LED bulbs

Ken Cross · Feb 7, 2015

It's pretty easy:
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/cu/detail-led.php?54143/LED Conversion Finder
You are right that it will save your battery.
Ken

arf145 · Feb 8, 2015

I've had very good luck with Marine Beam LEDs (www.marinebeam.com)--replaced all our interior lights with their replacement "bulbs". I've found their lights to be high quality, a nice color, and no interference with other electronics.

uncledom · Feb 8, 2015

arf145 said:
I've had very good luck with Marine Beam LEDs (www.marinebeam.com)--replaced all our interior lights with their replacement "bulbs". I've found their lights to be high quality, a nice color, and no interference with other electronics.

Don't want to upset Phil, I buy here when I can, but I really like the marine beam products.

CHM · Feb 8, 2015

+1 on Marinebeam

Terry Cox · Feb 8, 2015

Replaced all of our exterior and interior incandescent bulbs with LEDs from Marinebeam. Very pleased with the quality, brightness and much lower power consumption.

ggrizzard · Feb 8, 2015

I think the SBO store here sells Marinebeam bulbs.

Brian S · Feb 8, 2015

I used one of these: http://store.marinebeam.com/red-white-switchable-led-for-dome-lights/ for the bayonet style bulb in my single dome light. It's a small boat, and having the red/white combo is nice. I will say the white portion lights up the cabin as bright as sitting on the sofa in the living room at home.

Ward H · Apr 25, 2015

Brian,
Did your dome light have the 1157 bulb in it with dim/bright switch? If so, how does it work with the marine beam red/white LED replacement?
My dome lights all have the 1157 bulb and I am considering the same LED replacement you posted to.

Brian S · Apr 25, 2015

Ward, mine is a very simple dome light, with a push in on/off switch on the side. It used a non-indexed bayonet style incandescent bulb, with no dimmer or dimmer switch on it.

So using that Marine Beam bulb for simple on/off is no big deal. I usually keep the fixture switch on, and turn it on and off at the panel. If it's on when I go to bed, then I reach up and hit the switch on the fixture, rather than crawl out of the v-berth to get to the panel. Plus, if I wake up in the middle of the night I can reach up to switch on as needed.

I originally thought the red/white switching bulb was too complicated and annoying, so I bought a red LED bayonet style bulb. Nice for the red, but not bright enough to live with, so was still using white battery lights. Then I heard about someone having great luck with the red/white, so I did what I shoulda done, I bought that bulb. I've been extremely happy with it. I like to leave the red on while hanging out in the cockpit at dusk/dark, makes it seem warm and inviting down below, and then I switch the white on when I actually need to find something.

KZW · Apr 25, 2015

Has anyone used any of these?

http://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-g4-led-back-pin.html

http://www.g4leds.com/g4-led/g4-led-15-pcs-5050-leds-back-pin.html

https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-bi-pin/filter/Base_Type,G4,1,3377:

Ward H · Apr 25, 2015

Thanks Brian,
All four of my cabin lights have 2 position switches for dim, bright and off. Those lights should still work.
I'll go ahead and give them a try.

Brian D · Apr 25, 2015

Is it just me, or is there a better selection of 42mm bulbs over 31mm bulbs?

woodster · Apr 26, 2015

Brian D said:
Is it just me, or is there a better selection of 42mm bulbs over 31mm bulbs?

no its not you i had the same thing going on when hunting leds for my perko lights ....i did finally find some from a place called boaterbits that work great ..... still a little tight in the holder of the fixture and also pricey but it was the best i could find they have 8 leds in the bulb and also have colored ones for red and green which is brighter than just white in the colored light lens i have 4 white ...3 on the mast and 1 on the stearn and a red and green on the bow for a total of 6 ....two in the anchor light fixture perko it was a combination steaming anchor light that i wired for anchor only and 1 in the steaming light at the spreaders......

Chief RA · Apr 26, 2015

Try superbrightleds.com for good prices. Chief

KZW · Apr 27, 2015

sailnoproblem said:
Just a quick note, I checked the conversion chart and got the LED number. The stores price is $17.99 per bulb. I checked and bought on Amazon. A box of 10 was $35.00, they seem to be high quality, I replaced all 6 and have 4 spares.
I just could not pass on the price. I guess time will tell if they really are good quality.

Please post the URL of the item at Amazon!!!!

arf145 · Apr 27, 2015

sailnoproblem said:
Just a quick note, I checked the conversion chart and got the LED number. The stores price is $17.99 per bulb. I checked and bought on Amazon. A box of 10 was $35.00, they seem to be high quality, I replaced all 6 and have 4 spares.
I just could not pass on the price. I guess time will tell if they really are good quality.

The thing about LEDs is that they aren't really "bulbs"--they're one or more LEDs and some electronics. You want good LEDs and you definitely want good electronics and good packaging so the voltage to the LEDs is controlled nicely, things don't overheat, and so you aren't emitting a bunch of radio interference. It's unlikely you've got the good electronics at that price.