Bilge/engine room light bulbs

[Bay Retriever]

Wondering what’s the trick to replacing the light bulbs in the engine room and bilge. ( And where to get them).

I’ve attached a pic of the bulb, which I was unsure/unable to remove the other day.


Many thanks in advance.

T MacDonnell
Bay Retriever
2004 Mainship 400

 

[garmstro55]

Tmac, that's not the original bulb, it looks like an LED. Just pull straight out, it has two pins that slide into the socket. I replaced all the original bulbs in my engine room with LED's. Much brighter now!

 

[rgano]

That's a "festoon" arranged LED often used for anchor lights. I have that same style light fixture in my engine compartment, and I use that festoon LED. Works well.

 

[wkearney99]

If the label in there is accurate that would be an E27 socket, with the lamp rated to handle up to a 75w incandescent bulb. E27 is the european version of a regular US screw-in style bulb. How big is the light assembly? And how large is that socket? It's hard to tell from the picture.

Bear in mind, what labels say vs what a previous owner might have done to the housing... could be different.

https://www.earthled.com/blogs/led-...hat-is-the-difference-between-e26-e27-and-a19

If that's what it is then you'd twist the element counter-clockwise like a regular lightbulb to remove it from the socket.

 

[AlaskaProf]

Wondering what’s the trick to replacing the light bulbs in the engine room and bilge. ( And where to get them).

I’ve attached a pic of the bulb, which I was unsure/unable to remove the other day.
View attachment 109613

Many thanks in advance.

T MacDonnell
Bay Retriever
2004 Mainship 400

If the label in there is accurate that would be an E27 socket, with the lamp rated to handle up to a 75w incandescent bulb.

That is an LED; looks like a replacement for a G-4 or maybe G-8 halogen. Perhaps the socket has been replaced, or includes an adaptor. Should be available at your nearest Batteries + Bulbs (where I got mine), but they are supposed to last for years, even in continuous use; one wonders what caused failure.


How to remove? Grip firmly and pull. because bulb doesn't get hot, no need to worry about oily fingerprints causing bulb to break, like a halogen.

 

[Scottwb96]

Looks like its a screw out type. Label on the light says E-27. Also, looks to be an AC bulb, 220v... SHOULD just unscrew...

 

[rgano]

Looks like its a screw out type. Label on the light says E-27. Also, looks to be an AC bulb, 220v... SHOULD just unscrew...

I am reasonably certain that is a 12-volt unit, but OP can tell us for sure. I have the same unit.

 

[Scottwb96]

Not sure where you're getting"festoon" style. May need to blow up the pic a bit more, that's DEF a plug/screw in type. Not one that resembles a glass fuse style...
Also, the label clearly says 220v E27 on there, and the wiring LOOKS to be original, it's the old cloth wrapped style...

 

[rgano]

Not sure where you're getting"festoon" style. May need to blow up the pic a bit more, that's DEF a plug/screw in type. Not one that resembles a glass fuse style...
Also, the label clearly says 220v E27 on there, and the wiring LOOKS to be original, it's the old cloth wrapped style...

Blew it up - festoon LEDs IMHO. Voltage may well be 120, but this would not be the first such fixture changed to 12 VDC. Need Op to weigh in.

 

[Scottwb96]

lol... Are we looking at the same pic??? This is a "festoon" style bulb (see pic)... NOT what is pictured from OP... And yes, somewhere along the way, someone could've changed the plug, but, again the label clearly states 220v and that wire is def original. I am guessing if your going to re-terminate from 220v to 12v you would change the plug/wire/termination point all while doing that.

lol, now I really want OP to chime in and let us know what he's got going on!!!

 

[wkearney99]

Voltage may well be 120, but this would not be the first such fixture changed to 12 VDC.

That was my point as well.

Bear in mind, what labels say vs what a previous owner might have done to the housing... could be different.

Engine room lighting is one place where any number of things might have been done.

Like fluorescent tube fixtures. New LED tubes might work with a ballast, might require bypassing an existing ballast or someone could just re-wire the voltage source and use DC tubes instead (and also rewire to bypass ballast).

Hard to know without a little more info/troubleshooting.

 

[jgwinks]

Before looking for a new bulb, make sure to you have power on the contacts. LED's are supposed to last 100,000 hours, so unless it's damaged it's not likely burned out. Unless it's the cheap eBay Chinese version, those aren't much good. If it's a quality bulb, it should be good. All LED's are DC powered, so no way it's 220 V AC as labelled. (The new LED bulbs you can get for household use have a power converter inside. That's why they get hot, and are not as efficient as they would be in a DC system).

