason to keep the red Bay15D, so make me an offer if you like.

-Chris

 

NAV LIGHTS (SIDELIGHTS)

I mentioned above that our original nav lights are Aqua Signal Series 41 units -- incandescent, IP56 – and that the original bulbs can be replaced with LEDs. Our PO apparently didn’t know how to change a lightbulb, and four of the 5 nav lights were burned out… so we used Bay15D replacements (indexed bayonet, 60 LEDs each) from marinebeam.com. These are very nicely brighter than the original incandescent bulbs (I could compare to the working green sidelight). Note that the marinebeam product description says these are for Series 40, 50, and 55… but their weblink is more complete and also includes Series 41 (which we have), 42, and 43.

60-LED High Output BAY15d Replacement LED Bulb for Aqua Signal Series 40, 41, 42, 43, 50 & 55, Hella or Perko (marinebeam.com)

Fast forward… the lens housing for our port/red sidelight fell off while we were on the hard over this past winter. I haven’t been able to diagnose why, but I know we’d been having some high winds and maybe some flying debris around that time. In any case, the housing cracked, probably when it hit the ground… so one of my early Spring chores has been to replace the whole unit.

Aqua Signal Series 44 (LED, IP67) nav lights appear to be the best replacement, at least for side and stern lights (I don’t yet see whether they have masthead and anchor light equivalents). Several weeks ago, I bought a new port/red sidelight (from Hodges Marine), and yesterday I got around to mounting it. Sure enough, it fits in the allotted space, and sure enough I could use the same mounting holes already drilled into the side of the boat.

Mounting directions are clear enough, even if I did have to read them over about 15 times and even if I did have to greatly enlarge one of the diagrams to see what the heck the directions were talking about at one point. It’s a little “fiddly” in that there are some small parts to manage... while working over water. The unit consists of four basic components: a mounting bracket, the actual nav light module, a stab-fitting wiring block (with rubber boot) for connection to the boat, and the coverplate. The mounting bracket is Swiss-cheesed with various mounting and wire-routing holes. One of those holes matched where our pos/neg wires come out from the boat, but I had to open up that hole a bit (easy) to make room for the two wires.

One of the two Sea Ray screw locations will end up behind the nav light module, so the module must first be removed from the mounting bracket – then reattached after the bracket is screwed to the side of the boat. The module attaches using two screws with corresponding semi-captive hex nuts on the back side of the bracket. “Semi-“ because those nuts can probably fall out (even if they can’t spin) and would likely do so while working over water. I superglued the nuts into their hex-shaped cavity, just in case.

The actual electrical connection was easy enough, once I understood the directions. The two small screws in the stab-fitting block are the other “fiddly” bits; backing the screws out enough to accept the boat wires, but not enough to fall overboard, is key… but it turned out to be a non-issue once I practiced a bit… inside, before going around the side of the boat with it. The only remaining potential glitch is about polarity. In our boat, the gray wire is positive, and the black wire is negative… demonstrated through testing prior to actual connecting the wiring. The correct connections on the wiring from the nav light module are well marked.

After connecting, dressing the wire routing must take reattaching the coverplate into account; otherwise, snapping that back on finishes the job.

The port/red Series 44 LED doesn’t appear as bright as the replacement Bay15Ds in the Series 41 units (compared to my remaining starboard/green sidelight).

I now have a surplus port/red Bay15D. Offers accepted. And I’ll eventually replace the starboard/green sidelight too, to match, after we get squared away for actually using the boat this season.

-Chris

 

Quick generator question; we ran our generator for an insurance survey, and everything worked perfectly. By the way, came out at $781,000 and rated "excellent". When we left to do the haul out after the surveyor left, the generator would not start. It kept breaking the emergency shut off switch. The red one on the front panel.

It's the 21.5KW. Any idea what may be causing this?

