Amp draw for factory lighting.

[hoaglandr]

Anyone know how many amps the factory lighting draws?

I read somewhere that the cabins lights are in the 1 to 1.25 Amp range. How about the navigation lights?

I'm trying to figure the power requirements of everything in the boat before I get too far into my rewiring project. I'll probably replace them with LED's at some point but for now I'm going to leave them alone.

BTW - We named the boat "LazyDayz" today. Only took us three months to agree on a name!

Thanks,
Russell

[vizwhiz]

Congrats on the new name!!

[March]

I would assume that you will probably motor more than go under sail at night, in which case the engine would take care of providing enough juice for your navigation lights. In terms of the gauge wires you should use when rewiring: the original wiring to the mac is pretty skimpy. That was the first thing I upgraded and changed almost everything with marine grade wire. You will find a helpful diagram on the West Marine web site, that gives you the appropriate gauge for the length of the wires you will use. I went to the next larger gauge, just to be on the safe side (can't remember exactly which one it was). I kept the original wiring to some of the lights that I couldn't pull out through the hull--not many, as I recall. Most of them came out easily and I used them as "leads", attaching the new wire and pulling on the old one.
Make sure your electrical system includes a fuse panel. I originally used a "bayonet fuse" one, and then I got the regular car glass-fuses, for more inputs. I still kept the original one for the electronics only. I figured that before the wires melt, the fuses will blow out, regardless of the wire gauge . Never had a problem though.

[Russ]

The stock cabin lights draw about 2 amps if I recall. That's a lot. We have 2 sets of LEDs for most work in the main cabin and some lower level LEDs for "mood" lighting. The factory bulbs will suck your battery down if you leave them on long. We don't leave them on long. Candles and such are nicer anyway.

Running lights draw about the same. They are 144mm (I thing) festoon bulbs. I replace ALL of them with LEDs. Now I can sail at night with almost not drain. LEDs can be expensive if they have the word "boat" or "marine" on the box. Shop around. I found some that I bought directly from China. Took 6 weeks to get here but they only cost $2 each with shipping.

In my opinion, LEDs are the only bulbs that belong on a boat. Last forever, sip little juice. The running lights are easy to replace. Same with cabin lights but sometimes they are polarity sensitive. The boys at the factory are not. Therefore you MAY have to switch the +/- poles on your fixtures. www.superbrightleds.com is a great source that many have used for replacements


--Russ

[Divecoz]

IIRC it was about 9 amps...
I found............ that having the cabin lights on while running at night was , no less than distracting..
I have since then change and or added mostly... LEDs.
Another MOD you might consider this winter is a New Companionway closure. The one that closes the passage way.. Lots of different ways to accomplish this in the Mods Section, search there for ideas..
That Fiberglas closure Panel, is great for walk away security but NOT for letting light and breeze in.. I used tinted Lexan cut to size...than holding my wooden trim back about 1/2 an inch from the sides, I trimmed the sides all around with window stop.( Kind of picture framed IIRC ...the New Panel) I cut a hole out of the middle and added screening and trimmed around that as well with wooden window stop inside and out and screwed it together so I could replace the screen if I ever needed to. I cut some 4" wood baseboard for "top and sides" to keep the rain out . Looks IMHO very Salty / Nautical , and lets light in and allows for some breeze to flow. Needless to say , how you use your boat will determine what you desire for creature comforts...
Fans? I have two Oscillating 12 V. mounted. One in the aft berth where we sleep and another up in the head / V Berth area. Dual Purpose : )
We have a Cruise Air A/C unit as well that fits in my dock box while sailing.. I got a deal on that , $250 ...
YUO may find as many of us do, that these boats Morph back and forth as your needs and life style change.. I will have that A/C unit up for sale if in fact we move to Florida. I'll have no need for it again..If you like to build things, there can be no end to projects on these boats ..

[hoaglandr]

Thanks for the feedback.

Best I can figure is that the festoon bulbs in the navigation light are 42 or 44mm. Anyone know for sure? Also saw some concerns about the LED bulbs not having a wide enough "angle" for the Nav. lights. Not sure what that entails exactly but I'm not ready to replace them just yet anyway. More research needed!

I do have some new LED light fixtures for the cabin. It is a little dark in there for my tastes and I plan to add lights above table, galley, berths, etc. I'll probably just leave the old lights in place for now. Also adding a fan for the aft berth.

