The interior lighting on my Passage 42 is very harsh. Planned to replace dome lights with dimmable fixtures, but found out there is no such thing. 1) Has any one ever seen dimmable dome lights? 2) Would a 120 volt household dimmer work? 3) Is there a 12 volt dimmer? Thanks! Bruce GAILFORCE
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120 Volt won't work
The 120 Volt dimmers at home work on transformer action. It requires AC (not DC) I am sure they make dimmable 12 volt fixtures. If not you should be able to by a 12 Volt Potenteometer at Radio Shack. You will probably need to by a High amperage one, but the Sales person should be able to help.
The 120 Volt dimmers at home work on transformer action. It requires AC (not DC) I am sure they make dimmable 12 volt fixtures. If not you should be able to by a 12 Volt Potenteometer at Radio Shack. You will probably need to by a High amperage one, but the Sales person should be able to help.
Yes, there are
There are 12 volt dimmers available, and they are very pricey. Basically, they are high frequency switching converters, and they are well packaged. I believe they are from Europe. Do not use a 120 volt dimmer. This will not work, unless you're looking to see some smoke. I might suggest looking for lower wattage bulbs.
There are 12 volt dimmers available, and they are very pricey. Basically, they are high frequency switching converters, and they are well packaged. I believe they are from Europe. Do not use a 120 volt dimmer. This will not work, unless you're looking to see some smoke. I might suggest looking for lower wattage bulbs.
There're gone
West used to carry a nice 12 volt light with dimmer and we put one on the ceiling above the table on our P42. These are the brass bell-shaped swivel types. Within 4 months the dimmer failed and West had stopped carrying the product. Salesman said manufacturer withdrew the product because of the failure rate. We bought an on/off replacment and put a 5 watt halogen bulb in it. Still a little harsh but not as bad as a 10 or 20 watt bulb.
West used to carry a nice 12 volt light with dimmer and we put one on the ceiling above the table on our P42. These are the brass bell-shaped swivel types. Within 4 months the dimmer failed and West had stopped carrying the product. Salesman said manufacturer withdrew the product because of the failure rate. We bought an on/off replacment and put a 5 watt halogen bulb in it. Still a little harsh but not as bad as a 10 or 20 watt bulb.
another option
Bruce, what we did on our 410 was remove the hologen fixtures themselves and replace them with "reading lamp" type fixtures, which have built-in shades where the light can be directed by swivel. Solved the problem of the harsh lighting, because the real problem is that the light shines in your eyes the way Hunter mounts the stock halogen fixtures.
Bruce, what we did on our 410 was remove the hologen fixtures themselves and replace them with "reading lamp" type fixtures, which have built-in shades where the light can be directed by swivel. Solved the problem of the harsh lighting, because the real problem is that the light shines in your eyes the way Hunter mounts the stock halogen fixtures.
Still another option
For the harsh lighting on my 40.5 I installed 9 watt Alpenglow fluorescent overhead lights with the 'Dual Power' option. On high they put out as much light as a 45-watt household blub at .85 amp and on low about half that and only draws .4 amps. I put one next to the existing galley light and one next to the main cabin light. What a difference but at $98 each there should be. We live aboard so we felt it was important to have quality lighting. The soft glow at low power is great and when we need it, high power gives us plenty of light. The wood frames come in 5 choices, we picked teak. We also changed out 3 of our reading lights with the Alpenglow fluorescent brass reading lights. I bought both 5-watt and a 9-watt blubs to allow for high and low output. Still not a cheap way to go at $79 each plus $6 for the extra 5-watt blub but again we use them all the time. Plus they use so little power when on the hook which is every weekend. Practical Sailor said "Two fluorescent fixtures from Alpenglow are very impressive in both their light output and their quality." I agree, plus they use very low power and have an LED (red) night vision option ($14). They are in Eureka MT at 406-889-3586
For the harsh lighting on my 40.5 I installed 9 watt Alpenglow fluorescent overhead lights with the 'Dual Power' option. On high they put out as much light as a 45-watt household blub at .85 amp and on low about half that and only draws .4 amps. I put one next to the existing galley light and one next to the main cabin light. What a difference but at $98 each there should be. We live aboard so we felt it was important to have quality lighting. The soft glow at low power is great and when we need it, high power gives us plenty of light. The wood frames come in 5 choices, we picked teak. We also changed out 3 of our reading lights with the Alpenglow fluorescent brass reading lights. I bought both 5-watt and a 9-watt blubs to allow for high and low output. Still not a cheap way to go at $79 each plus $6 for the extra 5-watt blub but again we use them all the time. Plus they use so little power when on the hook which is every weekend. Practical Sailor said "Two fluorescent fixtures from Alpenglow are very impressive in both their light output and their quality." I agree, plus they use very low power and have an LED (red) night vision option ($14). They are in Eureka MT at 406-889-3586
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