New Leds

We just replaced all our LEDs (most) with these http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/boat-rv-bi-pin/1hp-led-jc-bulb-g4-base-270-degree/483/1618/ just for future reference with anybody with a Nordy. The original halegons drew 60 AMPs when they were all on, after this I believe it's now 15 amps. Big difference.

Oliver... I replace a bilge bulb with an LED, and the prongs were "skinnier" than the original bulb's prongs - my concern is vibrating out or intermittent contact.. did your LED's prongs fit as tight as the bulbs they replaced?

Thanks,

Earl34Mainship said:

Oliver... I replace a bilge bulb with an LED, and the prongs were "skinnier" than the original bulb's prongs - my concern is vibrating out or intermittent contact.. did your LED's prongs fit as tight as the bulbs they replaced? Thanks,

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Yep they went in snug, definitely not popping out.

Thanks Oliver.. i'll use your web site.. just my bilge lights pull 10amps... will post the difference once I replace...

Tks,

Earl34Mainship said:

Thanks Oliver.. i'll use your web site.. just my bilge lights pull 10amps... will post the difference once I replace... Tks,

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Just make sure your sockets are the appropriate for the bulb pins. If your not sure about your socket they sell ones so you could replace them with the socket you want.

That's an interesting bulb. Is it highly directional (spot beam) or is it as diffuse as the original Halogens?

Also, the bulb in the link you provided is 12V. I thought the N47 was a 24V boat? Or is it 12V?

My sockets are G4 (4 mm between pins) and these bulbs are G4...a match. The OEM halogen bulbs are 10w and I assume it's 10w because of the heat generated by a 10w halogen bulb. With LEDs there's much less heat and I'd prefer more light. I don't see a higher watt output "bullet shaped" bulb. These bulbs are advertised at 10-15w... do you notice more light or about the same light comparing the two?

Earl34Mainship said:

My sockets are G4 (4 mm between pins) and these bulbs are G4...a match. The OEM halogen bulbs are 10w and I assume it's 10w because of the heat generated by a 10w halogen bulb. With LEDs there's much less heat and I'd prefer more light. I don't see a higher watt output "bullet shaped" bulb. These bulbs are advertised at 10-15w... do you notice more light or about the same light comparing the two?

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No there definitely not brighter, but since the lights in our boat are so close together it didn't matter.

twistedtree said:

That's an interesting bulb. Is it highly directional (spot beam) or is it as diffuse as the original Halogens? Also, the bulb in the link you provided is 12V. I thought the N47 was a 24V boat? Or is it 12V?

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It diffuses the light, although there not as bright as the halogens. Some 47's were ordered with 12 volt and others 24 volt ours happens to be 12 volt which I like because its more common for everything.

Thanks... my lights were "spec-ed" @ 10w of light - not enough for old eyes, and if I wanted to, I could change the fixtures with ones that used the higher w output round LEDs... not real high on the to-do list, but swapping out bulbs in the meantime would save the amp draw...

Thanks O,

We found these at Lowe's for G4 replacement at less than $10. It's the equivalent to a 20 watt bulb (190 Lumens). They also had replacements for 10 watt G4s. This site gives some pretty good performance values when changing from incandescent to LEDs

http://www.lightingfacts.com/Downloads/Performance_Scale.pdf

Earl34Mainship said:

Thanks... my lights were "spec-ed" @ 10w of light - not enough for old eyes, and if I wanted to, I could change the fixtures with ones that used the higher w output round LEDs... not real high on the to-do list, but swapping out bulbs in the meantime would save the amp draw...

Thanks O,

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Earl,

I think you want to look at the lumens specs vs. wattage specs. The lumens are the measure of light, the wattage is the measure of power consumed. I have 20W dimmable LEDs in my kitchen recessed lamps that are the same color tone, illumination pattern and brightness of the 90W halogen bulbs they replaced. They put out 1035 lumens in a warm white 3000K light. Same light, very little heat and lower consumption.

I'm not suggesting these for boat use, but as a comparison to halogen. They consume up to 78% less power.

90 Watt Equivalent Soft White Dimmable Performance LED PAR38

Thanks Larry & Lena... can't hurt to try one of these and compare the difference in light - OEM and these side by side...

Roger Al... the comparison charts I've been seeing use wattage as a measure of the bulb's brightness output... comparing for example a 60w light bulb with a comparable LED bulb.. the restriction is the size of the recessed light reflector in the fixture in the cornice above the windows - they are only the size of the OEM G4 halogen bulb... the salon light fixtures are larger and they may accommodate a bigger LED bulb and emit more light than the OEM 20w..

thanks Al,

We just replaced all our 12 volt dome lights in our ER. Here are the pics:

They look good. What brand, part #?

Larry M said:

They look good. What brand, part #?

