Perko ... WTF

[Deep C]

I've had enough time surrounded in glass and metal to have a clue what is up with different makers of different things. Today on the list of projects was to get a running light working. No biggie. Should be just a bulb....

Go digging and nope its not the bulb. Made a mistake and pulled a wire wrong and pulled it off the connector dropping the main wire back inside the hull. Damn viking musta built this boat thinking that nobody would ever have to get to that wire cause its an act of congress to get in there to fish it back out.

Any way this aint rocket science... I get to digging deeper and find that the perko bayonet mount recipticle has lost its contact. Talk about shoddy inferior metals used. Powder was all that was there. I know this crap don't last forever but I usually get a couple years off a change... This time was about 7 months...

Now this part used to cost about $4 and now its up to $11 and for what? Absolute garbage that has no business being part of anything marine... Used to be I could get a perko piece that was at least somewhat usable. I guess not any more... Not only does it bug me that it costs nearly tripple but it really bugs me that I have to kill an hour or two repairing it when I have more important stuff to be doing...

[clt_capt]

I hate Perko stuff - It always seems to be made cheap and doesn't last. Chromed Powder Metal or Chromed plastic - JUNK

No one seems to stock good stuff anymore - gotta order it...

[TAURUS]

do yourself a favor and buy a good set of led nav lights...i bought a set from these guys last year...pricey, but well worth the money imo.

http://www.orcagreen.com/

[Deep C]

I'd get new but these are kind of custom cut to the boat and the boat in turn is cut to receive them. Not a stock shape or size...

[ElMar2530]

Can you replace the bulbs with led??

I did that once on an old boat with a cheap set and it worked great, never burned out after.

I found the matching replacement here.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/

[clt_capt]

I used to have Perko running lights - and they were custom fit to my boat. I took a piece of starboard, machined it to cover the area the old running lights were, and mounted the new LED lights to that... Works great, and looks good too...

[Deep C]

I could go to them for a bulb its the 2 contact bayonet mount though thats the issue....Thats the part that keeps crapping the pillow... Bulbs are just fine...

[Judith A]

I found the best thing you can do is load everything up with dielectric grease before you even install it. end of bulbs ,any springs that hold tension,contact points and so forth. their stuff is chrome plated zinc or plastic.

Mark

[LoveB]

I am going to have to disagree. I have recently purchased a product from Seasense and IMO the Seasense product is far less quality than those made by Perko and its competitors. Perko stuff seems like it is much stronger quality and better made. But, that is just my opinion.

[gottaflylee]

Deep, was it the pos of neg that went, may be a bonding problem that is happing...

One thing that I like to do in put dielectric grease on anything that may get wet.