LED replacement for festoon bulb

seanfoster

seanfoster

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Hi All,

I want to replace the interior festoon light bulbs with LED ones.

The current bulbs are 10w standard bulbs, there are thousands on ebay but I haven't seen any suppliers that show how bright they are or what they are equivalent to.

Here are a few examples with 8 and 16 leds per bulb, both types would fir in the light fittings I have, has anyone tried anything similar?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-Pcs-41...572?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item5d51319d5c
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6Pcs-41mm...606?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item5d4dda0e0e

Basically I want to match the current brightness and also want a cosy warm light.
 
seanfoster said:
Hi All,

I want to replace the interior festoon light bulbs with LED ones.

The current bulbs are 10w standard bulbs, there are thousands on ebay but I haven't seen any suppliers that show how bright they are or what they are equivalent to.

Here are a few examples with 8 and 16 leds per bulb, both types would fir in the light fittings I have, has anyone tried anything similar?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-Pcs-41...572?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item5d51319d5c
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6Pcs-41mm...606?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item5d4dda0e0e

Basically I want to match the current brightness and also want a cosy warm light.
Click to expand...

I have replaced all the incandescent bulbs in my boat (except one fluorescent tube and the chart light, which I will do so) with LEDs ones from www.boatlamps.co.uk. I am only a happy customer, but very happy - the service has been excellent, the prices fine and the lamps work very well indeed. They have a whole page of festoon bulbs at http://www.boatlamps.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d23.html ... "warm white" is what you're after.
 
While I don't doubt the service and advice of the UK companies referred to you can't escape the cheap price of the Chinese LED in the OP links. I have some of them and they are fine. Very low current drain and hopefully enough light.
LED lights for cabin use however can be far more effective not so much in fitting to an existing fitting and lens but in using the unique styles available.
A patch light stuck on the ceiling or the LED strip light can give good light in various places. Have a look at Banggood.com.
Some people get concerned that the cheap LED use resistive current limiting hence current brightness and heat dissipation can be dependant on input voltage. So if you run your lights when a smart charge controller has boosted the battery voltage to 15v (or similarly a smart shore power charger) then there may be cause for concern. I have never seen a problem except perhaps premature failure of LEDs but if this is a concern then a regulator can be fitted or series resistors to reduce power at high voltage. Lots of discussion on this forum. good luck olewill
 
I'm fairly sure mine are the 8 LED 5050's. They are probably slightly brighter than the original festoons. Mine are the cheap Chinese ones and have now completed two seasons with no burnouts.
 
Try www.banggood.com

http://www.banggood.com/buy/LED-Festoon.html

There are probably cheaper Chinese sites, but it's free postage. Order in dribs and drabs so you don't have the extra expense of going to the post office to collect them (assuming smaller packets will get through your letter box).

Even five years ago, LEDs were a bit of a premium item. Now the're just a cheap commodity.

Some of the UK suppliers mentioned don't appear to have cottoned on to that yet (or are pretending in the hope their customers don't notice).

There has been significant improvements in the phosphors they use for white LEDs, so again they are much brighter than even a few years ago. Those I fitted at great expense in 2008 (from UK suppliers) are pretty dim, those cheap ones I've fitted in the last 18 months are a bit too bright at times.

Buy a few spare, but to be honest I haven't experienced any issues with LEDs and higher charging voltages. As I said above, treat them as a commodity like old fashioned bulbs and only worry about ones with regulators if you start experiencing a significant failure rate.
 
Thanks for your replies, I'm sure the UK suppliers offer a good service, but I've just taken a punt on 10 x 8LED warm white festoon bulbs from a Chinese supplier on ebay, at £4.50 including postage for 10 rather than £10 for one I think it's worth a try!
 
seanfoster said:
Thanks for your replies, I'm sure the UK suppliers offer a good service, but I've just taken a punt on 10 x 8LED warm white festoon bulbs from a Chinese supplier on ebay, at £4.50 including postage for 10 rather than £10 for one I think it's worth a try!
Click to expand...

I would agree. I got some cheap ones from ebay 3 years ago. no problems so far.
 
LED's only work with the current in one direction, some of the cheaper bulbs don't have the necessary electronics to overcome this and will only work one way round.

Long winded way of saying if a bulb doesn't work turn it around through 180!
 
Ian tan said:
LED's only work with the current in one direction, some of the cheaper bulbs don't have the necessary electronics to overcome this and will only work one way round.

Long winded way of saying if a bulb doesn't work turn it around through 180!
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, I did see some of them have polarity markings on them.
 
Hadenough said:
Or these.

http://www.boatlamps.co.uk
Click to expand...

+1 I had that debate about trying to find the same quality but cheaper on ebay but decide that this guy makes his reputation from just 12v lamps so they must be of reasonable quality. I called him and said what I wanted. I.e. bright but cosy and not white and horrible. He recommended and I bought.

No complaints at all and happy to pay the 20% more for quality / service.
 
northcave said:
+1 I had that debate about trying to find the same quality but cheaper on ebay but decide that this guy makes his reputation from just 12v lamps so they must be of reasonable quality. I called him and said what I wanted. I.e. bright but cosy and not white and horrible. He recommended and I bought.

No complaints at all and happy to pay the 20% more for quality / service.
Click to expand...

Mr Boatlamps is also a forumite here, and a jolly helpful one too. I like to give my trade to nice people.
 
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