Cheap G4 LED replacements...any good?

Iain C

Iain C

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I want to swap all the halogen cabin lights in my Bav32 for LEDs to save power. They are the same as the ones in this video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CePnngC4hVk

The lights need to be G4 type, however, there seems to be a huge difference in price between ones from a pukka marine supplier, and the ones available on Amazon and eBay. Has anyone got any experience of a succesful conversion with the cheaper ones? If so, did you go for a disc style, or the ones that look like bunny teeth?

Any experiences/recommendations gratefully recieved...thanks in advance.
 
I was pleasantly surprised by the "rabbit tooth" style COB ("chip on board) LEDs I bought a while back. Expected cold and "thin" light but they were almost as warm and rich as halogens. Damned if I can remember where I bought them though, or what I paid...
 
Lomax said:
I was pleasantly surprised by the "rabbit tooth" style COB ("chip on board) LEDs I bought a while back. Expected cold and "thin" light but they were almost as warm and rich as halogens. Damned if I can remember where I bought them though, or what I paid...
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I bought some for forward cabins where people leave lights on they are great. £5 each or less including postage
 
I swapped our MR16 halogens for domestic LEDs. Different fitting but the contents will be pretty much the same. I went for warm white and they are actually a bit brighter than the ousted 20W halogens. The colour temperature is very acceptable. Not quite as warm as the halogens but far from the unpleasant cold blue of the early LEDs. At 2.9W each that is a sizeable power saving.
 
Yes, I've done exactly this.
I bought a full set of Chinese LED's via ebay for about the same price as a marine supplier was selling a single one for.
They worked fine, but weren't quite bright enough and the light was a little cold despite being supposedly warm white.
I've still got some up in the heads (they're ideal for that) and very happy with them. A couple did start flickering and were replaced, but they're so cheap it's just not an issue. The rest have all been fine even with the charger connected or the engine running.
I got fed up with the ones in the saloon about a year ago and replaced them with some that were priced somewhere between the cheapies from ebay and the expensive marine ones, and they're absolutely superb. Very bright and a lovely colour temperature although I wish I'd gone for dimmable as they can be a bit much!
In fact, I added some mood lighting LED strips last week for some subdued lighting.

Anyway, the company I used for the saloon lights was this one:

https://www.atenlighting.co.uk/

(No connections etc)
 
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I bought from 'Bedazzled'. It must have been two years ago.
They were expensive but have had no problems . They seemed robustly made. I went for the 20Watt equivalent and they are very bright which is what we wanted - but warm . The ammeter hardly moves - energy use from lighting is no longer a concern.
https://bedazzledledlighting.co.uk/
.
A friend bought some very cheap led's on ebay and they were very poor . I am sure people will say they have bought cheap LED's and had no issues .
 
Iain C said:
I want to swap all the halogen cabin lights in my Bav32 for LEDs to save power. They are the same as the ones in this video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CePnngC4hVk

The lights need to be G4 type, however, there seems to be a huge difference in price between ones from a pukka marine supplier, and the ones available on Amazon and eBay. Has anyone got any experience of a succesful conversion with the cheaper ones? If so, did you go for a disc style, or the ones that look like bunny teeth?

Any experiences/recommendations gratefully recieved...thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I have purchased G4s several times from here https://www.lightinthebox.com/index...ption=0&prm=1.2.62.0&keyword=led+g4+12v+ac+dc suggest you order ones rated a bit brighter than you think and a few spares too. The brightnesses are a little optomistic and one of mine started to flicker after a short while but all others have been perfect for 3 years.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
Murv said:
Yes, I've done exactly this.
I bought a full set of Chinese LED's via ebay for about the same price as a marine supplier was selling a single one for.
They worked fine, but weren't quite bright enough and the light was a little cold despite being supposedly warm white.
I've still got some up in the heads (they're ideal for that) and very happy with them. A couple did start flickering and were replaced, but they're so cheap it's just not an issue. The rest have all been fine even with the charger connected or the engine running.
I got fed up with the ones in the saloon about a year ago and replaced them with some that were priced somewhere between the cheapies from ebay and the expensive marine ones, and they're absolutely superb. Very bright and a lovely colour temperature although I wish I'd gone for dimmable as they can be a bit much!
In fact, I added some mood lighting LED strips last week for some subdued lighting.