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They are Superbrightleds brand, here's the link: http://www.superbrightleds.com/more...-intensity-dual-contact-45-smd-led-tower/906/

Thanks.

I just bought 20 of those for .49 each. Considering they are pennies to make, $25 each definitely is paying for somebody's pension.

Xsbank said:

I just bought 20 of those for .49 each. Considering they are pennies to make, $25 each definitely is paying for somebody's pension.

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Hmmm.... Tell me how long yours last, just curious.

Don't know, yet. Haven't put 'em in yet, but as they all come out of the same factories in the same (Asian) countries, why not buy them at the source? If they were made in US or Canadian factories, I would be more willing to pay higher prices, but as they are not, no way.
Besides, I'll bet Superbright is a drop shipper, has minimal employees and buys all its stock from Asia. They must be clever businessmen to get so many of us to buy those items at such a high price with only a website, selling the products higher than a brick-and-mortar marine store; why do you think my LEDs will be any shorter-lived than yours? Is it because I spent $10 for my 20 and you spent $500? I sincerely hope your bulbs do last longer than mine because you'll be out $25 for a failure and I'll be out $.49.

Xsbank said:

Don't know, yet. Haven't put 'em in yet, but as they all come out of the same factories in the same (Asian) countries, why not buy them at the source? If they were made in US or Canadian factories, I would be more willing to pay higher prices, but as they are not, no way. Besides, I'll bet Superbright is a drop shipper, has minimal employees and buys all its stock from Asia. They must be clever businessmen to get so many of us to buy those items at such a high price with only a website, selling the products higher than a brick-and-mortar marine store; why do you think my LEDs will be any shorter-lived than yours? Is it because I spent $10 for my 20 and you spent $500? I sincerely hope your bulbs do last longer than mine because you'll be out $25 for a failure and I'll be out $.49.

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Oh, I'm just wondering, wasn't insulting you or anything. But believe it or not some Chinese factories have quality control. also do you have a link where you got them?

Xsbank said:

Don't know, yet. Haven't put 'em in yet, but as they all come out of the same factories in the same (Asian) countries, why not buy them at the source? If they were made in US or Canadian factories, I would be more willing to pay higher prices, but as they are not, no way. Besides, I'll bet Superbright is a drop shipper, has minimal employees and buys all its stock from Asia. They must be clever businessmen to get so many of us to buy those items at such a high price with only a website, selling the products higher than a brick-and-mortar marine store; why do you think my LEDs will be any shorter-lived than yours? Is it because I spent $10 for my 20 and you spent $500? I sincerely hope your bulbs do last longer than mine because you'll be out $25 for a failure and I'll be out $.49.

Click to expand...

Oh, I'm just wondering, wasn't insulting you or anything. How do you know they get them from the same factories, do you work for them? But believe it or not some Chinese factories have quality control. Also do you have a link where you got them?

Xsbank said:

I just bought 20 of those for .49 each. Considering they are pennies to make, $25 each definitely is paying for somebody's pension.

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Where did you get them?

Sorry, no offence taken or intended!

I remember paying $3300 for a desktop computer that had 2 floppy drives and no hard drive, in 1985. Or CD players, cell phones, LED TVs... I see LEDs exactly the same way, the products are in the "windfall" stage of development and subsequently are changing and evolving. The LEDs I got for my garden lights are just about shot now, after about 3 years, and they were advertised to go 50,000 hours which is about 5.7 years of use. Mine have done about a fifth of that. I expect that the $25 LEDs are priced like that to allow for returns and failures, which I think will be prodigious. I bought some tail-light bulbs for my old Porsche and they didn't last 6 months.

I think that most sellers expect failures but they think (like I do) that they are not worth the buyer's time to return them to an online seller, so they just toss 'em.

eBay (hope I don't get into trouble for mentioning that!). Good luck!

From my research....not all LED lights are created equal...depends on how the voltage is regulated...supposedly the ones that actually last do cost quite a bit more.

....the real discussion is ....for easy to access fixtures is the price difference worth it?????...in places like top of the mast anchor lights...maybe the cost difference of $24 if the bulb actually lasts 50,000 hrs may be worth the burden of changing out cheaper ones that only last the year or so.

LED lighting has dramatically cut our DC power consumption at anchor. With replacement bulbs for almost all incandescent bulbs at a reasonable price, it is an easy inexpensive conversion. Some are better than others. Some will dim.

I'm sure you'll like them, N4712. I bought 30 element LEDs like that for the ER and am very pleased with the new current draw and the lighting. Wish I did it sooner.

Did I miss the source for the $.49 LEDs?

Bob

Someone said not all LED's are created equally. If you want to educate yourself about LED's read this:

http://ep.yimg.com/ty/cdn/yhst-54258538930337/IdiotsGuide.pdf

Ron