I have a '91 Carver 33 (turned into the 350 aft cabin a few years later). It has a Guest Spotlight (Beamer 291c) with a single wire control. I have had continuing problems. I replaced the card in the light several years ago to get it to work. Now the light only moves in one direction and the lamp does not come on. I don't know if I should replace the control ($180) or just get a new light - a new BEamer and control is $350. Any thoughts? Any recommendations on a different brand of remote controlled spot light?
Guest Spotlight
- Thread starter cintirich
- Start date
Do you have a lower station? If you do a hand held is not an option. I recently purchased a 1993 350 Aft Cabin that had a Guest light on it originally. The prior owned lost it to a large wave and replaced it with a cheap light of a different brand so it wouldn't move. I replaced it with the Guest 503 only to find out the lower station is not hard wired but is a wireless control meant for the 501. Now I need to decide if I will hard wire the lower station or exchange the 503 for a 501. I had a 501 on an earlier Carver and it did work ok but I didn't have it very long. If you don't mind pulling new wires I would get the hard wired 502 or 503. If you don't want to change any wiring just dig deep in the wallet and get the 501.
When we bought our Carver last year, the spotlight - also a 291C - would not work. The elevation motor worked OK but not the azimuth motor. The light would come on and off, which confirms at least the switches on the remote were OK.
Unfortunately, when I talked to Marinco this spring, there are not a lot of spare parts available for the 291C any longer, and no circuit boards. As well, the light's base housing was cracked in several locations due to uV damage over the years, so it was time to replace it.
I replaced it with a Guest 500, which is the replacement for the single-wire system, mostly because I didn't want to have to re-run the wiring. Unfortunately, the bolt-pattern of the new Guest lights are larger, so I had to drill 4 new holes in the stainless steel "bridge" on my bowrail.
I can confirm however that the 500 is a wire-for-wire replacement for the 291C. I was able to wire in the 500 without any changes to the existing wiring. That then, was my primary goal.
I must admit though that for $300+, this is a way-overpriced product. In a nutshell, it is cheaply made in my opinion. For instance, one electrical component of the light was simply hot-melt glued to the underside of the housing. Pretty slick engineering for something hanging way out over the bow of the boat that is going to take some punishment.
Unfortunately, when I talked to Marinco this spring, there are not a lot of spare parts available for the 291C any longer, and no circuit boards. As well, the light's base housing was cracked in several locations due to uV damage over the years, so it was time to replace it.
I replaced it with a Guest 500, which is the replacement for the single-wire system, mostly because I didn't want to have to re-run the wiring. Unfortunately, the bolt-pattern of the new Guest lights are larger, so I had to drill 4 new holes in the stainless steel "bridge" on my bowrail.
I can confirm however that the 500 is a wire-for-wire replacement for the 291C. I was able to wire in the 500 without any changes to the existing wiring. That then, was my primary goal.
I must admit though that for $300+, this is a way-overpriced product. In a nutshell, it is cheaply made in my opinion. For instance, one electrical component of the light was simply hot-melt glued to the underside of the housing. Pretty slick engineering for something hanging way out over the bow of the boat that is going to take some punishment.