Everything looks to be economical in the way of power drain. With the exception of the Edgestar (6.25A Max), the VHF (5A max when transmitting), the CPAP (3.1A) and the laptop (3.5A) everything else (once I switch to all LCD lights) will be under an amp.

Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to assign the circuits and measure the wire runs so I can determine what gauge to use. I think all the factory wiring is 14 AWG.

Russell

[Divecoz]

""Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to assign the circuits and measure the wire runs so I can determine what gauge to use. I think all the factory wiring is 14 AWG.""

Yes it is .... BTW Measure twice add no less than 10% and cut once! Very Hard to cut wire Longer........hahahaha
Once you cut it too short.
The type of wire You select is up to you.. Lots of "discussion " on the topic to be found ..

[Love MACs]

Since someone ventured back into the LED arena vs ordinary bulbs again...I wish someone would post a couple pics on how to reverse the polarity of the light fixture so I could use my LED bulbs I have tried and tried to figure it out, being electronically challenged as I am. I still cannot get them to work and have completely ruined one of my light fixtures trying to get wires re-soldered to where I though they should go, based on what I had read in previous threads. Could use some serious help here.

Allan

[Russ]

Everything looks to be economical in the way of power drain. With the exception of the Edgestar (6.25A Max), the VHF (5A max when transmitting), the CPAP (3.1A) and the laptop (3.5A) everything else (once I switch to all LCD lights) will be under an amp.

That is about the same power usage we have. The Edgestar only pulls that much when it's running and that is about 10 minutes an hour for us.
You are not going to be transmitting VHF for very long. Most of the time it's in receive mode which is very very little. I don't use the laptop very much but it does use power. The CPAP only runs 8 hrs at night. So all in all you are doing well.
I have an 80w solar panel that seems to keep up with everything.

Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to assign the circuits and measure the wire runs so I can determine what gauge to use. I think all the factory wiring is 14 AWG.

The LED lights will be fine with 14 gauge wire. I ran a heavy gauge wire directly to the Edgestar and spliced it into the plug so there is no cigarette lighter plug reducing current. I'm of the school where heavier is better than lighter wire. Do some research on that, but you shouldn't use solid wire. Vibrations can cause it to fatigue and crack. A good quality stranded wire probably 12 gauge will work well if you want to go heavy.


--Russ

[Russ]

Since someone ventured back into the LED arena vs ordinary bulbs again...I wish someone would post a couple pics on how to reverse the polarity of the light fixture so I could use my LED bulbs I have tried and tried to figure it out, being electronically challenged as I am. I still cannot get them to work and have completely ruined one of my light fixtures trying to get wires re-soldered to where I though they should go, based on what I had read in previous threads. Could use some serious help here.

Allan

I have an M and I believe Roger changed the wiring on later M's to decent quality marine wiring. From what I understand, he used cheap lamp cord in previous models.

No pictures for ya, but I unscrewed the factory fixtures from the headliner and pulled the wires out of the hole they pass through. Pull it all down until the lamp cord comes through. The factory spliced the wire (crimp connectors) to the fixture pigtail wires. Reversing them is a matter of cutting off the crimp, switching the wires and re crimping them. Divecoz has educated me about crimping and I only use quality tools, crimps and CorrosionX (should be a sticky). Otherwise, I'll solder them and tape them with quality 3m 33 tape (again thanks to Divecoz for his wisdom on this). Oh, test the LEDs before you make the connections permanent. If you are like me, often you will screw up the polarity again.

There are also some LEDs that don't care about polarity. I had a few of those. Before ripping out your fixtures, I'd test the LEDs by connecting them directly to a 12v source. Even a little 9v battery can work for testing.

I used the DPDT switch to reverse the polarity on my LED steaming/anchor light using the same 2 wires. Saved me another through deck fitting and works great. Just install it on the panel and you don't need 2 more wires for an anchor light.
I also built a custom panel with LED pilot lights. With the cheapo panel Roger installs the pilot light (incandescent) uses more power than the LED running lights. Plus the fuses are PITA to replace. Now I'm sipping 12v with all my lighting.


RE: Festoon bulbs for running lights. You need bulbs with LEDs all the way around. Forward facing only will not be bright enough for side view. I'm pretty sure they are 44mm.

Forward only facing. No good for nav lights.


LEDs all the way around. Good.



