For centuries, mankind has been dealing with barnacles and their effect on fishermen. This continues into the 21st century with anglers such as yourself who use underwater lights. While removing these aquatic creatures from boats has been covered extensively all over the internet, few have addressed our main concern today: how to remove barnacles from underwater lights?
Can you even do that? What is the best way to remove barnacles from underwater lights? Can it be done without damaging the light?
Rest assured, yes, you can remove barnacles from underwater lights and there are several easy things you can do to detach them. Let’s spend a few moments first learning about barnacles before tackling this question.
Before we dive into how to remove barnacles from underwater lights, we thought it would be a good idea to unpack what a barnacle is and why they are a problem. First, barnacles are saltwater arthropods. If it’s been a while since you’ve heard that science term, arthropods are invertebrates: instead of an inside-the-body skeleton like us, they have an exoskeleton.
Humans can eat arthropods. If we didn’t, the seafood chain Red Lobster would need another name! Besides lobster, famous seafood dishes such as shrimp and crabs are also arthropods. In fact, in other countries insects and scorpions are as common as steak and potatoes are in the United States.
So since so many different kinds of arthropods are edible, does this mean barnacles are too? As it turns out, in Japan, Spain, and Chile there are several species of barnacles that the locals enjoy.
However, beyond a food source barnacles are actually a nuisance for humans as they often attach themselves to the hulls of ships and other artificial structures within inland waterways. They’re also somewhat parasitic in nature, as some barnacles frequently attach themselves to the skin of large whales.
They spend most of their life within their exoskeleton with their “head” attached to whatever they’ve latched onto. At first glance, their exoskeleton shell might even remind you of the Sarlaac from Return of the Jedi. They’ve been on Earth far, far longer than you or I and are believed to have evolved around the Middle Cambrian period.
We mentioned that barnacles often attach themselves the hulls of ship and other structures. This also includes any permanently affixed underwater fishing light you’ve set up. We’ll look into how to remove barnacles from underwater lights shortly, but besides blocking the light, what problems do they cause (if any)?
There are several problems these small creatures can create and amplify. First for boats, it’s important that the right amount of water reaches your cooling system, engine, and propeller. Barnacles prevent this from happening, so if your engine is already prone to overheating, they’re going to make it worse.
Furthermore, the more barnacles that attach themselves to your propeller the more power it is going to take from your engine to propel you through the water. This not only will slow you down, but decrease fuel efficiency.
Plus, a process known as biofouling causes barnacles (and other similar marine arthropods) to crust onto the ships haul, leading to structural integrity degradation. The U.S. Navy spends about half a billion dollars every year due to this problem.
Biofouling is a problem for your underwater lights too. So in addition to concerns about limiting the effectiveness of your light, they can also eventually degrade the casing beyond use and lead you to needing to replace it in your lighting setup.
One final note: barnacles aren’t necessarily the bad guys here. They serve an important role in the marine ecosystem by cleaning the water, filtering it, and keeping plankton (remember zooplankton? Same thing!) levels under control. We need barnacles in the ocean.
We just don’t need them on our lights!
The hulls of most boats are made from fiberglass. While our Green Blob lights are made of a different casing, the process of removing them is still the same. However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
First, you want to be proactive. Barnacles can attach to a boat hull pretty quickly, and depending on the currents where your lights are setup, they can also make your light (or lights) their new home. This is especially true in the warmer summer months, as shifting tidal currents bring more nutrient-rich plumes into inland waterways.
And for comparison, consider how frequently boat owners need to have their boat hulls cleaned today compared to a few months ago. As the summer warms up, cleanings increase.
We recommend inspecting your lights about once a week and dealing with any barnacles that may have attached to them immediately. This prevents massive buildup, unintended growth of the colony, and maximum longevity of your investment into your underwater light system.
