LED's Revisited

chucko":sb68v3a5 said:
So far I have found a plug n play replacement for every bulb on the boat,I recommend superbrightleds.com and the marine beams for the colored nav lights :smiled
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Hi,
you have only found a replacement for every bulb on your boat because who ever designed your fixtures left clearance for the idiots who design LEDs and call them exact replacements but decide to add .040 inches to the length!

If anyone could find me an LED replacement that is the SAME length as a GE90 incandescent bulb I would be so thankful

superbrightled is a a joke i have a nice LED exact replacement. It is siting on a shelf in my room because it is too long to fit in my boat. It seems to me that if interference is going to be an issue and you are going to be sloppy or just ignore dimensions on your EXACT replacement (item) it really should be slightly undersized not oversized

Could i get new fixtures, drill holes, gel coat, or get fancy with soldering irons and individual LEDs and cracking of bases - you bet.
I really would rather not be doing this.. am I asking too much?
 
Sunbeam":1615nie7 said:
Captains Cat":1615nie7 said:
Sunbeam, fuses are also there to protect the whole boat (think fire! :cry )

Charlie
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I totally don't get what you mean (unless you're joking, but then I don't get that either :oops:). I mean, for example, I have a fuse on my main helm feed wire. They way I sized it was to first figure out what size wire I needed for the items the wire would be supplying over the round trip distance, then, once I knew the size of the wire, I sized the fuse to protect that wire. The "protection" is ultimately against heat/fire, as I understand it. But it doesn't protect the whole boat, only that one wire. Hence each wire has its own fuse (over-current protection). I don't see any way a fuse on a given wire can do more than protect that wire (the items at the other end have their own fuses to protect them - much smaller size typically).

So my thinking on the nav lights was: They are regular fixtures and can take regular bulbs (whether it is me putting in spares or a subsequent owner putting in regular bulbs). Hence I should leave the size wiring (and the fuse to protect that wire) that would support the draw of regular bulbs. Since the wire is (still) larger, the larger fuse will still protect it just the same as it always has -- the LED's drawing less will not hurt anything. If I downsized the wire, I would have to downsize the fuse (but then I could no longer use regular bulbs as they would draw too much for the wire/fuse). So unless one is trying to get really crafty with weight reduction, I don't see why one would downsize the wire/fuse leading to the nav lights (as long as they are regular fixtures that can still take regular bulbs, not dedicated LED fixtures).

Maybe I am wrong but I don't understand your answer.
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Sunbeam
you are correct. An LED is going to either be a direct short or open (not really - but theoretically those are the only things that are possible).
if direct short the weakest link remaining is going to be the fuse.
Fuse was designed to be weaker than wire to prevent heat/fire whatever.
I would leave it exactly as you have and for all the reasons you have specified.
 
Captains Cat":3krtjjxw said:
Haven't done this mod so I can't help yet. But I will when I get a ROUNDTUIT. BTW, may not be able to with your TANZER 22, most of us have stinkpots!

And, while many of us have been blowboaters, only a few have retained that skill/funset!!

Try this one:

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?pa ... id=2363799

Electronics are first this winter!!

Charlie :lol:
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Charlie,
I appreciate your recomendation. I did see this bulb and it is extremely tempting to blow 30 dollars on a bulb with no dimensions posted on the website just because I am so tired of this. I would almost bet it is just a little to long or wide or something. I will contact defender and post the result

I dont know what is more frustrating the fact that my nav light manufacturer left 0 clearance or the fact that defender did not feel like they needed to post the dimension.

Note: Marine beam has a bulb - no dimensions and they have not answered my email asking the question.

the GE90 bulb is 1.355" long
superbright exact replacement is 1.405"

that .050 means i need epoxy and a soldering iron - furious!

ps.. i have a powerboat with a johnson GT300 V8 two stroke - sometimes i want to go fast sometimes i want to relax.

sometimes i want to bang my head on the wall because it hurts less than LED upgrades :-)
I have a feeling bec
 
Sunbeam":3fnfqxhx said:
Captains Cat":3fnfqxhx said:
Sunbeam, fuses are also there to protect the whole boat (think fire! :cry )

Charlie
Click to expand...

I totally don't get what you mean (unless you're joking, but then I don't get that either :oops:). I mean, for example, I have a fuse on my main helm feed wire. They way I sized it was to first figure out what size wire I needed for the items the wire would be supplying over the round trip distance, then, once I knew the size of the wire, I sized the fuse to protect that wire. The "protection" is ultimately against heat/fire, as I understand it. But it doesn't protect the whole boat, only that one wire. Hence each wire has its own fuse (over-current protection). I don't see any way a fuse on a given wire can do more than protect that wire (the items at the other end have their own fuses to protect them - much smaller size typically).

So my thinking on the nav lights was: They are regular fixtures and can take regular bulbs (whether it is me putting in spares or a subsequent owner putting in regular bulbs). Hence I should leave the size wiring (and the fuse to protect that wire) that would support the draw of regular bulbs. Since the wire is (still) larger, the larger fuse will still protect it just the same as it always has -- the LED's drawing less will not hurt anything. If I downsized the wire, I would have to downsize the fuse (but then I could no longer use regular bulbs as they would draw too much for the wire/fuse). So unless one is trying to get really crafty with weight reduction, I don't see why one would downsize the wire/fuse leading to the nav lights (as long as they are regular fixtures that can still take regular bulbs, not dedicated LED fixtures).

