ccfl

[northerncat]

another area of my build i am trying to research is lighting now as this can eat up to 1/3 of your energy budget i ahve been looking at the options and have found that ccfl gives the most lumen per watt, however i can find very little information on it apart from that and the fact that it is used in flourescent signs, does any one have any sites where you can buy these as 12v bulbs, they seem to be a pretty good idea as they last forever like leds and are dimmable but give off more light, i found a site that did a ccfl bulb that could be used in dichroic lighting but it was for ac
sean

[Tropic Cat]

As far as I can remember all flourescent bulbs are AC. They use circuitry and transformers to create AC from 12VDC. If you take apart any low cost flourescent marine fixture, you'll see what I mean.

Rick in Florida

[Sunspot Baby]

A friend on a Manta cat has ccfl lights in the cabin, so they must be available.

George

[Rick]

CCFL bulbs alone will not work. They need specially designed supplies to start them and keep them regulated. The supplies are not as expensive as HID supplies yet have similar design challenges.

The Chineese seem to have the electronics and bulbs well underway for high volume, lowest cost, in general, yet they are not widely available. I have a few low power fixtures and wish that there were more available. IT will come to pass soon, I believe.

[Tropic Cat]

The only place I remember seeing them mentioned is in backlighting LCD displays for TV and computers. Someone is cranking out huge volumes. I haven't seen a standalone unit though.

Rick in Florida

[sluissa]

check out these, they're designed to be used in computer cases, but they should work for your needs, on the upside, they're cheap and are already set up for 12v DC

Computer case cold cathode lamp

[Windwalker]

ABI lighting, and others, make a cold cathode florescent bulb.
http://www.abimarine.com/LighingElec...de%20MR-16.htm
Avalible at most maring equipment distributors. A quick search on the web yielded many sources of lighting, ready made fixtures and components. With a little ability you should be able to retrofit fixtures cheeply, or buy fixtures for about $125 USD.

These lights do need an AC supply, built into the fixtures or purchesed as a component but they are cheep and many that I found run on 12VDC.

[Windwalker]

Taylor Made has a line of 12V fixtures that are cold cathode. One site;
http://www.cetsolar.com/ccf.htm
has these fixtures for sale on the site. I have seen other sites also with cold cathode lighting. Just search "cold cathode marine".

[northerncat]

hey thansk guys these sites are gold, i like the m16 bulbs at 10000 hrs lifespan these should do me for 10yrs;-)
sean

[northerncat]

i have also looked into led lighting but it doesnt appear to have the lumens that ccfl has, has anyone gone down the i have a totally led lit boat and am very happy because it only uses 1 amp pernight and everyone can see my boat
sean