Well, my three-year long LED lamp quest is finally over, and I can announce a winner! My thread about it is here:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ing-74352.html
I have several dozen Cantalupi halogen
puck lights on board, which orginally came with 10 watt and 20 watt G4 halogen lamps. It took quite a lot of
power to light up the whole
boat before I started converting them to LED's.
I have tried G4 LED lamp inserts from:
Imtra
Dr. LED
Superbright LED's
Sensibulbs
Bedazzled
A no-name EBay supplier
and others.
I have had two problems with these LED lamps: (1) not enough light output; and (2) unpleasant quality of light. The first problem is not trivial as I have a large
boat with large
interior spaces, which are not that easy to light up to a sufficient level. The second problem is not just the color of light, but the weirdly artificial look of the light.
I rather liked the Superbright LED's, but two of them literally exploded (!) when first turned on. Won't be
buying any more of them.
The Imtra ones have all worked well, but have either a sickly green or sickly orange-ish color which I don't like.
The Sensibulbs are insanely overpriced and very dim. They have a sickly orange-ish light which is not too pleasant. Can't imagine why people pay $36 each for them.
The no-name EBay ones, bought on recommendation of a friend in the UK, were quite good and dirt
cheap.
But far and away the best are the ones I bought from Bedazzled. The 12 surface-mounted-device 2.2 watt disks are by far the brightest ones I have tried -- they seem to be more or less equal to a 20 watt halogen. The claimed light output is 160 lumens, similar to claimed output of other LED lamps. But claimed and delivered are two different things -- as I now know.
They also have the most pleasant quality of light of any LED lamps I have tried -- nearly the same color as halogen with just the slightest greenish tint -- unnoticeable when you get used to them.
Also they are the only ones I have seen which have not only on-board
current regulation (a must, I think) but also a built-in fuse on each one -- something I now think is needed after having a couple of LED lamps explode on me.
So now I will gradually replace the experimental ones and replace the remaining halogens with these Bedazzled units. Did I mention that the
price is extremely reasonable? I think about 9 pounds each, or about $15.
Replacing the remaining halogen lamps is complicated by the fact that I have these ghastly Cantalupi fixtures -- three different types of them, and all of them the worst carp I have ever seen
sold as a light fixture. They are made from thin, brittle brass with a dreadfully stupid design depending on thin slivers cut out of the thin brass to
anchor the springs that hold them in. They break into pieces when you take them out, and not rarely cut your fingers to ribbons. Utter, utter carp -- avoid Cantalupi.
I have also experimented with replacing the entire fixture with one from Bedazzled -- possibly satisfactory, but the one I received had no glass in it. Whether that is a defect or not I don't know yet. But the
price is right and if I can figure out the glass business I will start replacing the Cantalupi fixtures with these.