I posted this question in the more general Catalina Owners forum and thought I'd post it here too. I'm looking for any information regarding alternative types of light bulbs in the stock Catalina 22 fixtures. Specifically LED, Halogen or Xenon. I'm mostly looking at the anchor light and interior cabin lights. Anyone out there done any experimenting with this? What type of bulbs did you use, how efficient are they, and where did you find them? Thanks, Dave
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Randy Kolb
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Dave
Re: Check CD
Yes, I saw that in the handbook. Nice little adapter they have to convert to bi-pin halogen bulbs. I'm wondering if anyone has had any problems with the heat deforming the light fixtures. I have halogen "pucks" in my kitchen under the cabinets and they do produce a lot of heat for 5 watt lights. Randy, have you tried these yourself?
Yes, I saw that in the handbook. Nice little adapter they have to convert to bi-pin halogen bulbs. I'm wondering if anyone has had any problems with the heat deforming the light fixtures. I have halogen "pucks" in my kitchen under the cabinets and they do produce a lot of heat for 5 watt lights. Randy, have you tried these yourself?
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Aldo
LED Anchor Light
Dave: I am actually working on an LED anchor light. To me, this is an important project, because of the time that the anchor light is on. It could be on for 10 hours. I asked about an LED anchor light at the Annapolis Boat Show, and the company that makes the LED light bulbs said that they had worked on it but it wasn't satisfactory yet. I'm sure that they will eventually figure it out. My son gave me 20 Superbright White LEDs for Christmas. I made a replacement "bulb" for my anchor light using 3 of them. The regular bulb for my anchor light is 10 watts, so at 12 volts, that would be .83 Amps or 833 miliamps. The bulb that I made only used 53 milliamps, and it was about 3 times brighter than the original bulb. It was whiter. I still want to make another bulb that uses 4 LEDs instead of 3. The light from 3 was a little too intense, that is, concentrated too much in one spot, a bright spot that appeared to be about 3/8 of an inch high, and 3/4 of an inch wide. I think with 4 spaced with a different pattern, I could get the light a little more dispersed. It would be just as bright, or even brighter. The curent would only go to 71 milliamps, so I'm still less than 1/10 the original power, or only .85 watts, if my quick calculations are correct. I could even reduce the current, but I don't think I will, I like it as white as it is. My only concern is how well it will stand up to lightning. I had an antenna get the tip melted on it last summer, and I think that the LEDs could be a little fragile to that kind of voltage. I'm still going to test it this coming summer. What do you think? Aldo
Dave: I am actually working on an LED anchor light. To me, this is an important project, because of the time that the anchor light is on. It could be on for 10 hours. I asked about an LED anchor light at the Annapolis Boat Show, and the company that makes the LED light bulbs said that they had worked on it but it wasn't satisfactory yet. I'm sure that they will eventually figure it out. My son gave me 20 Superbright White LEDs for Christmas. I made a replacement "bulb" for my anchor light using 3 of them. The regular bulb for my anchor light is 10 watts, so at 12 volts, that would be .83 Amps or 833 miliamps. The bulb that I made only used 53 milliamps, and it was about 3 times brighter than the original bulb. It was whiter. I still want to make another bulb that uses 4 LEDs instead of 3. The light from 3 was a little too intense, that is, concentrated too much in one spot, a bright spot that appeared to be about 3/8 of an inch high, and 3/4 of an inch wide. I think with 4 spaced with a different pattern, I could get the light a little more dispersed. It would be just as bright, or even brighter. The curent would only go to 71 milliamps, so I'm still less than 1/10 the original power, or only .85 watts, if my quick calculations are correct. I could even reduce the current, but I don't think I will, I like it as white as it is. My only concern is how well it will stand up to lightning. I had an antenna get the tip melted on it last summer, and I think that the LEDs could be a little fragile to that kind of voltage. I'm still going to test it this coming summer. What do you think? Aldo
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Dave
Re: LED Anchor Light
That sounds great! Do you need to regulate the voltage at all due to the varying degrees of battery charge. I realize it's always within a volt or two, but isn't the LED brightness and lifespan sensitive to voltage fluxuations? Did you just wire them in parallel straight to the 12 volt source? How does it look on the water? Thanks for the info. That's exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for.
That sounds great! Do you need to regulate the voltage at all due to the varying degrees of battery charge. I realize it's always within a volt or two, but isn't the LED brightness and lifespan sensitive to voltage fluxuations? Did you just wire them in parallel straight to the 12 volt source? How does it look on the water? Thanks for the info. That's exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for.
