LED Bulb size / type?

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Gnjoutside

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Morning All,

With www.DX.com doing super-cheap LED bulbs I'd like to upgrade the lighting on board my Sadler.

I know I need a handful of G4s (20w halogen equivalents) for the main interior lighting, but can anyone help with the dimensions / types for other common interior and exterior lights?

I have a couple of plastimo brass reading lights, and then on deck standard types of: nav lights, masthead white, tricolour, steaming and deck to replace.

What festoon bulb lengths do I need for the nav and mast lights?
What recommended brightness should the various nav and mast lights be?

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks.

George
S32 Chelena
 
Gnjoutside said:
Morning All,

With www.DX.com doing super-cheap LED bulbs I'd like to upgrade the lighting on board my Sadler.

I know I need a handful of G4s (20w halogen equivalents) for the main interior lighting, but can anyone help with the dimensions / types for other common interior and exterior lights?

I have a couple of plastimo brass reading lights, and then on deck standard types of: nav lights, masthead white, tricolour, steaming and deck to replace.

What festoon bulb lengths do I need for the nav and mast lights?
What recommended brightness should the various nav and mast lights be?

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks.

George
S32 Chelena
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I recommend you visit a specialist site regarding the LEDs for your nav lights

It is important that they are suitable for the lens colours and that they are the correct power to give the required visible ranges

physical size will depend on the make and type of lights you have fitted

A good site to look at is http://www.boatlamps.co.uk/

also perhaps http://www.bedazzled.uk.com and http://www.searolf.com/index.html
 
Thanks VicS and Nigel. I've bought a handful of interior bulbs from DX.com. I'll go to a specialist for the nav lights. Does that mean there is doubt about the quality of similarly rated lights in the market? Thanks.
 
Gnjoutside said:
Thanks VicS and Nigel. I've bought a handful of interior bulbs from DX.com. I'll go to a specialist for the nav lights. Does that mean there is doubt about the quality of similarly rated lights in the market? Thanks.
Click to expand...

No - it's that "white" LED lights don't necessarily emit light across the full spectrum, they may emit narrow bands of red, green and blue, and the bands that they emit may not be compatible with the red/green filters in navigation lamps. There are also issues with cutoff angles and so on. This is because of the way LEDs work, not because of quality issues. So, an LED not designed for use in a navigation lamp may not be suitable.
 
Gnjoutside said:
Thanks VicS and Nigel. I've bought a handful of interior bulbs from DX.com. I'll go to a specialist for the nav lights. Does that mean there is doubt about the quality of similarly rated lights in the market? Thanks.
Click to expand...

As Antarctic pilot explains regarding the colours.

Also the leds must have appropriate arcs of visibility as he also hints. No good for example fitting an array with all LEDs facing forward in a masthead light which should have an arc of visibility of 225°!
 
Interior light wise, I have just replace all my "fuse" type bulbs with LED's from China. All working so far 8 for the price of one from a quality UK supplier, will see how I get on. MY thinking was if they last like they should they will out last me, if they start dieing I will replace with "quality ones".

As for Nav lights I bought one a replacement LED from a chandler when my bulb died (it was only a few pounds more), I never liked the light quality. Next time I get out in the dark I plan trying my cheap Chinese quality... See if I can see a difference...

Its not difficult to find cheap bulbs of the right type, google the details and have spare bulb of required type to hand... Its not as if mistakes are not that costly you get 10 spares for lights you do not even have yet...

I have some replacement LED spots, bit smaller than normal (I made mistake) I will post details later if any one wants them.
 
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Ok, so consensus seems to be that if the correct spec can be found (in terms of wavelength emitted, brightness and arc of vis) then a Chinese LED is no bad thing... I'll have a look into it and let report back.

Crossing to Brunsbuttel in a fortnight so I'd like to fit the brightest nav lights possible in advance!

Thank you all!
 
I asked several suppliers what LED they would recommend to replace 10 and 21w incandescent bulbs, only got one straight answer, from SeaRolf, rest were very unsure.
 
Dazedkipper said:
I asked several suppliers what LED they would recommend to replace 10 and 21w incandescent bulbs, only got one straight answer, from SeaRolf, rest were very unsure.
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Actually, I'd regard the ones who weren't sure as being more correct. There isn't a straight equivalence, as the spectral characteristics are very different, and individual perception of "brightness" is subjective. For example, I prefer the "cold" white bulbs - but I gather I'm in a minority, with most preferring the "Warm" white bulbs, which to me seem to provide less light - no matter what the actual light output figures are!

There are also issues about the different light patterns from different bulbs; LEDs are much more directional than incandescent bulbs, so the way the individual LEDs are mounted and directed will affect the apparent brightness. An LED may well be apparently brighter than an incandescent bulb with the same nominal light output because the LED's output is all in one direction (or a restricted spread of directions) whereas the incandescent bulb is radiating all round. But areas outside the light spread of an LED bulb will get less light than they would with an incandescent bulb. For example, on my Moody 31, there are three dome fittings in the saloon, one over the galley area, and one each over the port and starboard berths. With LEDs that provide a broad output angle, these provide excellent lighting for the sitting area and for the galley. But there isn't a light over the chart table area, and even with all three overhead lights on, this area is shadowy and gloomy. I suspect that with equivalent incandescent bulbs, the light would be more uniform - but not as bright.

I'm delighted with the LED lights I use in the main cabin - which came from UtraLEDs, which gets mixed reviews, but whose products are at the top end of the market - but I've also got a cheap eBay one in the same type of fitting in the aft cabin, and that seems to be fine too! But my advice would be to get the highest light output you can fit in the fittings, and don't worry about equivalences.
 
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