Mahe 36: Lighting and LEDs

[Cotemar]

Mahe's,

Have replaced the 3 saloon 5 watt halogen lights with 1 watt LED’s
Was 3X5=15 watts halogen
Now 3x1= 3 watts with LED's
These three lights come on with one switch by the sliding door.

Also replaced the 10 watt halogen in the cockpit with a 1 watt LED.

Each 1 watt LED is eqivelent to a 15 watt halogen, so they are plenty bright.

I have attached all the info you would need to do this upgrade yourself.

We use them all the time now when we are at anchor and they work great.

Does anyone know how to remove the covers on all the silver halogen task lights on board. Have tried to pry them open with no luck.

Mark

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Mark,
Your LED's are interesting. However 150 mA * 12 V = 1.8 W, but still much better than the present lamps.
Why do you only use them at anchor and not in the harbour when connected to shore power, or do I misunderstand? Quite a fuss to exchange them all the time.
How is the colour of the light? LED lighting almost always produces strange colour, even when "warm white". If the colour is OK, I'll surely purchase them! (if they supply outside the US)

I wondered about the power of the saloon lights, you said 5 Watt each. So I just checked power of our saloon lights: 2.1 amps @ 13 V = about 27 Watts. I think the two outer ones are 10 W and the middle one 5 W, that one was exchanged once.
So for some of you power saving may be larger.

Thanks for you info,
Jef & Marin, presently in Stockholm, on our way back to the Netherlands.

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Mark,
I have not yet found out how to open the lights in the cabins. But I have found a local camping shop in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, close to where I live, who have them on stock. Pretty standard model in Europe probably.
Rgds,
Jef

[Cotemar]

Jef,

I use the LED's in the Saloon and Cockpit all the time not just at anchor, at the dock also. When I had the halogens I never used them at anchor because of the battery draw down.

I only buy "Warm White" and am happy with the color which matches the halogen very closely.

I seen 5 watt on one of the saloon bulbs, so just assumed all three bulbs were 5 watt. Just stowed them, so I will have to go and check that again.

May have to pry off the cover on those silver task lights to see how they work, ouch

Mark

[Scott730]

Chuck
Congrats, hope to see you in Florida or the Bahamas.
Mark
The task light lense removal: You turn the lense cover about 1/4 turn and they come off. you have to line up the tabs in the lense cover with a slot in the body. Some come off easier than others, I had to pry one off.

Scott

[Cotemar]

Scott,

I will give the 1/4 turn a try to remove the task light lens.
Tried turning in little increments, but never seemed to find that lens tab & base slot location.

Would like to change the higher use task lights to LED’s also.
Can use the same LED’s but will have to bend the powere leads back and maybe solder on some extensions, so they go straight back into the socket instead of the side mount.

Mark

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Hi all, we're talking about it and what happens? The kitchen light broke down. I checked the advice given here, but found things a bit different.
The chromed plastic ring can rotate in the housing, but there is no specific orientation to detach it. No slots or bajonet construction. I found the position where the rotation went easiest, hoping that would give maximum play, and pried it open with a screwdriver. It did not break....
Next, to replace the bulb you have to remove the reflector from the chromed platic ring. This does have a very obvious orientation with bajonet construction.

We had a beautiful sail today. Left some island on he Swedish coast this morning 6:30, just after dawn. Wind a bit weak in the beginning, when sailing between the small islands of the archipelago. Wind went from 90 degrees to 130; so we raised the spinnaker. That went faster, especially when there was more wind later. Maximum speed 14.4 knots, average just over 7. Bit cold but sunny. We saw a rainbow in the spray from the bow...
We reached Visby, capital of the island of Gotland, exactly at sunset 7:30 PM. 90 miles 13 hours. Visby is an early-medieval city (Vikings and Hanseatic league). It lies in the middle of the Baltic sea.
This is just info from the books; we'll check ourselves tomorrow. Now a beer.

Kind regards,
Jef

[Cotemar]

Mahe's,

Finally opened up a Silver Task light for a bulb change.

Here’s the process.
1) Tilt up the light so you see the penny slot on the bottom

2) Insert a penny and twist to pry the lens off

3) Pull on the lens so it comes out about 3/4 of and inch. The bell reflector will come out with the lens.