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Dave
Aldo
Check out the info at this website. The "sales pitch" touches on the subject of voltage variation with LED's and how they came up with a "driver" circuit to compensate. Is this something you've tried?
Check out the info at this website. The "sales pitch" touches on the subject of voltage variation with LED's and how they came up with a "driver" circuit to compensate. Is this something you've tried?
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Aldo
More LED Anchor Light Thoughts
Dave: Thanks for showing me the website. It showed me how other people addressed the LED anchor light problem. You caught me at a busy time of year, so I can't discuss that website it detail. Another thing I want to mention is that I'm not an Electrical Engineer, I'm a Mechanical Engineer. Their design objectives were a little different than mine. I believe that my LED anchor light will be reliable, but I won't be miles offshore with mine. If mine fails, I'll just connect a temporary one that I always carry anyway. Also, if I have to drop the mast to change the anchor light, that's not that big a deal. I've already done it once with the boat in the slip. I haven't tested my anchor light on the water yet, but it is much brighter than the original bulb, and I have checked it from various angles, so I do plan on using it this coming summer. If you could make your own lens, you could make a perfect LED anchor light, but that would take money to build the mold for the lens. LEDs are current devices rather than voltage devices. I really just control the current with resistors. Each LED has it's own resistor, and these are then connected in parrallel to 12 volts. I don't feel that the voltage on my boat varies that much. A fully charged 12 volt battery is 12.7 volts. A 1/2 charged battery is 12.2 volts. I don't let my battery go below 1/2 because it reduces the life of the battery. I use a Size 27 battery, and keep it charged with a solar panel and regulator, unless we are cruising. I purchased my last battery in 1998, and will replace it this year. I think that if the current is kept below the rated level, the LEDs will last about forever. I have some in my garage door opener circuits that have been going continuously for about 10 years. Anyhow, the website that you showed had many LEDs clustered in their "bulbs". I believe that this would use more power than just using 3 or 4. My main design objective was to save battery power. My LED bulb appears to be much brighter than the original bulb, possibly by 3 times. I put my LED bulb into an Aqua Signal 360° Pedestal, Series 25 light. I certainly respect the guys on the website that you showed, but my main objective was low current drain, plus my LED anchor light only cost me about $3 or $4 each to make. There are some special things about my anchor lights that I really don't want to discuss in this forum. I do plan on using some LED lights inside the cabin too. I already have a few pilot lights that are LEDs, and this summer will add an LED compartment light inside the gas tank compartment. It would be good to use them to keep the heat down inside the cabin, plus it would be easy to have combination red or white lights. I doubt that they would be good for reading though. I guess that you can tell that I've thought about this subject a little. Aldo
Dave: Thanks for showing me the website. It showed me how other people addressed the LED anchor light problem. You caught me at a busy time of year, so I can't discuss that website it detail. Another thing I want to mention is that I'm not an Electrical Engineer, I'm a Mechanical Engineer. Their design objectives were a little different than mine. I believe that my LED anchor light will be reliable, but I won't be miles offshore with mine. If mine fails, I'll just connect a temporary one that I always carry anyway. Also, if I have to drop the mast to change the anchor light, that's not that big a deal. I've already done it once with the boat in the slip. I haven't tested my anchor light on the water yet, but it is much brighter than the original bulb, and I have checked it from various angles, so I do plan on using it this coming summer. If you could make your own lens, you could make a perfect LED anchor light, but that would take money to build the mold for the lens. LEDs are current devices rather than voltage devices. I really just control the current with resistors. Each LED has it's own resistor, and these are then connected in parrallel to 12 volts. I don't feel that the voltage on my boat varies that much. A fully charged 12 volt battery is 12.7 volts. A 1/2 charged battery is 12.2 volts. I don't let my battery go below 1/2 because it reduces the life of the battery. I use a Size 27 battery, and keep it charged with a solar panel and regulator, unless we are cruising. I purchased my last battery in 1998, and will replace it this year. I think that if the current is kept below the rated level, the LEDs will last about forever. I have some in my garage door opener circuits that have been going continuously for about 10 years. Anyhow, the website that you showed had many LEDs clustered in their "bulbs". I believe that this would use more power than just using 3 or 4. My main design objective was to save battery power. My LED bulb appears to be much brighter than the original bulb, possibly by 3 times. I put my LED bulb into an Aqua Signal 360° Pedestal, Series 25 light. I certainly respect the guys on the website that you showed, but my main objective was low current drain, plus my LED anchor light only cost me about $3 or $4 each to make. There are some special things about my anchor lights that I really don't want to discuss in this forum. I do plan on using some LED lights inside the cabin too. I already have a few pilot lights that are LEDs, and this summer will add an LED compartment light inside the gas tank compartment. It would be good to use them to keep the heat down inside the cabin, plus it would be easy to have combination red or white lights. I doubt that they would be good for reading though. I guess that you can tell that I've thought about this subject a little. Aldo
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Dick of Sylvan
Read with an LED
Aldo, if your fixed LED's in the cabin aren't sufficient for reading, you can purchase a commercial LED "flashlight" where the LED is placed fairly close to the pages, and they work fine. Or no doubt you could manufacture your own, given your ability. Mine runs off of little C batteries.
