26 replies to this topic

[islandplanet]

The admiral has decreed we need better overhead area lighting for the main salon of Exit Strategy. Is Alpenglow still regarded as a good choice? Any other brands we should be looking at? She's particular about lighting so looking for the best we can find. Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[VALIS]

I have heard good things about the new Alpinglow LED fixtures. I have the old fluorescent ones and like them a lot. I may upgrade them to LED, which Alpinglow will do as a retrofit..

[panther]

got the old ones too. love em. led next up.

[shanedennis]

I replaced all my cabin lighting with LED bulbs and fixtures this year. The whole family was happy with the results.

1. Replaced all brass dome fixtures with new fixtures from marineengine.com:
50023752 - Brass Dome Light, 5-1/2 Inch , Red/White LED $39.41
The good: The light from these is much better than my old fixtures. They have have a red/white switch so will give bright white light or red light.
The bad: Made in China. The build is inferior to the originals.

2 Replaced all berth lights with from downwindmarine.com:
00711210 Victory Xenon Berth Lights - 12V Small/Titanium Nitrite over Stainless Steel $49.50
Better than the ones they replaced. They came with G4 halogen bulbs that I replaced with LED bulbs marinebeam.com.

3. Replaced all G4 halogen bulbs with LED equivalents from marinebeam.com:
G4 LED Bulb BP-G4-10-WW utput Color = Warm White10-LED SMD Power Cluster Back Pin X-Beam $15.00
Very good. Soft but bright light.

[jackdaw]

+1 for Mainebeam. Great products. Both boats got a total bulb/fixture refit.

If you have G4 bulbs, look at the red/white switchable. Work as a straight bulb replacement with no fixture work. The bulbs come on red, a momentary toggle of the power gives white.

http://store.marineb...blue-white.html

[Tucky]

Ben Ellison had a good discussion of this recently on Panbo-

http://www.panbo.com..._perfected.html

[rattus32]

+1 for Mainebeam. Great products. Both boats got a total bulb/fixture refit.

If you have G4 bulbs, look at the red/white switchable. Work as a straight bulb replacement with no fixture work. The bulbs come on red, a momentary toggle of the power gives white.

http://store.marineb...blue-white.html

Blue? For the superyacht look?

I suspect "Mainebeam" would more likely offer lights in "Lobstah Red" ;-)

[Hike, Bitches!]

I have a floro fixture, and at the boat show this year I bought a ~12" LED replacement bulb..(apparently it is some standard size & I had no clue)..it was about $30 & 5 minutes worth of work to remove the ballast from the fixture. I haven't mounted it yet, but the test light was promising...much less harsh than the floro bulb I took out of that fixture.

Most of my other fixtures were the stainless $40 ones the PO added..All of them have the cheap superbrightleds.com replacement bulbs...a mix of bayonet & festoon bulbs, & there warm whites are just fine.

I like the idea of a red&white on the same board! I don't have any G4 fixtures though. :-(

[Salazar]

I like the idea of a red&white on the same board! I don't have any G4 fixtures though. :-(

Marinebeam.com has quite a few different formats for the Red / Warm White LED's. For example (dimensions - 2 -1/4" x 2-1/4") : http://store.marineb...dome-light.html

Edit: ...and for the Canadian's on here you can save shipping/brokerage charges by getting them here: http://cruisingsolut...atrix-redwhite/

[Estar]

Last year I replaced 10 year old alpenglow overhead lights with their new led versions. They are superb - well built and good light.

I also replaced some old reading lights with alpenglows new led reading lights. The light brightness and color is terrific. The build quality is good (as good as any of the competition) but not quite up to the super high standard of their overhead lights.

but there are a lot of neat led lights out there now. . . like the Frensch chart table light that I have both at our chart table and our double bunk.

I have a couple other special purpose neat led lights scattered around.

[NoStrings]

D ave, when you next stop by Marina Bay, feel free to Che,ck out the Alpenglow ccfl/LEDs on my boat.

[Beer Fueled Mayhem]

Hey Dave
We use imtra lights with good success. Are you replacing bulbs or fixtures? On our new to us wauquiez we replaced the bulbs and have been very happy.
Marcus (Jeremy's friend)

[islandplanet]

Thanks for the insights and ideas. We're leaning towards the Alpenglow for the overheads. Need to make up mind on a couple of bulkhead mounted lights. There's one spot where I'd like one with a sconce.

NoStrings,
Will do.

Beer Fueled Mayhem,
I should have known that was you. ;-)
Replacing fixtures. I want to come see the boat next time I'm up Seattle way. Probably won't be this winter though. LOL!

Estar,

Frensch looks like a way cool light. Almost afraid to ask how much they run though.


Happy Holidays everyone.

[Hike, Bitches!]

Thanks Salazar...always looking to improve things.

