Cabin lighting by cost ... and safety

[captain58sailin]

I am in the process of refitting my engine room and will be using all LED fixtures/lights for the compartment and intend to replace all of my incandescent lighting with LED, for the power draw alone. I believe the lower power draw will more than offset the cost of replacing the fixtures, with fuel being as expensive as it is.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

I've been looking at doing the same thing. Bright LEDs would be much better and brighter than always having to wear a head lamp that isn't nearly as bright.

[captain58sailin]

I have mounted 4 of the rigid LED flood lights temporarily while I degrease and paint the engine compartment, I am looking at the strip LEDs to mount under the battery box to eliminate shadows in that area and then reposition the floods for better coverage. Having gone from the headlamp/flashlight scenario to this has been a marked improvement. With a couple of large solar panels, I hope to not run my genset unless I have fish in the hold that need freezing.

[alctel]

I just replaced almost all my interior/exterior lights with LEDs from Marinebeam, and added two spreader LED lights

The dome LEDs look almost identical to my old lights, except they are brighter and draw 1/4 of the power

edit: also 20 bucks flat rate shipping to Canada!!!!!!

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Rhapsody-NS27

I put LEDs in the main fixtures on my boat shortly after buying it.

I've been seeing a lot on people buying LED strips from Amazon to light up their cabins. I decided to go for it myself. I replaced a no-so-bright light with a strip of white and a strip of red and a switch between the two.

I did a video showing what I did. My installation also included wiring up the vent fan for my Airhead toilet.

http://youtu.be/kw9GuCSKNoM

The LED strips are amazing. You can get them in so many different configuration, and colors. And, just cut off as much as you need!

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Tom Farley

Adding to this discussion on LED's has anyone found a good blinking LED that you could mount up on a spreader or any high point that would mark you location at anchor so you can easily find the boat in fog or after happy hr : ).
We have a $10 blinking LED puck from Home depot but the batteries dont last very long . THis puck is worth its weight in gold on those choppy dark nights when all the anchor lights blend together .....
THanks for any help
Tom

Get a bicycle taillight, cheap and will run for days on AA batteries


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[transmitterdan]

Please don't put blinking red lights on your mast....ever....please...please!

If you often can't find your boat after partying ashore, then stay ashore until it's daylight or you are sober or preferably both.

[roland stockham]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Tom,

Consider getting some reflective tape and put some strips around your mast near the first spreader. You can create a pattern that will probably be unique. Then get one of those newfangled LED torch lights with the narrow beam. Your mast will stand out from the crowd and by keeping the light pointed up at the masts you shouldn't wake the early to bed crowd.

Edit: obviously the tape doesn't go all the way around the mast

Think this is excellent, the glass bead stuff on light jackets comes in colours as well, couple of vertical strips top and bottom of the mast would be great for visibility in lots of situations.

Also on night vis, LED's and reflective strip - ever shone an LED torch at a reflective strip and viewed it through a night scope. The result is spectacular.

[clownfishsydney]

I changed all florescent lights to LED by removing ballast and wiring in one or two small sections of LED strips. I purchased a 5 metre roll from Ebay (not even from China, was an Australian supplier) for under AU$20. I also bought LED globes to replace all the halogen downlights and reading lights. Cost for this was under AU$30. I still have 2.5 m of the strip left.

No need to go to any great expense.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by NahanniV

Would be interested to know what "USB jacks" you used ?
I was thinking of adding 12V powered USB sockets, but some seem to have quite a large parasitic draw when they are idle.
Have not seen any with a switch incorporated.

Do you do anything to protect the steel goosenecks from corrosion?

I've seen the Blue Seas dual USB sockets which install into a lighter-socket-sized hole. They are very nice but a bit spendy for our little boat. What sort of no-load current were you measuring?

[edit - the Blue Seas site claims 15 mA of no-load draw. Not that bad. ]

For our boat I'm embarrassed to disclose that I hacksawed the dual-USB jacks off of some discarded motherboards, soldered some leads to them, and epoxied each into a flange of fiberglass scrap which allows them to mount flush into a square hole.