 

[wkearney99]

All LED's are DC powered, so no way it's 220 V AC as labelled. (The new LED bulbs you can get for household use have a power converter inside. That's why they get hot, and are not as efficient as they would be in a DC system).

Many LED elements are DC-based, this is true. But it is incorrect to state that ALL are DC powered. There are plenty of AC LEDs. Whether most folks will see them, or know this... well...

Many of the DC ones toward the inexpensive end of the market tend to have cheap DC-DC power supplies in them. These tend to make a lot of RF noise, so much so that the Coast Guard has issued warnings about problems with them disrupting your VHF performance.

Same thing for ones with cheap internal power supplies that aren't designed to handle the fluctuating DC voltages found in most vehicles/boats. 12vdc only LEDs will suffer a much shorter lifespan if powered from the 11-14vdc ranges typically seen in boats.

How do you know what you've got? Well, unless you're well versed in circuitry and willing to disassemble the elements... you can't readily tell just by looking. That and there's not a lot of regulations requiring proper labeling. So it's a bit of a crapshoot.

I've bought the LEDs installed on our boat from marinebeam, and have been pleased with the results. YMMV, of course.

 

[garmstro55]

I have the same boat as Tmac with the exact same fixture as shown. I have recently replaced the Xenon bulbs that came from the manufacturer in this exact fixture with LED's.

It is not a screw in bulb, not a festoon and I seriously doubt it is AC powered. Would not make much sense to have to run the generator or be on shore power to have engine room lights.

If you zoom in you can see the pins. It's a G4 12V LED bulb with 2 pins and you pull it straight out, similar to this one.

The socket is tight, might take a little effort to pull it out, but I can almost guarantee that's what you have.

 

[RickyD]

I have the same boat as Tmac with the exact same fixture as shown. I have recently replaced the Xenon bulbs that came from the manufacturer in this exact fixture with LED's.

It is not a screw in bulb, not a festoon and I seriously doubt it is AC powered. Would not make much sense to have to run the generator or be on shore power to have engine room lights.

If you zoom in you can see the pins. It's a G4 12V LED bulb with 2 pins and you pull it straight out, similar to this one.

The socket is tight, might take a little effort to pull it out, but I can almost guarantee that's what you have.

I have both AC and DC lights in the engine room as I also have an inverter.

 

[AlaskaProf]

I have the same boat as Tmac with the exact same fixture as shown. I have recently replaced the Xenon bulbs that came from the manufacturer in this exact fixture with LED's.

It is not a screw in bulb, not a festoon and I seriously doubt it is AC powered. Would not make much sense to have to run the generator or be on shore power to have engine room lights.

If you zoom in you can see the pins. It's a G4 12V LED bulb with 2 pins and you pull it straight out, similar to this one.

The socket is tight, might take a little effort to pull it out, but I can almost guarantee that's what you have.

I concur.

 

[skipper724]

My 390 has one light in the bilge and one in the genny room. Recently, they have both started to flash and now both are dim. Have no idea where to look. All wires are neatly tucked in bundles, so I can't figure a bad ground?

 

[Simi 60]

I have both AC and DC lights in the engine room as I also have an inverter.

Exactly - not hard and I consider myself a luddite when it comes to modern conveniences and tech.

 

[wkearney99]

I have both AC and DC lights in the engine room as I also have an inverter.

Likewise, I have two separate sets of engine room lights. DC units in ~5" round grate-covered fixtures. AC units using T8 fluorescent bulbs. Once upon a time having a LOT of engine room light wasn't practical with 12v incandescent bulbs, so it was common to have AC lighting that depended on shore or generator power.

These days, sure, with the much lower power required for MUCH brighter LEDs it's reasonable to think a DC-only solution would work.

 

[wkearney99]

I have the same boat as Tmac with the exact same fixture as shown. I have recently replaced the Xenon bulbs that came from the manufacturer in this exact fixture with LED's.

So they took a lamp assembly labeled for one thing and set it up with another. That helps to know.

 

[Dougcole]

Same boat, and same fixture (as best as I can tell from the pic) here. My ER lights, like all the other lights on my boat, are DC. Odd that the label says 220V, maybe mine say that as well, I've never looked, but I'm 100% certain that they are DC.