Maybe I am wrong but I don't understand your answer.
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I don't joke about fire on a boat. I lost 9 sailors in an engine room fire on a carrier.

An over sized fuse can cause a wire, somewhere in the circuit, to overheat. Overheating can cause melting of the insulation and, in extreme cases, fire. Hence my statement. Not always true but I'm not willing to take a chance.

Conversely, an undersized fuse can cause loss of power to a device when you most need it.

Depends on where, in the circuit, you put the fuse. Next to something it protects, it can be sized for the device. Back in the line towards the batteries it's a different story.

Charlie

P. S. Good scary story about fire on a power boat in this month's Boat U. S. Magazine. Nothing to do with fuses but useful nevertheless. P 42.
 
Captains Cat":1eorjcst said:
[
An over sized fuse can cause a wire, somewhere in the circuit, to overheat. Overheating can cause melting of the insulation and, in extreme cases, fire. Hence my statement. Not always true but I'm not willing to take a chance.

Conversely, an undersized fuse can cause loss of power to a device when you most need it.

Depends on where, in the circuit, you put the fuse. Next to something it protects, it can be sized for the device. Back in the line towards the batteries it's a different story.
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I was speaking of the wire and its accompanying fuse that lead to the nav lights. Both are properly sized for the stock incandescent bulbs that can be used in the fixtures. It was suggested to reduce the size of the fuse when putting LED bulbs in, and I was saying that I thought about that but then rejected it because the fixtures are still capable of taking incandescent bulbs (either the ones I carry as spares, or ones a subsequent owner might decide to put in). Thus, I decided to keep the original size wiring and fuse. This way the wire is protected either with an LED bulb or an incandescent bulb in place. A lower drawing LED bulb can't cause "more" of a fire danger with the larger wire, because the "larger" fuse is still there to protect it.

If I installed purely LED lights (vs. LED bulbs in incandescent fixtures) then I would consider reducing the fuse or wire size -- or at least there would be no reason not to.

You made it sound as though I was subjecting my boat to a greater risk of fire by leaving the original wire and fuse, but I don't see how that is true, and I wanted to not leave that idea hanging out there.
 
I can't speak for boats or what LED to use, but, we replaced all our interior lights in our Road Trek Motor Home with LED fixtures. Now we can read till late at night even in cold weather with the heater running. We still have plenty if power to start the generator in the morning. They do make a difference.

Bulbs for the dome lights should be easy to find.
 
All - Update:
This has been a royal pain.

Marine Beam did eventually email me dwgs of there GE90 replacement bulb and yes it is slightly smaller than the incandescent. This is good news but I had to order it ahead of time and once again risk it not fitting because the information was just not avail. I will try to post the pdf. although it may not matter - here is the important thing- it is slightly shorter.

In the mean time I also decided to start taking peices and making my own. The marine beam bulb is nice but it only comes in two versions of white and only 80 lumins.

So, here is another option that is brighter, colored red or green and even smaller. Also cheaper i think but it takes a little work

From Super bright LED get this bulb in red or green:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... ributes/15

Part Number: WLED-RHP5

bend out the two wires and feed them into this base:
Part Number: BA15D-EB
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... -base/707/

I wrapped a small amount of electrical tape around the led part before I soldered in place. this way I could just pot with epoxy when done and pull off tape. It works perfectly and the bulb just sits all the way in base.

Its also 100 lumins and colored so the light will not be filtered out by your nave lenses.

Also its about 6 dollars plus a .49 cent base vs 15 dollars

good luck








iconoclastastic":184nn2d6 said:
Please I have spent months on this driving back to the lake taking measurements ordering bulbs and driving.

I have a tanzer 22 and the navigate lights will accept a GE90 bulb and NOTHING longer. the actual bulb length is 1.350" NOT 1.44"

How does DR LED claim he has an exactl replacemnet.
I will not fit in my boat at all.

thankyou
ps i have asked beammarine for the dimensins of there smallest bulb I can t believe they dont have it on website.
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I don't know what the difference is in manufacture, Marine or RV, if any, but I simply went to my local RV brick and mortar store and found all of the LED replacement bulbs for "still crazy" (2006 22), on their LED bulb rack. Highest price I paid for the interior lights was 13.95. No shipping and they are working great so far. I also replaced the anchor and running lights, but not the clearance lights yet. So others may want to take a look at a brick and mortar RV dealer before paying 22 bucks or so for LED's. Also, when you get your lights home, you may, as I did find out you picked up a single contact instead of dual contact, or offset registration nipple versus the planar nipple configuration as I did. I just popped back to the RV store, and swapped for the right configuration. They also had the light emitting color options in their selection.
 
No RV stores near me so I have to order stuff.

I did do the LED array for the cabin lights for about $1.50 each. I added indirect LED strip units in the cockpit. Again about $1.50 each.
 
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