Thanks, Ken

 

@missnmountains
Ken,

I don't know what that could be, but I would first try a quick "reboot" - Turn OFF the Genny Charger, Turn OFF all 5 solenoid switches, and disconnect the genny battery. Cycle the Emerg Shutoff switch a couple of times in case there is any corrosion on it, then Wait about 10 minutes and reverse the steps and try again.

Sorry, that's all I can think off...

 

Thanks Carter. I did shut off the battery solenoid for about 1 minute and tried again with the same results. I will try shutting off all batteries and cycle the switch. Unfortunately, I won't be able to do that until later in the week as we left it at Gulf Marine Ways for bottom paint and a few zincs.

Ken

 

I wish stocks were increasing as rapidly as boat "values"!

Are the AC loads either switched off or the generator selector switch off when starting?

 

AC loads on shore power. My process has never changed. Gen battery on. Gen power switch on. Hold start up switch it flashes for several seconds the shuts off. The red switch flips to off. Tried starting on the gen panel. I get the same result.

thanks

ken

 

By the way, once gen is running, I shut off all breakers then shut off shore power and turn on gen power. Then start switching breakers back on.

Ken

 

Hey Chris,

I’ve not been on this thread for the past several days. Been working hard to get the boat closed. Success yesterday so we are now proud owners of a ‘07 58 sedan bridge.

I already received the new port and starboard lights (Bay15D). We are heading to the boat tomorrow to spend the day getting her ready for the 3 hour journey to move to our port. Thank you for the offer though.

I appreciate all the help. I’m sure I’ll have many more questions!

 

Nice! Congratulations!

-Chris

 

Congratulations!! You are going to love the boat!! You may have already mentioned it, but where did you buy it and where is her new home port?

PS - Don’t forget the pictures!! It’s an unwritten rule here that we need to see pictures!!

 

Thanks! Boat came from north of Chicago and home port is now South Haven, Michigan. Let me get her cleaned up and I’ll get some pictures posted. Looking forward to the short Great Lake season!

 

I didn’t realize you were from Charlevoix! We will be heading up that way in July and should be stopping in Charlevoix for at least one night on our way to Mackinac Island. Love your blue hull, we had a blue hull on our 420 and it was gorgeous.

 

I need some help. I am wanting to put a smart TV in the master state room. It has the original TV in it from 2007. For the life of me I can’t figure out how to get behind it to take it off the wall. Do you have to take a closet apart to get behind it? Before I go tearing into it I felt it be best to throw it out there and see if anybody’s tackled that project. Thanks in advance!

 

You need to carefully removed the 2 horizontal wood trim pieces (top and bottom). They are glued onto the black melamine board that the current tv and speakers are mounted to. Once those two trim pieces are removed, the screws that secure the entire black melamine backer will be exposed. Unscrew them and the entire backer comes down as one piece with the tv and speakers attached.

 

Congratuaions on the new boat, and maybe we'll see you in June......will be over from Chicago staying over 6/16-19 to get the season started. Maybe White Hall later in the season. Would love to do Charlevoix, but the family units pushed back on Pentwater, need to find time to put some legs together.

 

so you’re talking about the trim piece above and below the Bose speaker? I can see the screw holes underneath the bottom one but it’s on there tight. I’m terrified to try and pry it off. So you say it’s just glue holding that one piece on?

 

Thank you! I’m sure we’ll be around that weekend. Looks like we will actually be in South Haven. We’ll look for you at the municipal marina and stop by and say hello.

 

Yes. Use a plastic wedge/scraper and carefully work both 1/4 round trim pieces off. There are about 5-6 screw heads revealed under both. Once you see it, you will see how easy it is. I’ve already replaced the OEM tv with a Samsung smarttv so my wife can stream all her favorite shows.

 

Really appreciate the help. I’ll let you know how it goes. Oh, don’t look to close at the picture, the dust on the Bose speaker I didn’t see Lol. we’ve been cleaning on it every since we brought her home last Thursday. She’s in great shape but was a little neglected as far as deep cleaning goes. We’ll have it spit shined and standing tall soon.