Second, once you’ve inspected your light and found a barnacle who has made itself a home, use a plastic scraper or wooden spatula. You don’t want to use a metal scraper as this can damage your light. Eventually, the barnacle will fall off and leave behind a “husk” — basically its glue-like foundation that it used to attach itself. Continue to use the wooden or plastic scraper to get as much of this husk off your light’s surface. Next, you can try using a calcium remover. Apply it to the husk, let it sit for a few minutes, and then rinse the light off. Here, you can try a nylon brush to get the last pieces of the husk off of your light.
If this process sounds tedious, to be honest it can be a little bit. It all depends on how proactive you are in removing the barnacles from your light. Is there an easier way?
Well, you’ve probably heard the idiom “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
How does this apply to your underwater light setup? Well, your “pound of cure” is the thing you don’t want to have to do.
Replace your light.
Your ounce of prevention takes two forms. First, everything we’ve talked about in the previous section on proactive maintenance and weekly light inspection is a part of the prevention.
But in our opinion, the ultimate prevention is preventing barnacles from ever attaching in the first place. Then, you won’t have to google “how to remove barnacles from underwater lights” again, because you’ve taken the necessary steps to keep them at bay.
To continue our Star Wars reference from earlier, everyone (even if you’re not a fan of the series) understands what “Use the Force, Luke” is referring to.
Your “Force” is Vaseline, another brand of petroleum jelly, or WD-40. Use the Force and use it liberally! Why? In our experience, a layer of petroleum jelly applied to the outside of the light helps to repel barnacles from latching on to your lights. We’ve also had good experience coating our lights in WD-40 before dropping them in the water.
As with all things, however, it’s not a one-and-done experience. It’s a good idea to reapply whichever chemical you applied every couple of weeks during your inspections. Proactive preventative maintenance will keep your lights working great and barnacle free!
Remember, yes, you can remove barnacles from underwater fishing lights. It’s important to be proactive, taking preventative steps to keep them at bay with applications of petroleum jelly or WD-40 before dropping your lights in the water.
Next, inspect your lights on a regular basis and reapply the jelly or WD-40 if necessary to help keep barnacles from ever latching on.
And lastly, if you do find a colony taking hold, be sure to remove them right way. Use a wooden or plastic scraper to remove the barnacle from your light. Then, use that same tool to try and remove as much of the glue-like husk substance as you can. Finally, using a calcium remover and a nylon brush, clean away the remaining husk residue. And be sure to apply more “Force” (petroleum jelly or WD-40) to the outside of your light before dropping the light back into the water.
Don’t forget, we have several blob options to meet your needs. Once you’ve gotten into a routine with preventative maintenance and barnacle cleaning, it might be time to consider expanding your underwater fishing light setup. They make great gifts for your favorite angler and are rated with 50,000 hours of use!
Ready to get started? Place a custom order today!
]]>How well do you know your rifle? The question may sound trivial but the Rifleman's Creed suggests otherwise. The best riflemen have an unbreakable bond with their rifle – by having a thorough knowledge of its parts and how they work. And knowing which accessories are on the market and the options available to you for tinkering with your AR-15. A number of interchangeable and after parts available today make the AR-15 the go-to platform for infinite customizations according to budget and specifications of the buyer.
As you already know, the AR-15 is the most customizable rifle on the market. Although building an AR-15 may sound quite intimidating, it is actually relatively simple to assembly – there are countless resources to help you with this. However, Prebuilt AR-15s are very much upgradeable, tinkering with individual components as time and needs warrants.
Those with a keen eye can attest to how even the slightest detail can really place one rifle above the rest. As a result, to aid the average AR-15 enthusiast to add style and function at a reasonable price, we detail the best AR-15 accessories on offer that make up your formidable AR-15.
This all changes once you upgrade your pistol grip with some of the more comfortable and common options which include offerings from Bravo Company, Ergo grips, Magpul or TangoDown.
Consequently, you'll need a sling mount to attach the sling securely to your weapon. Keeping it simple here is key – you would want something that's easy to attach and detach, and not hinder your access to crucial parts of your weapon whatsoever.
The best scope mount?
