Interior cabin lights

bridma · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 8:03 pm Post subject: Interior cabin lights

I'm wanting to change the factory interior cabin light bulbs for LED bulbs. Can I just change the bulb or do I have to change the whole 'guts' of the light? Which LED bulbs do I need that easily fit in and provide good light for reading without straining the eyes? Where is the best place to order the new LED bulbs?

I checked our history posts but could not find the answers I'm looking for, so started a new post.

Martin.

colobear · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 8:45 pm Post subject:

Martin, as far as I know, you just change the bulbs. Match the connectors. I'm planning to do the same and have found a few spots on the web with the apprpriate bulbs.

ShellBack · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 8:51 pm Post subject:

Hi Martin. Wanted to do the same thing and from what I found no you can not just change the bulbs but lo and behold West marine had the kit just for that purpose which I switched over last year. Super easy and so far no problem. I must say they are bright and the only other I do not have red for night Navigating and could of switched to that with some bit of effort but did not bother so just make sure which ones you need.
cheers
Terry

Aurelia · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 9:32 pm Post subject:

I have swapped out a few types in boats and cars and recently had good service again from Marinebeam. When I had a issue with some bulbs in the past, they were quick to respond and sent me replacements as soon as they were available.

Just pull out the bulb you want to change and match it to one on this page.

http://store.marinebeam.com/bulbs.html

Pat attention to the colors available and if you like the yellowish glow of standard bulbs, choose the warm white. The cool white is my preference but is more white like a flourescent.

Also keep in mind the space available in the fixture and choose the "bulb" accordingly. My recently updated lights were slim so I could only go so wide on the bulb array.

The bulb connector is the key for ease of install but some of the floating board types are nice and just stick inside the fixture with double-stick tape.

Greg

Sunbeam · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:08 pm Post subject:

Aurelia · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:36 pm Post subject:

Yep, same sliding lens that acts as a switch and I like them too. These are the bulbs I used and I picked the cool white.

http://store.marinebeam.com/42feledbu.html

Sunbeam · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:42 pm Post subject:

Thanks! Time to exchange those power-hungry incandescents. With your info it's now "easy" because I don't have to try to figure it out what will work -- so I'm going to go ahead and do it Thumbs Up

ssobol · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 2:18 am Post subject:

I changed all the interior lights to LED in the Perko fixtures on my CD22. I used the flat LED arrays available on eBay. About $1.50 each. The array has a adhesive foam pad on the back. I made a little stand off to get the LEDs in about the same place as the bulb was. The arrays come with socket adapters for a number of different base types, but I just took out the old socket out and butt spliced the wires. This was described in a previous post on this site. Just make sure you get the polarity right when connecting the wires.

I also got some of these for placing around the boat as courtesy and convenience lights (under gunwhales, in compartments, etc.).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/20pcs-3-Warm-White-LED-5050-SMD-Module-Waterproof-Light-Lamp-Strip-DC-12V-/111097493057?pt=US_String_Lights_Fairy_Lights&hash=item19dded3641

Will-C · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:49 am Post subject: Interior cabin lights

We have two LED light fixtures that are switchable from white to red light for running at night. One over the sink and the other centered under our top shelf that is above the helm area. One has a built in dimmer which at times is nice to have.
D.D. Idea

Sunbeam · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:55 am Post subject: Re: Interior cabin lights

Will-C · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 10:25 am Post subject: Interior cabin lights

Let's say your at anchor, the anchor drags, your drag queen app on your phone gives you an alert, you wake up. Throw some duds on and need to see what's going on. I could see red light being useful in that scenario. I wonder why all of our gauge lights are not in red or on a dimmer from the factory. Fortunately our Garmin 4208 which we use for a radar overlay can have it's light level adjusted. We don't do a lot of night running but you always want to be prepared like the boy scouts. Little things can make a difference. IMHO
D.D.

journey on · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 6:06 pm Post subject:

I've changed all the cabin lights AND the anchor light over to LED.

Journey On has the round dome lights, which take a double contact non-index bulb. I've used 2 types. First I tried some LED lights off e-bay, and they shed their LED ICs after a year or so. They were cheap.

So now I have Dr Led Dome Light, P/N 9000159. The work great, I'm happy, Judy's happy, the batteries stay up. Though they're not as cheap as the ones on e-bay, they last.

If you think about it the anchor light, since it's on all night, draws the most amp-hrs. That's the first one I replaced and now I don't bother to get up at daybreak.

You can get them at West Marine, but Defender has them cheaper, including shipping. By the way West Marine doesn't match prices, so I've been told.

Boris

bridma · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 7:04 pm Post subject: Interior cabin lights

ssobol · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:23 pm Post subject:

One thing to keep in mind is that while one LED draws a very small amount of current compared to one light bulb, the LED bulb replacement units almost always have multiple LEDs to get the same coverage or intensity of the original bulb.

In the case of the LEDs I used in my Perko fixtures there are 48 LEDs per light. These units draw about 1/3 the current of the light bulb. While this is a significant reduction, it is not the 1/10 of the current that some places will lead you to believe you will get if you switch over to LEDs.

There are other good reasons to switch over to LEDs (long life, robustness, low heat generation, etc.) in addition to the power reduction that make switching over pretty much a no brainer.

Aurelia · Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 6:05 pm Post subject:

Simple bulb to bulb swap for the link I sent and that slim fixture. I also tried some cheap ebay units in one car and on the last boat with mixed success and not enough brightness. Many types and levels of LED quality/sophistication. You seem to get roughly what you pay for.

Greg