Anyway, the company I used for the saloon lights was this one:

https://www.atenlighting.co.uk/

(No connections etc)
Click to expand...

I've also used Aten lighting for LED strip lights for both the boat & motorhome - excellent service. Just considering ordering some more Aten strip lights for kitchen under cabinet lighting. On the boat all the lamps are now LED, either large disc type, cylindrical type or festoon. All bought from ebay, mid price range, the only lamps not coverted were the steaming lamp and deck light.
 
Thanks guys. I've ordered some "Bogao" 30W equivalents, £25 for 12 and I'll report back how I get on with them!
 
Some led lights are electronically controlled presumably to boost the brightness. I fitted some in our camper but the interference was intolerable. The electronics can be removed (it was in a little plastic box in the feed cable) but then you need a series resistor. In my case this was 2 watts.

Ebay is the source - cheap and, in my experience, no life problems.
 
Used about a 15 of the bunny teeth type 2 watt and 3 watt warm white to replace 10 and 20 watt G4s in various cabin lights, that was 3-4 years ago, all still working despite being Amazon, Ebay and Bangood purchases.
 
jwilson said:
Used about a 15 of the bunny teeth type 2 watt and 3 watt warm white to replace 10 and 20 watt G4s in various cabin lights, that was 3-4 years ago, all still working despite being Amazon, Ebay and Bangood purchases.
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Same here, no duds.

I see I paid £4.34 for ten 42mm festoons three years ago. A great success, not as warm, and nice, as incandescent but pretty good, only reflected light shows a bit blue. This has just reminded me to order ten more from Amazon. Sourcingmap are the suppliers.
 
I replaced mine with cheap Chinese LED (warm white is essential) equivalents. Some have lasted better than others. I’d bother to replace them if I ever used them now. Because:

+1 to the comments about LED strips. I installed some 3M self-adhesive strips of warm-white LEDs behind shoulder-level hand holds and under side cupboards. The effect of backlighting rather than downlighting gives a much greater ambience, and by illuminating athwartships it creates a greater sense of space in the saloon too. One strip on either side is shielded from the eye by a saloon-length hand hold but shines upwards, illuminating the white deck head. I switch this separately so it’s not used for calm evenings. Amazon is my supplier.
 
Bought some LED cheapies from Ebay , 4 warm white needed for large main saloon .Paid £12.
Err... 4 boxes of 4 turned up!
Easy to install and been working for about six months, no failures out of box or otherwise and no flickering etc when water pumps or other stuff kick in.
Probably not the brightest on the market but pretty good.
Chum bought some mega expensive ones from UK outlet, if anything bit harsh and bright for my taste and about 10 times the price.
Whatever you get definately worth the bother .
 
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Graham_Wright said:
Some led lights are electronically controlled presumably to boost the brightness. I fitted some in our camper but the interference was intolerable. The electronics can be removed (it was in a little plastic box in the feed cable) but then you need a series resistor. In my case this was 2 watts.

Ebay is the source - cheap and, in my experience, no life problems.
Click to expand...

I had to fit clip on Ferrite rings behind our LEDs and around some of the wiring as they were de-sensitising the VHF radio
 
MartynG said:
Yes. Completely removes any concerns about energy consumption.
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Compared to halogen G4, the LED lamps consumes about 1/6th of the current.
I have a 12DC voltage stabilizer on the lighting circuit alone , so the lamps never see anything like the charging voltage from the alternator -or shore charger.
 
Two years ago I replaced all my bulbs with LED's and bought some moderately expensive marine ones and some from ebay posted directly from China at 10 or 20 % of the cost. Two years later I have no idea which were which and none have failed.
 
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