Aldo, if your fixed LED's in the cabin aren't sufficient for reading, you can purchase a commercial LED "flashlight" where the LED is placed fairly close to the pages, and they work fine. Or no doubt you could manufacture your own, given your ability. Mine runs off of little C batteries.
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Aldo
Dick: How many and What Color LEDs?
Dick: How many LEDs does your reading light have, and what color light does it put out? Aldo
Dick: How many LEDs does your reading light have, and what color light does it put out? Aldo
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Dick of Sylvan
LED Read
Aldo, its white, a single LED but its held on a clamp about 6 inches from page. Another double LED white on a headlamp works also. Dick
Aldo, its white, a single LED but its held on a clamp about 6 inches from page. Another double LED white on a headlamp works also. Dick
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Aldo
What I am thinking about
Dick: What I have been thinking about is removing the bulb, and installing a little circuit board inside one of the cabin lights, with several white and red LEDs on it. I would then install a little switch onto the housing of the light to either select white or red light. My boys have a habit of going into the cabin and doing their best to destroy my night vision when we are sailing at night. With the red LEDs, I guess this could solve this problem. The white one could address the heat issue. The white LEDs that I have put out light over a very wide area, around 180 degrees, they are really amazing. Aldo
Dick: What I have been thinking about is removing the bulb, and installing a little circuit board inside one of the cabin lights, with several white and red LEDs on it. I would then install a little switch onto the housing of the light to either select white or red light. My boys have a habit of going into the cabin and doing their best to destroy my night vision when we are sailing at night. With the red LEDs, I guess this could solve this problem. The white one could address the heat issue. The white LEDs that I have put out light over a very wide area, around 180 degrees, they are really amazing. Aldo
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Dick of Sylvan
Cabin Light
Aldo: Tell us how it works out. I converted my cabin lights on my 74 C22 from the old incadescent bulbs using the adaptors sold by Catalina Direct, to halogen. Had a little trouble communicating what I wanted over the phone to the new clerk, but it got sorted out and they are less amperage draw than the originals though not near LED's. And the halogen bulbs are kind of expensive compared to incadescent. Dick
Aldo: Tell us how it works out. I converted my cabin lights on my 74 C22 from the old incadescent bulbs using the adaptors sold by Catalina Direct, to halogen. Had a little trouble communicating what I wanted over the phone to the new clerk, but it got sorted out and they are less amperage draw than the originals though not near LED's. And the halogen bulbs are kind of expensive compared to incadescent. Dick
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Randy Kolb
Another option
We have a two tube Coleman battery-operated flourescent camp light ($20) that we keep in our C22. It has a low (1 tube) or high (2 tube) settings. On high it lights up the whole cabin enough to read by. It takes D batteries, lasts up to 11 hours on a set of batteries, and draws no power from the boat battery. Coleman also has a rechargeable lantern ($39) that can be re-charged on household current or 12 volt. Both of these are good options for weekend trips. We also have a Gruman AM/FM radio ($39)that has a built-in wind-up generator. Spin that puppy for about 90 seconds and you get hours of music, and again no battery drain.
We have a two tube Coleman battery-operated flourescent camp light ($20) that we keep in our C22. It has a low (1 tube) or high (2 tube) settings. On high it lights up the whole cabin enough to read by. It takes D batteries, lasts up to 11 hours on a set of batteries, and draws no power from the boat battery. Coleman also has a rechargeable lantern ($39) that can be re-charged on household current or 12 volt. Both of these are good options for weekend trips. We also have a Gruman AM/FM radio ($39)that has a built-in wind-up generator. Spin that puppy for about 90 seconds and you get hours of music, and again no battery drain.
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