I'm powering them from this type of DC step-down module - boxed, fused and adjusted to 5V. I haven't measured the no-load draw but I think it's no more than 10 mA.

We're freshwater sailors, and the boat equipment spends the winter in a warm basement, so there's less potential for corrosion. And at $3 per gooseneck light...

[NahanniV]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

I've seen the Blue Seas dual USB sockets which install into a lighter-socket-sized hole. They are very nice but a bit spendy for our little boat. What sort of no-load current were you measuring?

[edit - the Blue Seas site claims 15 mA of no-load draw. Not that bad. ]

For our boat I'm embarrassed to disclose that I hacksawed the dual-USB jacks off of some discarded motherboards, soldered some leads to them, and epoxied each into a flange of fiberglass scrap which allows them to mount flush into a square hole.

I'm powering them from this type of DC step-down module - boxed, fused and adjusted to 5V. I haven't measured the no-load draw but I think it's no more than 10 mA.

We're freshwater sailors, and the boat equipment spends the winter in a warm basement, so there's less potential for corrosion. And at $3 per gooseneck light...

Thanks,

One of the cheap cigarette to USB adapters I tried was drawing over 100mA from the 13.8V source at idle. That adds up. I have not seen these with switches.

The USB gooseneck lights from IKEA look attractive, other than the metal parts, and do you have a switch for each, or just the main supply, or do you just plug/unplug ?

Cheers,
JM.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by NahanniV

The USB gooseneck lights from IKEA look attractive, other than the metal parts, and do you have a switch for each, or just the main supply, or do you just plug/unplug ?

We have one set of IKEA LED fixtures with an inline switch (that I put springclamps onto, so the lamps can go anywhere) that I adapted for USB, and we have the goosenecks that make nice reading or map lights. We just unplug'em.

If/when we decide on a permanent location, I'll add a USB jack with a switch, or some other sort of socket + switch combination.

[Dauntlessny]

Originally Posted by SURV69

BIG bucks on leds?

Led lights only cost a lot if one goes to West Marine or get lights specifically made for marine-use, in marine looking packaging at other stores.

I have found solar lights for less than 5-10 or so dollars that give more than enough light to use for cooking, reading, or whatever.

By disassembling the fixtures, I have made the solar panel operate from the deck top, wired into the actual fixture(also disassembled and reconfigured), inside the boat.

Since the lights are generally only used a few hours, there's more than enough power in the recharged batteries(daily), to give all the light needed.

So essentially, beyond the 5-10 dollars and a little time, my boat is adequately lit.

I also replace the wired-in cabin lights with LED replacements for as little as 4-5 dollars on line. 12 volt led lights often will light(fully bright), down to as little as about 7 volts ... way, way past the point when the battery is considered dead, which means a 12 volt battery(for this specific use), probably has twice the longevity of batteries that must deliver 12 volts.

The question, I'm posing is that with emotions aside, is the led light the most efficient, given costs and all.

Even so, I will always want other options for backup ... even oil lamps.

I agree with you for the most part. I have found every type of bulb, single bayonet, double bayonet, etc. On Amazon for only a few dollars at most.

however, I have an old oil lamp, I really want to use it, but I also know that the chances of a fire due to that oil lamp are astronomically higher than due to LEDs. ANd I'm on a boat with 3000 liters of diesel.

[Alterboy 65]

Update on marking boat at Anchor.
Looking for something to mark our boat at anchor so when we come back from Happy Hr. we can find it. Roland had a great point about being confused by boat lights vs marker lights .
Two solutions we came up with -
1.Mark the boat with REFLECTOR TAPE on the MAST AND STERN ...Buy good led flashlight ....we did this and can spot the boat from about 200 yards away .
2. The more expensive route is they now have android and Iphone controlled light turner onners that we can light up the boat from shore ......MIght not be new but new to me : )....This is next years project .
Cheers
Tom SV Cecilia Marie

[dohenyboy]

Christmas lights



Sent from an undisclosed location on the high seas or from the lounge chair by the pool, you decide.