Modifying Ceiling Lights for LED

[Pelagic]

I have 25 of these Vetus 24v Domenica brass ceiling lights.

Still like new and suiting the interior wood trim, I want to switch over from the existing cylindrical pointy end type incandescent bulbs..... to LED

Each fixture has 2 bulbs Red and White with a 3 way toggle switch.

I'm guessing I'll need to change the whole inside of the fixture to a LED component, but I've no idea where to begin looking for someone to provide those LED components.

I would order about 30 Red/White and install on the base myself.

Any ideas as to where to look?

[tkeithlu]

LED bulbs with the same base are widely available and do not require any modification of your fixtures.. Give me a few minutes and I'll scrounge up some sources for you.

[tkeithlu]

Heres one starting point. There are others. Google LED bulbs.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/fil/catego...ed-light-bulbs

Here are some in 24 volts

https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/...SAAEgLa5PD_BwE

[tkeithlu]

Heres one starting point. There are others. Google LED bulbs.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/fil/catego...ed-light-bulbs

Here are some in 24 volts

https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/...SAAEgLa5PD_BwE

[fivecapes]

https://www.amazon.com/Led-Festoon-B...+Festoon+Bulbs

https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale...xt=festoon+led

[Spot]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

I have 25 of these Vetus 24v Domenica brass ceiling lights.

Still like new and suiting the interior wood trim, I want to switch over from the existing cylindrical pointy end type incandescent bulbs..... to LED

Pelagic, I think the technical term for 'cylindrical pointy end' is 'festoon', you will need to know the size. Finding them in red might be challenging, there are more options in white. I have used other Superbright LED's before and have been happy with them and did not experience VHF radio interference. I would probably order enough to do a couple-few lights and try it all out and see what you think:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/sear...s/festoon+red/


There are also boards for retrofitting that don't need a three way switch with various bases attached to the two wires. I have not used these but people speak highly of Marinebeam. Maybe someone has these as a three wire option to be directly compatible with your switches???

https://store.marinebeam.com/9-led-d...en-blue-white/

[Pelagic]

Thanks all for educating me on the terminology and where to look.

The inside metal base plate of these lights have cheaply built components.
I have already repaired a couple of broken spring clamps for the "Festoon" bulbs which seem like a pretty flimsy attachment

I will take picture tomorrow to show condition to see if it may be better in the long run to just replace, with something more reliable.

[fivecapes]

While you're at it, add a remote dimmer

[Tillikum]

If it concerns you look into the effects of certain kinds of LED light on circadian rhythms.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Tillikum

If it concerns you look into the effects of certain kinds of LED light on circadian rhythms.

I've spent my whole live since college years and then at Sea, sleeping in Cat-naps of one or two hours, studying or reading till I felt the need to dream about it.

At Sea, any rhythm was based on Nature and being seen for each watch, so they could feel it was ok to call me at anytime.

Sleep to me was always a tool to reflect on what had me focused on during my waking periods, so have never really known stability in a sleep pattern..... just motivation and reflection.

I find eating turkey to be a very strange experience

[Ken Pole]

I wholeheartedly endorse SuperBrightLeds for tinned wire, etc., as well as "bulbs" after a total rewiring that included new fixtures throughout about five years ago without any problems since.

[brmoney]

I generally advise people against buying led fixtures and buying led bulbs in regular fixtures. Generally the leds and not replaceable in led fixtures. The reason for this is when one of the led fixtures fail in a couple of years you will not be able to find that fixture and then you have one odd fixture.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by brmoney

I generally advise people against buying led fixtures and buying led bulbs in regular fixtures. Generally the leds and not replaceable in led fixtures. The reason for this is when one of the led fixtures fail in a couple of years you will not be able to find that fixture and then you have one odd fixture.

Hi.....I am having trouble understanding what you are advising?
These 25 brass Vetus ceiling lights open easy with 3 thumb screws on posts to access internals.
What should I be modifying them with to switch to LED and I would carry spares?

Should I be buying something different?

[Ziggy]

One more piece of advice: carefully measure the old incandescent festoon bulbs with calipers before ordering the led replacements. You might think they come in standard sizes, but they vary up to a couple mm in length. I recently ordered festoon bulbs from superbrightLEDs and they came slightly oversized. They still could be forced into the fixture, but just barely.

[dougweibel]

I believe brmoney is advising against buying new LED fixtures and instead putting LEDs into your existing fixtures. New LED fixtures generally do not have replaceable components so if the LED goes out you have to get a whole new fixture. After a while your fixture goes out of production and then you have to replace it with something that may not match. LEDs do last a long time, but it is an issue.

Another issue to be aware of is that since incandescent bulbs are not polarity sensitive and 12v/24v systems are generally not a shock hazard many boat builders were pretty haphazard about wiring the polarity correctly on older fixtures. An LED is polarity sensitive so if you just put a basic LED into an incorrectly wired fixture it may not work - you will have to correct the polarity of the fixture. Higher quality LED components have circuitry so that they will work with either polarity.

One supplier not mentioned yet is Marinebeam.com. I have had good experience with their products.