The options available are many and the logical question is to ask which is the best for AR-15. The top scope mounts spot either a 30mm or one-inch tubes. But this difference in accuracy is negligible to most shooters and they wouldn’t mind one that could take both a 30mm tube and one-inch tube. Affording us a flexible option to change optics without investing in multiple scope mounts and saving some cash at the same time.
A forward grip position usually transfers tension to the barrel, resulting in inconsistency in the point of impact. A free-floating Handguard corrects this problem with a single, solid mounting point where the barrel meets the upper receiver. This prevents stress and tension from being transferred to the barrel when using a forward grip position.
There you have it. There are tons and tons of other moving parts that you can possibly replace. While most cannot be termed as accessories in the real sense, as with machines with moving parts, wear and tear are expected with time and they are going to need replacement soon enough. It doesn't sound like a bad idea to have replacement kits laying around somewhere for when you'll need them. You never know when the weakest parts of your rifle decide to give in!
The ultimate rifleman should incorporate ample amount of shooting, cleaning, and tinkering in equal measure. Knowing your AR-15 inside-out like the back of your hand ultimately translates to operating it more efficiently and effectively.
]]>So, how does the Green Blob underwater green fishing light compare to the competition?
Easy! I’ll give you the top 5 reasons our dock light beats out the rest!
So, what are you waiting for? Go check out our Green Blob Underwater Fishing Lights! Click Here
]]>Although the AR-15 name is a trademark of Colt, many variants of the firearm and the various parts to customize them are made by a plethora of manufacturers. And because the AR-15 has been here for a long time, many companies make parts for it. That brings us to the biggest advantage of the AR-15: modularity. On that note, it is easy to see why building your own allow sportsmen take full advantage of the AR-15 platform – and no kidding this time.
Whether you decide to take full advantage of what the AR-15 world has to offer, we'll see. What's important is that you have decided to get your own AR-15. Congratulations! Now the question is: should you build it yourself or purchase it off the shelves? Well, simply saying buy or build would be a disservice on both fronts.
Buy or Build: which?
This argument could sometimes be heated, but we’ll take a look at some of the pros and cons of both sides.
The case for buying:
The bottom line is when you purchase an AR-15, you get a fantastic rifle no matter what. Even a not so advance AR-15 is still a high-quality firearm. So, what else do you get?
The Pros:
The cons:
When you purchase a complete AR-15, you get peace of mind. And maybe that is all you need. However, many AR-15 owners soon realize that there is more to justify owning one. After a few months using your new Barbie, you'd realize that you probably want something as simple as handguards upgrade to feel more comfortable. But you aren't getting that upgrade without an extra cost, that's if compatibility is not a problem – And you would be losing out on even more fronts, as we'll see.
The case for building your own
Perhaps, the major reason why we have so many variants of AR-15s in the market is to give buyers as close a rifle to their needs as possible. But how close can the manufacturers come with one that suits you perfectly? The answer is not so close. Satisfaction is the primary benefit of building your own rifle for the majority of Americans. The thoughts of assembling an AR-15 down to the last detail: the last scope mounts, iron sights, slings attachments, bipods – gives sportsmen goosebumps!
The Pros:
For instance, young shooters and shorter people need a shorter length of pull. Likewise, people with smaller hands and fingers tend to use smaller, thinner pistol grips. And conversely for taller folks. There are other components of the AR-15 which is better suited depending on the physical stature of the shooter. Seeing things from that perspective, you can handpick each and every component to suit your requirements and wants.
The challenge of building your own
Really, the only downside to building your own AR-15 comes down to money and the time, patience and will to learn something new. The extra expense comes from the fact that to properly assemble your rifle together, you would need some other tools to help you do the work. Basically, an armorer's wrench, Screwdrivers, roll pin punches, a level, a vice, torque wrench, and some other tools. For a first timer, you incur extra cost. But hey, these tools are no one trick ponies. Making the investment in those tools, you will benefit regardless whether you buy or build the AR-15. The knowledge required to build anything can easily be gotten from countless videos and resources from the internet. Yes it will take time and effort, and it’s not particularly easy – but nothing worthwhile ever is!
Whether you buy or build, always remember to keep everyone and yourself safe.
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