--Russ

[DaveB]

Allen, if you have the same socket in your LED's as your replacing, you just need to swap wires (neg. to Pos.-and Pos. to neg.) on the bulb and re solder.
I paid $10 at a local Trailer supplier for the original cabin fixtures.
I bought 4 of them and replaced the two I had and added another with a spare.
These bulbs use .8 amps 12 volt compared to .2 amps with the change out to leds.
Much better reading with original bulbs.
Dave

Since someone ventured back into the LED arena vs ordinary bulbs again...I wish someone would post a couple pics on how to reverse the polarity of the light fixture so I could use my LED bulbs I have tried and tried to figure it out, being electronically challenged as I am. I still cannot get them to work and have completely ruined one of my light fixtures trying to get wires re-soldered to where I though they should go, based on what I had read in previous threads. Could use some serious help here.

Allan

[DaveB]

My EdgeStar 63 quart refig. doesn't use 6.25 amps. Starting up for 2 seconds uses 8.4 amps than runs at 5.4 amps and than only runs for max. 20 min. on the hr in 92-95 degree outside temps.
That relates to less than 2 amps per hr.
Actually I have run my frig. at 4 days at a time with only brief times (getting anchor hauled and under way) in running outboard that puts out 10 amps. and never got below 12.2 volts in my twin group 27 house batteries and running everything aboard including Laptop. My guess is it averages 1 amp hr over a 24 hr period of time.
I keep it at 38 degrees and use another Ice cooler under seat for drinks.I keep all the veggies,meats and some soft drinks in the Edgestar.
I do have a problem with it running on 12 volts and factory sent me a module that I replaced and still doesn't work so I am running it on a 100 watt inverter on the AC cord.(maybe my 12 volt cord that looks new)
My interior wiring on my Mac.X is 18 gauge lamp wire that I have replaced most with 14Gauge.
16 gauge is plenty for lighting and other Items under 50 watts and distance of 20 ft. or less. I used the 14 gauge to feed the 2- 12volt elect. panels I have on board.
Dave

Thanks for the feedback.

Best I can figure is that the festoon bulbs in the navigation light are 42 or 44mm. Anyone know for sure? Also saw some concerns about the LED bulbs not having a wide enough "angle" for the Nav. lights. Not sure what that entails exactly but I'm not ready to replace them just yet anyway. More research needed!

I do have some new LED light fixtures for the cabin. It is a little dark in there for my tastes and I plan to add lights above table, galley, berths, etc. I'll probably just leave the old lights in place for now. Also adding a fan for the aft berth.

Everything looks to be economical in the way of power drain. With the exception of the Edgestar (6.25A Max), the VHF (5A max when transmitting), the CPAP (3.1A) and the laptop (3.5A) everything else (once I switch to all LCD lights) will be under an amp.

Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to assign the circuits and measure the wire runs so I can determine what gauge to use. I think all the factory wiring is 14 AWG.

Russell

[hoaglandr]

Thanks Dave and Russ for the advice.

I agree that the heavy amp usage on the Edgestar is probably just when it kicks on and that it won't run all the time. I got that rating for the Edgestar from a supplier website. And usage on the VHF will certainly be low, and we will very rarely be transmitting so our overall power usage will be much lower. Probably won't use the laptop that much but It's nice to be able to if I want. I've also got a 100 watt solar panel to install (down the road aways!) and two group 27 house batteries.

I'm trying to allow for the max. # of amps we will be drawing as I certainly want to keep it safe. I'm thinking 14 AWG should be fine for the lights, and I'll probably go with 12 AWG for the heavier stuff. I've still got to measure the runs though to be sure. I'm using Ancor wire and plan to solder terminals etc.

Russ, thanks for the heads up on the festoon LED's! That looks like it will do the trick.

Crawled into the aft berth this afternoon and realized that the wiring for the starboard cabin lights and the mast light take a sharp turn to starboard and go under the cockpit inside of the liner. Any troubles pulling more wire through there?

Thanks,
Russell

[Divecoz]

Solder joints are great and I assume you've done a lot of them .. Use Marine adhesive shrink tube and Western Union Splice is unnecessary but do use the overlap twist..JSYK.
Crimping is excellent as well with the proper tool, which is now very reasonably priced, and use some sort of No-Ox..
With the advent of LEDS wire size is no longer an issue but I would still use #14 as a minimum. Personally I figure wire capacity ( amperage)at half on 12V. systems. Voltage drop is minimal if you keep the run under 50 feet. Just remember, thats down and......back.