Some Marine Lighting References

[GordMay]

Imtra Marine Lighting Announces Line Expansion & Big New Catalog
Imtra's Marine Lighting Division (IML) has just released its latest catalog which dramatically showcases the expansion of IML's line of lighting products. Among the hundreds of fixtures presented are 40 which are entirely new for 2005, including 19 using the latest LED technology.
http://www.imtra.com/

Bulb Reference Guide (choose the right light source):
http://www.imtra.com/index.cfm?fa=pages&pageId=42

Marine Lighting Reference Guide:
http://www.imtra.com/downloadTypes/P...e_REFGUIDE.pdf

Lighting FAQ’s:
http://www.imtra.com/downloadTypes/P...chure_FAQs.pdf

[exposure]

Speaking of lighting...

I have been having good luck buying LED replacement bulbs off of ebay. The prices are quite good. I recently saw a 12v reading lamp bulb at the boat show for $30. I found the same basic thing on Ebay listed as a replacement bulb for lawn accent lights. They came in a two pack for about $15 with shipping on Ebay. I used them to replace halogen bulbs in my reading lights. I had to remove the bulb and the reflector to get them to fit, but they slid into the bayonet socket just fine.

I also bought some replacement bulbs for my cockpit and engine area lights, as well as a chart/reading light I have in the cockpit. The prices were about $5-10 each for the bulbs. I used the red for the lights to be used while underway.

I haven't measured the curent ye,t as my meter needs a new fuse. But I am sure that it is a big improvement over the halogens.

Woody

[Alan Wheeler]

Hi Woody, What are they like to read under??

[exposure]

For reading I find them great. In fact it is their ideal use in my opinion. They do have a blue cast to the light, but it is not a problem as far as I'm concerned. Where they are not so good is in area lighting, such as my cockpit light.

One warning ... The large socket replacement bulbs I bought were made as replacements for car tail/brake lights. My cockpit light used the same two contact bayonet base. I learned that in the cockpit light the two contacts are the plus and minus wires, and the metal bulb base is unused. In a car, the base is negative and the two contacts are wired to two seperate filaments. I tried to rewire my cockpit light to suit the auto lightbulbs. The cockpit light has two bulbs (one for red and one for white) that are wired for a common positive with switched grounds. With the bulb base now used for ground, the bases were connected together through the metal socket mounts. So now when I turn one light on, they both come on. I now need to rewire the fixture to switch the positive power side. So much for a simple project.

Woody

[GordMay]

Another good LED lighting source & resource:

LED Lamps from LEDtronics < www.ledtronics.com >:

including:
Bayonet style 15mm 18-LED and 19-LED Lamps for direct replacement of incandescent bulbs #310 and #312:
Single-Contact Series B618/B619: www.ledtronics.com/ds/B618/
Double-Contact Series DB618/DB619: www.ledtronics.com/ds/DB618/

Cross Reference (Incandescent to LED) Locator: http://www.ledtronics.com/cross/ndefault.htm

Technical Notes: http://www.ledtronics.com/pages/tech_notes.htm
LED FAQ’s: http://www.ledtronics.com/pages/faq/Home_faq.htm

[Rick]

Pay attention to the latest technology, CCFL (cold-cathode-flourescent). This offers the best input power to light output efficiency of all, around 60 Lumens per Watt. In addition, the light output is dimmable.

The ones which we, as boaters, will find desirable will have built-in inverters, because they operate around 1350 Volts with almost no current. They can be produced to give daylight-type color intensity for the best reading and illumination.

White LEDs which can provide the proper color temperature for reading and inspection are expensive. Those which give sufficient light are often overdriven and not so efficient as other colored LEDs and, as a result, do NOT last the usual 100,000 hours as often claimed.

Don't get me wrong, I love the white LEDs and use LED flashlights aboard exclusive of incandescent ones now. I still use halogen bulbs for interior lighting and reading and have had great life from them yet am looking foreward to the CCFL bulbs replacing them for extremely low battery drain in comparison.

Check out this link:
http://www.ccfl-inverter.com/html_en...hroic_lamp.htm

Rick