12V LED Rope Lighting

Status
Not open for further replies.
Neil McDonald

Neil McDonald

.
Aug 19, 2004
239
Hunter 35 Vancouver, BC
Just back from a 46 foot Bavaria bareboat charter in BVI. I am sure that you will all wish to share the pain :) The boat was fitted a white 12V LED clear rope lighting string - around 6-8 feet long - attached to the underside of the main bimini support frame. It produced excellent ambient lighting at night. Does anyone know of a good source for this lighting? I don't plan on paying West Marine $40 a foot for it!
 
Phil Herring

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,924
- - Bainbridge Island
How about right here :)

http://shop.sailboatowners.com/detail.htm?fno=400&group=1114 About $34/ft _less_ than the price you found...
 
LJR

LJR

.
Jun 22, 2004
80
Macgregor 26S Dallas, TX
You know that troubled me too!

Around here, in Dallas, horse drawn carriages are available for hire to ride through neighborhoods and see the Christmas lights. The Carriages are heavily decorated and I asked our driver about the same thing. She said she didn't have 12 volt lights and drew back a curtain to reveal a couple of 12 volt batteries and an inexpensive inverter. She had simply bought the "garden variety" inexpensive household lights and then run a 300 watt inverter. She recharges her batteries every night and between the two that she had onboard, can run a fair compliment of lights from around 5:00 PM to 10:30 PM when they close down. That has become my regimine on the boat since talking to a "cowgirl". You can decorate quite nicely for a lot less using this method.
 
Don S/V ILLusion

Don S/V ILLusion

.
Sep 25, 2008
7,596
Alden 50 Sarasota, Florida
Phil

are those 12V lights? Didn't see it specifically listed. We use the same (110VAC) light rope but run it off the inverter when off the dock. It is spiral wrapped around the dodger bow and illuminates the whole cockpit
 
Stillraining

Stillraining

.
Dec 8, 2007
478
Irwin 41 CC Ketch LaConner WA
if your not picky

about the exact length then it's even cheaper already made up. I put a 20' string around the back or our bimini for $44.00 two years ago.
 
B

Benny

Yeah Phil I think those are 120V as they are UL

listed. What I find interesting is the power consumption of the LED which is .04 amp/hour per foot. That means that for a 6 foot rope the draw at 120V would be .24 amp/hour and for 12V it would only be 2.4 amp/hour. If ran through an inverter, with inneficiency and all, the draw would be approximately 2.75 amp/hour or you could run them 5 hours for under 14 amps. Have'nt measured what my incandescent rope lights draw to compare. I have only been using them at the dock but if the draw is not to much I may start using them at anchor to.
 
Stillraining

Stillraining

.
Dec 8, 2007
478
Irwin 41 CC Ketch LaConner WA
I ran a test

to see how long it would take to run down a spare fully charged group 27 starting battery. It took so long I actually messed up on my log. But we were crusing for 10 days in the Gulf Islands and I only had to charge the battery once. We used the lights for 2 to 3 hours each night.
 
sand sailor

sand sailor

.
Sep 19, 2006
643
SCHOCK santana27' lake pleasant,az
i found some rope led's at target but

they were 12volt ac??? with a transformer
 
A

Alex

12 AC

If it is cheap enough just give it a try. Just cut the wire and use 12V DC. If it won't lit just reverse the wire. LED will not burn out if the polarity is reversed. It is a diode and will block reverse current. The 12VAC rope light may have a rectifier built into it.
 
K

KayakDan

Another Source

Here's another source for LED rope in colors. I had good dealings with this company. I installed 2 yellow LED "party light" strips on the cabin roof of my boat. I find the white ones a bit harsh for some applications,buth the new "soft white" color is now available,and I will be adding them later. And I will be sharing your pain-off to BVI in March-39' Beneteau;D
 
Dave Groshong

Dave Groshong

SBO Staff
Staff member
Jan 25, 2007
1,867
Catalina 22 Seattle
We've got it right here

On this site: http://shop.sailboatowners.com/detail.htm?fno=400&group=1114&cat=2203 Dave Groshong Customer Service SailboatOwners.com
 
J

John24107

.
Feb 25, 2007
191
- - Sandusky, Ohio
Home Depot

I bought it at Home Depot. They have it in varying lengths from 2ft to 18ft --at least I think the longest was 18ft. I have about 30 feet of lights and I'm sure they didn't cost more than $40 dollars for all 30 feet of them. They can be connected to one another for whatever length you want up to a maximum stated on the packaging. I have them as ambient lighting in my C250 cabin. I ran them behind some molding along a ledge that surrounds the boat. Looks great. They are AC and I only use them while attached to shore power but I'm going to try to connect them to 12VDC to see what happens. I'll take a short section cuz it's only a few dollars, remove the transfomer and directly connect the leads as Alex described. If it works, I might try to rig some kind of switch for the ones on the boat. AC in the slip, DC underway.
 
Don S/V ILLusion

Don S/V ILLusion

.
Sep 25, 2008
7,596
Alden 50 Sarasota, Florida
Sailboatowners.com, Dave, Phil, et al.

Can one of you guys verify if the rope lights advertized in the chandlery on this site are 12VDC or 110VAC? The descrition makes no mention...
 
sea_casper

sea_casper

.
Jun 28, 2005
440
Hunter H33 2004 Mumford Cove,CT & Block Island
Corrosion isssue

"They [the socketed LEDs] inappropriately mix copper electrical wiring with the aluminum leads that come out of the LEDs themselves ... They rust from the inside out, and stop working. Quite visible. Problem apparent after a single season." Full article at link,discusses Holiday Lighting LED strands, should be same issue for "ropes". Marine enviornment will be worse.
 
Phil Herring

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,924
- - Bainbridge Island
Rope lights here are 12v

We can get AC if needed. I'll add that to the product description. Sorry for the confusion! ph.
 
sand sailor

sand sailor

.
Sep 19, 2006
643
SCHOCK santana27' lake pleasant,az
hey phil

do they come in other colors??? i'm truley impressed with your response to our needs phil every time we need something you seem to come up with it .i've searched your chandlery on several occasions and cant seem to find what i'm looking for so i ask the forum and you usually come up with it. kudos to you phil and keep up the good work
 
Phil Herring

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,924
- - Bainbridge Island
Colors

Thanks sand sailor... Amber and white are in stock, we can probably special order blue and red (we'll have to check on minimums and such). ph.
 
sand sailor

sand sailor

.
Sep 19, 2006
643
SCHOCK santana27' lake pleasant,az
i think it would look cool

in the rub rail in red and green.just a thought:D
 
sand sailor

sand sailor

.
Sep 19, 2006
643
SCHOCK santana27' lake pleasant,az
i think it would look cool

in the rub rail in red and green.just a thought:D
 
J

John

rope lite

I found rope lites a Cabelas out door on the net. I think they are better then the HD lights. You can cut them to size and seal them from the salt air.I ran two sets in my cabin and one string on the bimini.They work very good. I would use the 12volt and invert to 110 at the dock. John
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top Bottom