Changing Halogen To Led Lights

[Meg]

Hello Forum members,

I know the rascal described changing lights on Trixie to cause less amperage (if that's a word) Is this a simple exercise or do you need to be an expert?

I excitedly might soon need to know how to do several boaty things but as Griff would say I'm saying now't until and if it happens, don't want to put the kybosh on it.

many thanks

[OldBerkshireBoy]

In a lot of cases you can keep the light and just change the bulb/ element. Never know it might already have been done.

[Meg]

Thank you but I think they are halogen, hope to know quite soon.

[ZimbiIV]

If you can change a lamp bulb at home no reason why not on a boat.

If you have any doubts about the right one to get. talk to the crew at Brian Wards they will put on the right track.

paul

[MauriceMynah]

Hmmm, sorry but I have to ask this...

… How many NBN members does it take to change a lightbulb?  (or 'lamp' for the pedants)

[grendel]

MM more than you would imagine...

[BuffaloBill]

All I can say on this subject is buy from someone who knows about them! EG. Brian Wards or Boulters for instance. I bought some off the interweb as they were described as 'marine'. After a few nights they started to flicker and when I took one out it was brown on the circuit board and HOT! In my view it could have caused a fire. I then went to Boulters and bought a whole new set. Cost a little more but never had a problem again. I'll post a photo later of the bulb.

[BuffaloBill]

here are the photo's of those LED's!!

[ranworthbreeze]

17 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

Hmmm, sorry but I have to ask this...

… How many NBN members does it take to change a lightbulb?  (or 'lamp' for the pedants)

Hi John,

It all down to how many get involved in the debate.

Regards

Alan

 

[ranworthbreeze]

13 hours ago, BuffaloBill said:

All I can say on this subject is buy from someone who knows about them! EG. Brian Wards or Boulters for instance. I bought some off the interweb as they were described as 'marine'. After a few nights they started to flicker and when I took one out it was brown on the circuit board and HOT! In my view it could have caused a fire. I then went to Boulters and bought a whole new set. Cost a little more but never had a problem again. I'll post a photo later of the bulb.

Brain Ward's are great, they let me borrow two different wattage inserts to trial to see which would be the best option aboard Ranworth Breeze for our down-lighters. I changed all 19 to the 2.1 watt inserts which replace 20 watt halogen. Tanya & Nick give excellent advice, service and of course our NBN discount.

Regards

Alan

[oldgregg]

1 hour ago, ranworthbreeze said:

 I changed all 19 to the 2.1 watt inserts which replace 20 watt halogen. Tanya & Nick give excellent advice, service and of course our NBN discount.

Yeah - Can't fault them.

And those figures speak for themselves! That's a huge reduction in consumption.

[annv]

Hi Be aware that many cheap LEDs can overheat and catch fire only use accredited one's from reliable sources ie Wards/Bedazzled,  Bedazzel has a good website with information on this. John

[colino]

Changed all my lights last year all good so far

[Jbx5]

Also changed our bulbs last year to LED from Brian Wards with great success and it was an easy job, ours were the 2 pin type.

John

[LondonRascal]

I remember when I i had to change almost 60 bulbs on Independence from Halogen to LED - all without changing the light fittings. It truly is easy, just take out the old bulb - find the highest lumen output LED replacement. I say this, because it is so easy to see the same bulb that might fit a G4 fitting, and one LED may be 3 watts and another 5 watts and both claim to be the same brightness as the old 20 watt Halogen. Lumens on the other hand don't lie, and you will see how they vary. I prefer warmer white LED's too, that better replicate the slightly yellow light of a Halogen. 

I personally have not bought 'marine' LED's or fitments. So often is the case that these are overpriced for what they are, and many of the new fitments which have non-replaceable LED panels in them still will downright fail or dim over time. Take them apart and the quality inside says it all.

However I have been told by those in the trade that the big difference between marine LED fitments and bulbs is the fact they will have a higher tolerance to DC voltage variances. This means at rest your boat might only be sending 12v (maybe even less if batteries are tired) to the lights. But, start up the boat, or plug in shore power and turn on your battery charger and these lights may be getting over 14 volts of power. Cheap as chips specials of Ebay which are designed for a contestant supply voltage will suffer and fail prematurely.

Therefore the bulbs I buy have a large voltage range, I prefer too also get bulbs that are sealed in silicone which stops any moisture getting into the bulbs onboard chips. It takes some time to look into, as there are truly so many suppliers out there. Despite all this and LED's being low energy, high output devices, they will fail at some point. You only have to see how many street lamps have begun to fail with 'disco effect' flickering, other times individual LED's on a larger board will die, leaving some working but now under more load which will hasten their own demise. I therefore see LED's as long lasting, low energy but replaceable products.

[Meg]

Thank you all very much for the posts. I will return if I need specific information. So pleased to have all this expertise at my fingertips.

[Siddy]

I'm on a personnal mission with H o m e Bargains as it's the only place that sell a ses r63 spot that fits our kitchen lights 6 off 6watts replaced 40watt so saving 190watt.

A few year back I got a couple on my way to work and fit at night and one failed so returned it the following day to have the manager refuse to swap it as it's a bulb. Wrong it's an electronic item so has 12 months cover. So i said don't worry I come back in the morning then rang head office and had a word and there wasn't a smile the following morning but I got a replacement and have done since when they fail.

Before you start i'm not a tight Yorky but how many get thrown away within 12 months by people not knowing this.