LED Lights

[RobertB]

For those of you that have converted from incandescent to LED, what bulbs did you use?

Notice that many of the LED festoon type bulbs that can mount in the Hella nav light fixtures are not for use in such fixtures.

What size interior light (power) do you find gives the best amount of light?

[AlaskaMan]

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/ ... stoon.html
I replaced all exterior and interior lights with 4210-XHP12 or 4410-XHP12 in cool white.

[RussMT]

The Hela fixtures are very flexible. The top/bottom "clips" are bendable to pinch the festoon bulb. Basically there is a top and bottom metal clip that the festoon bulb is held between.

Here's a thread on LEDs
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=19780&p=235233

[raycarlson]

ditto on superbright LED's, i did my whole boat for less than 50 bucks and they have bulbs to fit any socket you can think of. just keep in mind some of them are polarity sensitive, if it doesn't light switch neg pos wire terminals and it will light right. I learned this after wasting two weeks returning bulbs and complaining to superbright of poor quality control, and it turned out to be my own stupidity.

[robbarnes1965]

For the interior I took a page from my fellow Quebecois: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=17438&p=206094&hilit=led+lights#p206094
Worked great and not expensive.

I may have bought the exterior lights at my local marine store though. Most come in a pack with adapters for different housings.

My next project is this great idea:
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/modt/in ... ?view=1598

Rob

[RussMT]

My next project is this great idea:
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/modt/in ... ?view=1598

Rob

I love the red LED night idea. However, there is a simple way to accomplish this. Add a red LED to the existing fixture. Chances are you will need to fabricate something in the fixture anyway. THEN, reverse the polarity and all white LEDs that are turned on switch to Red.

Because LEDs are generally polarity sensitive, this is a great way to reuse a pair of 12v wires. I did this on my mast. My anchor light and steaming light share the same 2 wires. I reverse the polarity to switch between both. Since both lights should never be on at the same time this works well. No new connectors or wires.

I replaced all my cabin lights with LEDs. I cut the bulb sockets out and soldered the LEDs to the wires. They work great and use almost no power.

[robbarnes1965]

Ok Russ, you peaked my curiosity. How do I switch from red to white or back?

Can I do this from a switch on the panel? At best I will have to dig through my sailboat wiring book - I have very little experience with electrics other than plugging in the leds backwards to get them to work.

[RobertB]

I think the way to wire this would be to use a double pole, double throw switch (DPDT).

Think of wiring the switch as follows (as in how to hook up to the contacts in the switch):

Position 1 (from source)
Source (-) Source (+)

Position Middle (to light)
Light (W) Light (B)

Position 2 (from source)
Source (+) Source (-)

An easy way to do this would wire source to position 1 and then jumper position 1 to position 2 but crossing the wires (position 1 (-) to position 2 (+))

Depending on the way the switch is thrown (position 1 or 2) determines the polarity of the wires leading to the switches. Both the wires are hooked to both lights, the bulbs installed with opposite polarities so that only the LED light fed with the correct polarity will light.

The switch could also have a middle position where no contact is made.

See http://www.exman.com/switch.html for more information.

[tkanzler]

1||2
R||W
2||1

Crummy graphic, but the pipes (|) are the lugs on a typical DPDT toggle switch, with the two in the middle (Red and White, but any color combo that you have) being the commons.

Wire Red and White to the power source, and connect 1 to 1, and 2 to 2 with two short leads (criss-crossed). Connect the light conductors to 1 and 2, at either end.

Switching up from center connects R to 1, and W to 2.

Switching down from center connects R to 2, and W to 1.

[NiceAft]

Question Are these bright enough to be seen for two nautical miles

I realize that the draw on our batteries is greatly diminished when using LED's, but I don't wish to do this at the cost of safety. There are too many nuts, fools, a-holes, and just plain stupid people on the water to not want to be seen really well.

Ray

[robbarnes1965]

Thanks guys.

Ray, the LED's I installed are all the right viability for the application. If anything they are safer because they are likely to have enough power to function at all times. I do a lot of night sailing so I have tested them a lot.

[NiceAft]

I don't doubt their safety, or their ability to function well as a light; I just wonder if it is written anywhere that the lights are visible for two nautical miles.

I have LED's in all of the fixtures below deck, but I have been holding off with both the bow and stern lights. That two nautical mile figure sticks in my head, and I don't want to just assume that because they are bright, they are then bright enough.

Ray

[robbarnes1965]

I don't doubt their safety, or their ability to function well as a light; I just wonder if it is written anywhere that the lights are visible for two nautical miles.

I have LED's in all of the fixtures below deck, but I have been holding off with both the bow and stern lights. That two nautical mile figure sticks in my head, and I don't want to just assume that because they are bright, they are then bright enough.

Ray

They did say 2 nm on the package. They are not yet USCG approved however but they work like they should.

[raycarlson]

if your worried about safety why trust that it is written somewhere, surely you can find a road or lake or something where you can park your boat two miles away with lights on at night and satisfy your concerns. the superbright 9 LED festoon bulb in my bow light was tested this way,i found it much brighter then the incandesant bulb that was in there from Hella.

[NiceAft]

Thanks Rob.

Ray, in sparsely populated, flat Arizona, your solution is viable. In hilly eastern Pennsylvania, with an extremely dense population, that's not going to work Finding a flat straight road, two miles long, without any lights on it other than the bow light of a Mac Ain't happening brother. It would be nice though.

Ray