fitting led cabin lights, help please

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spilt-my-tea

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Greetings All
I'm fitting new LED lights in my cabin (8m offshore with basic setup, two batteries charged by engine with a wind charger coming)
So I bought a cabin light from Bedazzled (G4 CAB10) 2W and 166ma current draw
I removed the fluorescent single tube fitting and attached the led light fitting, I couldn't see any indication of a + or - on the wires of the led fitting so assumed it doesn't matter (it's becoming clearer now huh) so I rigged it up and turned on the main power.....massive power drain and an odd smell so shut down immediately, touched the wires from the light fitting, they're fine, touched the wires coming out of the cabin wall and I nearly put the kettle on em' they were so hot.
disconnected the light fitting and backed slowly away, then put the kettle back on the stove and had a cuppa (with the fire extinguisher very close by)

Just a word about Bedazzled, not their fault at all and I'm content to absorb the cost of my idiocy, I claim total responsability for being a numpty and I'm in communication with them to purchase the right product but I can't expect them to explain everything plus they're busy chaps so where did I go wrong?

or rather what is it that I don't understand?
Any info from the scary amount of informed and terribly clever folk on YBW would be much appreciated as I love a BBQ as much as the next guy, just rather have one on my boat rather than it being my boat.

Kind Regards, the guy who rows his dinghy with a garden rake
 
You're likely to get a more thorough response to your question from the techically-minded on the PBO forum, rather than on here.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.
 
Check the wire. It's probably damaged somewhere near the light fitting and is causing a short.
Odds are your new LED light has not been harmed.
 
From Bedazzled's website it looks like what you bought is just a standard fitting for normal 12 volt G4 bulbs, but supplied with the plug in LEDs that can be used to replace G4s - i.e. nothing special about the fitting.

I bought a bunch of the LED G4 replacements 18 months ago, with the intention of using them at home (kitchen glass fronted cabinets with 12 volt downlights), but one fried almost immediately with a horrid smell (as you describe). Must be a problem that the transformer voltage wasn't rectified.

So, I abandoned that idea, but took the remaining "bulbs" down to the boat and replaced some (a minority) of my fittings there - similar light fittings, I think, to the one you bought. I have had no problem with them. They seem happy with the boats voltage, even when the batteries are being charged. (However, having experienced the burning problem at home, I would not be happy leaving them "on" with the boat unattended).
 
er, was the LED connected straight across where the tube was?
Those 12V tube fittings generate a higher voltage to flash up the fluorescent tube.....

More likely just a wiring fault.
Fit some fuses (please!). The car type blade ones are generally more reliable in my experience.
 
nigelmercier said:
Decent LEDs lamps should work either way. Even if not, connecting the wrong way round would not cause a large current. You have a short somewhere, but first find out why the fuse didn't blow.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's true, Nigel, that any LED lamp would work either way. (I may be wrong here; certainly of the ones I've played with, none has.) But at least any decent one has a protector (generally just a diode with a 0.7v drop!) fitted so that if you fit it the wrong way, you won't blow the LEDs.

It's possible that a short circuit was created by whatever the OP did in removing the original fitting without realising. But more likely IMHO that the fluorescent fitting generates higher-voltage AC from the 12v DC, and the OP unwittingly fitted his LED circuit across this! A typical circuit diagram of that fitting, filched from the web, is below.

View attachment 32643

Action now:
1 Check you still have 12V coming out of the fitting. As Nigel says, the fuse may well have blown.
2 Check you haven't burned the supply wires or connections along them, with the unfortunate mishap.
3 Check that the 12V LED unit still works across a known 12V supply (try either way; getting this wrong won't break it). If it's been connected across higher-voltage AC, it's quite likely the thing's been frazzled.
4 Pull out the fluorescent fitting and attach the LED circuit (or a new replacement for the frazzled one!) to its 12V INPUT, not its OUTPUT which is where the fluorescent light goes.
 
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LED uplights

As an alternative to LED down lights (I replaced mine with LED equivalents too) I preferred to use LED strips behind beading on shelves, as uplights. This generates a much more ambient light than shining down from the deckhead, and by lighting back in to the shelves, broadens the feeling of space.

This sort of thing; always go for 'warm white' colour to approximate tungsten lighting; otherwise it's a rather cold appearance closer to the colour of flourescent light. The 3528 LEDs are for regular use; the 5050 variety are more powerful, and I used them for the top strip that reflects off the overhead and may be too bright.

Some may like it; some may not. Here's an unflattering shot taken with half the guts and smouldering iron etc still out. The white-out effect is an aberration of the phone camera I used; the overall effect is warmer and less contrasty than this. I've also wired mine to a three-way switch so I can turn off the top (overhead reflecting) set and only have the shelf-level backlighting, or turn off all but one on the starboard side for a soft light behind us if we leave the kids to watch a movie at the saloon table.

View attachment 32644
 
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BelleSerene said:
As an alternative to LED down lights (I replaced mine with LED equivalents too) I preferred to use LED strips behind beading on shelves, as uplights. This generates a much more ambient light than shining down from the deckhead, and by lighting back in to the shelves, broadens the feeling of space.

This sort of thing; always go for 'warm white' colour to approximate tungsten lighting; otherwise it's a rather cold appearance closer to the colour of flourescent light. The 3528 LEDs are for regular use; the 5050 variety are more powerful, and I used them for the top strip that reflects off the overhead and may be too bright.

Some may like it; some may not. Here's an unflattering shot taken with half the guts and smouldering iron etc still out. The white-out effect is an aberration of the phone camera I used; the overall effect is warmer and less contrasty than this. I've also wired mine to a three-way switch so I can turn off the top (overhead reflecting) set and only have the shelf-level backlighting, or turn off all but one on the starboard side for a soft light behind us if we leave the kids to watch a movie at the saloon table.

View attachment 32644
Click to expand...
Lighting looks good and hope that you have fitted a suitable voltage stabiliser for the flexible strip lighting.

Normal flexible strip lighting is designed for the home where appropriate drivers are used that provide a fixed 12V supply. If used without voltage stabilisation on your boat the strip will overheat when the batteries are being charged by the engine driven alternator or battery charger. Current will increase by 50% at 13.8V and if a modern battery charger is used the current will pretty much double when in the battery equalisation mode. With those sort of current the LEDs within the strip will be damaged and the working life much reduced.
Regards
 
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