4) Squeeze the bell reflector with one hand and with the other hand turn the lens counter clock wise until it stops and pull the lens off

5) Now you can remove and install a new bulb

Note: Never handle a good halogen bulb with your hands, because the oils from your fingers will shorten the life of a new bulb.

Note: These lights have 10 Watt Halogen bulbs installed

Mark

[DtM]

Is it just the "globe" or the globe and reflector that is replaced?

daniel

[Cotemar]

Daniel,

Neither, globe or bell reflector are replaced just the bulb.
Just reach into the bell Reflector and grab the Halogen glass bulb inside then just pull it out.

Mark

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Mark, your contributions are really great. So I feel obliged to contribute also. My contribution concerns power consumption and battery life. I have made an excel file (see attached) which calculates current consumption for sailing and for anchoring, both 24 hours/day. So it is less relevant for those who day-sail and are connected to shore power during evening and night.
The Excel calculates power for our boat as it is now, and after the current-reduction measures that I intend to do this winter.
On the second worksheet are my conclusions and additional information.
The central conclusion is:
Per dollar or euro invested, you "produce" a lot more of current by purchasing energy-saving things than by purchasing solar cells.
Second conclusion is:
Even if you mount a big amount of solar power (340 watts) this is only sufficient for 50 % of power needed for continuous sailing, and 70 % of continuous anchorage, even after my planned power-savings.

Hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Jef

[Cotemar]

Jef,

Nice work on the spreadsheet.

what are your "current-reduction measures that you intend to do this winter"?

I am waiting for my 10 new LED lights to come in to replace all 10 of the Silver Task light bulbs from Halogen 10 watts (100watt total) to 1 watt LEDs. The 3 LED's in the Saloon have worked out great.

That will make her all LED except for the 4 florescent lights ,one in each head and one in each engine room. I will leave those because we do not use them much.

Was planning on adding 460 watts of solar on the davits, so may have to add another 230 on the Bimini

Mark

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Mark,
These improvements are the yellow highlighted items on the first worksheet. I have already ordered the tricolour/anchor light and the power-saving solenoid for the autopilot's hydraulic cylinder. I still need to find new LED lights for interior light.
Which ones did you choose for saloon and tasklights? Ordered where? How is the colour of the light? How is the intensity?

Which solar panels have you chosen?
Please note that the charge controller is very important. Some of them actually increase current by decreasing voltage, like a switch mode power supply. But only very few have adjustable charging voltage for calcium batteries, which I consider essential (being an electronics guy).

The fluorescent lights probably have an efficiency comparable to LED lights, so I would never replace these. Also they are on seldom.
Thanks
Jef

[Cotemar]

Jef,

Here are the LED lights I am using. They are Warm White and very bright and the color is good.
Can you post the part # of the mast light your installing. I would like to use that also.
Will you be changing the mid mast light also and the deck light?

Product Code:1428WW (for use in all the Silver Task Lights)
6 Warm White Super bright surface mount LEDs (way brighter than regular 5mm LEDs)
Bulb Life 100,000 Hours
Power 12V AC/DC
Diameter 1" or 24 mm
Thickness .875" or 22 mm
Price: $9.50

http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=534



Product Code:1106WW (for use in the 3 Saloon lights & Bimini)
6 Surface Mount Warm White LEDs G4 Light Module 12V AC/DC
Bulb Life 100,000 Hours
Power 12V AC/DC
Diameter 1" or 24 mm
Thickness 3/8" or 9.5 mm
Price: $9.50

http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=278

Mark

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Mark,
Here is the link to the product from Aqua Signal:
aquasignal Produkt Katalog
This is the white one, it's also in black but I think white will stay cooler. But second thought, might discolor.
Here's a link for the product in the US:
AQUA SIGNAL CORPORATION | Series 32 LED Tri-Color Anchor Light - White, 32707-7 | 327077 from the ShipStore.com ™ on-line catalog.
There is also a Youtube video. Search on Google for aqua signal, select "video". It's from Jamestown distributors.

I will not change the mid-mast lights. The bicolor is used when the engine is on and there's enough power. The spotlight is used briefly and mainly when anchoring, and then the engine is running, so enough power.

Thanks for your info. I'll search the web myself for the specs of those items, and I'll get back to you if I have questions.

I will also mount the water heater as you suggested. More work...

I was considering to mount the solar panels on a frame on the end of the davits, with possibility to rotate fore and aft. Did you consider this possibility?
Regards,
Jef