LED Light - At Home Depot
- Thread starter Bob Poff
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Autozone LED lights for cars. I bought a license plate light that has 12 LEDs arranged on a plastic chrome mount. I guess that it is waterproof. I bought a toggle switch also and mounted it over my chart table. It gives plenty enough light to read a chart. It sounds tacky but actually looks pretty good. I might use another over my forward berth. The almost flush mounting is a plus in tight places. Another place might be in the cockpit lockers. It is always a pain holding a flashlight trying to look for something.
Voltage regulation
For those of you who are interested there are 12 solid state voltage regulators available for pennies at DigiKey. the shipping will kill the cost but they have LOTS of electrical stuff at good prices.
they are about 8mm x 8mm and 3mm thick so they can be tucked in with the wiring harness for the light.
LEDs will run on a wide range of voltages. I find the changing light levels they produce due to the DC voltage fluctuations on a boat annoying though. A voltage regulator will prevent that as long as the input voltage stays above the regulators design output.
the three legs on them attach to the ground, boat power, and device power.
There are also the battery powered puck lights with built in sticky back and switch which work great for lockers and such. yea you have batteries to replace but at 0.035 amps you don't replace them more than once a season.
For those of you who are interested there are 12 solid state voltage regulators available for pennies at DigiKey. the shipping will kill the cost but they have LOTS of electrical stuff at good prices.
they are about 8mm x 8mm and 3mm thick so they can be tucked in with the wiring harness for the light.
LEDs will run on a wide range of voltages. I find the changing light levels they produce due to the DC voltage fluctuations on a boat annoying though. A voltage regulator will prevent that as long as the input voltage stays above the regulators design output.
the three legs on them attach to the ground, boat power, and device power.
There are also the battery powered puck lights with built in sticky back and switch which work great for lockers and such. yea you have batteries to replace but at 0.035 amps you don't replace them more than once a season.
What is the drain on a battery with 12 led's compared
Frank
to 2 12" fluorescent bulbs?
Frank
Last edited:
fluorescent
I cannot see any change in amps when I switch on my 12" fluorescents. I can reliably read to 0.25 amp so it is down below 0.1 amp.
I cannot see any change in amps when I switch on my 12" fluorescents. I can reliably read to 0.25 amp so it is down below 0.1 amp.
There were 2 fixtures on the boat when I got it. I assume they are original equipment. They do light up the cabin nicely, but I have always been concerned about the draw, so I tend to be a little stingy on a 4 day weekend.
Just noted the other day on another post: these are available at Ace Hardware, get the warm white, not cool white.
I just picked up a 3 pack and took one apart. There is a steel backing plate but I don't see this as a problem. The 1980 vintage lights in my boat have steel bulb sockets and have held up fine.
This is a great deal. More LED's per buck than I got in little replacement bulb units at the marine store plus a 12 VAC wall wart thrown in. I'm not sure what I'll do with an 12 volts AC but, you never know. Nice little connector block to throw in my elephant's graveyard as well.
I plan to disassemble the units and install the LED boards in my existing light fixtures. I put LED boards in them last year leaving one of the regular bulbs for when I wanted more light. The LED's weren't quite bright enough to be useful and reading was marginal with both LED's and bulbs on. Adding these in should work out just fine. The steel backing plate pull right off leaving the rubber gasket to insulate the circuit board from the aluminum frame in my fixtures.
These look like they would be a great and inexpensive choice for installing just as they come out of the box.
Oh yes. They work just fine connected directly to a 12 V battery. Perhaps a hair less bright but only by direct comparison. They are also polarity insensitive.
Same stunt, new technology
We did this same Home Depot thing with halogen lights years ago, great idea. Back then they had what they called "replacement" packs -- the lamps without the wort. Great price, wired right into the house bank system at 12V. Hope you find a use for the block, Roger.
We did this same Home Depot thing with halogen lights years ago, great idea. Back then they had what they called "replacement" packs -- the lamps without the wort. Great price, wired right into the house bank system at 12V. Hope you find a use for the block, Roger.
Stuff
Roger, do you still have the stock number for the lights?
I didn't write it down.
Bill, up the thread I posted a dimmer schematic using a 7809 and a pot.
Guys, eliminate the pot and you have what Bill is talking about.
Use a 7812 instead of the 7809 if you do that.
I think they're stiill in the ever decreasing parts stock at Radio Shack.
Sorry to take to long to respond.
Roger, do you still have the stock number for the lights?
I didn't write it down.
Bill, up the thread I posted a dimmer schematic using a 7809 and a pot.
Guys, eliminate the pot and you have what Bill is talking about.
Use a 7812 instead of the 7809 if you do that.
I think they're stiill in the ever decreasing parts stock at Radio Shack.
Sorry to take to long to respond.
Hampton Bay Transitional Collection
There is a number in the upper right corner of the package: 980 984
The number on the bar code is:
08339 67208
I was just in the marine store an the LED bayonet bulb replacement fixtures I put in my cabin lights last year go for 3 buck an LED. These are only $1.20 an LED plus you get housings and all that other stuff. What a deal!
It's actually about how many LED's you get but the quality of the LED's. The Sensibulb for instance only uses two LED emitters yet has far more output than many bulbs with 10+ cheaper LED's. Also without constant current control and regulated temperature control there is no guarantee of longevity. If there was a wall wort providing a constant 12v the bulbs would probably last quite a while but at 14+ volts how long..??? Heat is the number one killer of LED's..
The bulb on the left, with only two LED's, is brighter than the one next to it with 10. The quality of the LED is what you are buying not necessarily how many.
We'll see. The LED's in the ANCOR bayonet units I bought last year look pretty much identical to the ones in the Home Depot. The later come mounted on a circuit board that converts the 12 VAC to 12 VDC so there is probably some current limiting in there. I seldom have my cabin lights on when the engine is running so they won't see much of the higher voltages. I'll let you know when I have some burn outs. Don't go away
Here is what my retrofit looks like:
http://home.roadrunner.com/~rlma/09Winter.htm#CabinLight
I'll always have the incandescent as back up if the LED's all go dark so it isn't a critical installation. I love a bargin.
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