Estar, my buddy anarchist "Vitamin Sea" has that same fixture (I think) on his chart table on his Bene 343...he taps the light in the middle to change the lighting scheme...pretty trick. I opted for the cheaper Aqua Signal version ($40) from Worst Marine with the 3-way toggle switch and it was D.O.A. I bought a new switch from Radio Shack for $3, so I am currently honing (not very well) my soldering skills on the circuit board.

[Beau.Vrolyk]

Islandplanet,

There's a fellow anarchist who builds a VERY cool light - it's not an overhead - but still cool. Linky

We're moving to these aboard our boat, much better quality than anything else I've found.

Beau

[islandplanet]

Islandplanet,

There's a fellow anarchist who builds a VERY cool light - it's not an overhead - but still cool. Linky

We're moving to these aboard our boat, much better quality than anything else I've found.

Beau

Nicely engineered. I can envision using that in a few places on our boat. Thanks for the lead Beau.

[Anomaly2]

Islandplanet,

There's a fellow anarchist who builds a VERY cool light - it's not an overhead - but still cool. Linky

We're moving to these aboard our boat, much better quality than anything else I've found.

Beau

Interesting. But they are constantly "on" in the sense of a power draw. Admittedly very small but still.... Or would you just wire all these touch lights to one master switch that you could shut off when you truly wanted no draw at all?

[Mung Breath]

I used all IMTRA LED's for the interior and Lopolight LED's for the exterior. Seem ok.

[islandplanet]

We opted to try Alpenglow and installed an overhead fixture and dimmable bulkhead mounted reading lamp. Both surpassed expectations. One thing we really like about the overhead is how well the wood frame matches the rest of the interior. Alpenglow offers a variety of woods and finishes. You can even supply your own wood if desired or have it supplied unfinished. The bulkhead light puts out much more light than I expected so it's really more than just a reading lamp. For entertaining, the lower setting on the overhead is perfect. At the higher setting, it really illuminates the cabin well for projects or times when you want a lot of light. The company is run by a husband and wife who are very nice to deal with. They only sell direct. We'll add a few more of their lights soon.

[blackjenner]

Islandplanet,

There's a fellow anarchist who builds a VERY cool light - it's not an overhead - but still cool. Linky

We're moving to these aboard our boat, much better quality than anything else I've found.

Beau

Interesting. But they are constantly "on" in the sense of a power draw. Admittedly very small but still.... Or would you just wire all these touch lights to one master switch that you could shut off when you truly wanted no draw at all?

That was my first thought. All my cabin lights go to one breaker, so that isn't an issue.

[Cavelamb]

Islandplanet,

There's a fellow anarchist who builds a VERY cool light - it's not an overhead - but still cool. Linky

We're moving to these aboard our boat, much better quality than anything else I've found.

Beau

That's such a cool idea I took the Wayback back to last summer and made a few myself.
Mine aren't as fancy, and they only cost about $6 each.
$4 for the drawer pull and a couple of bucks worth or LED strip.

Brass drawer pull (solid - not plated), chopped up an LED strip and glued in with Goop.
(That part isn't so pretty, but nobody ever sees it)

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[jim lee]

You copied my lights? Good lord!

I guess in a way I'm flattered, how did they work? And how do you switch 'em on & off?

-jim lee

[Cavelamb]

You copied my lights? Good lord!

I guess in a way I'm flattered, how did they work? And how do you switch 'em on & off?

-jim lee

It really was last summer, Jim!
So I guess I copied them before I saw them.

For the time being I added a switch box for the new lights.
Kinda tacky looking for now, but works.

As you can see, the legends on the switch panel are back lit.
That happens when cabin lights breaker is turned on.
Makes it easy to find the switches, and works right nice as a
night light as well. (3 LEDs for back lights).
There is this one in the cabin, and another in the head.

This summer they will get worked into the cabinet arrangement.
That cabinet and shelf will relocate 3 or 4 inches forward with a
small mahogany panel in between cabinet and bulkhead for the switch panel.

The LEDs under the shelves and such as simply flexible strips from AutoZone.
They run on 12 volts directly, so not power supply required.
And no interference with VHF, etc.

Best of all, they come as 2 strips (hermetically sealed) for $20.

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Am I going to hear from your patent attorneys now for license fees?

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[Cavelamb]

Sorry - summer before last.
2011
Last summer all I did was fret about getting the boat moved and back in the water down here.
Not a happy summer.

[JumpingJax]

Anybody know about Bebi Electronics in Fiji? http://www.bebi-elec....com/index.html They have lots of bulbs and DIY info on retrofitting existing fixtures. They claim to have very good delivery options and they offer good warranties, it appears, and to do an entire boat in LEDs, their pricing and DIY approach is attractive compared to going with quality replacement fixtures. (I've got a LOT of very nice fixtures, but all are halogen/fluorescent, and would like to change over to LED.) It would be good to learn about anyone with experience dealing with them and their products.

[Zonker]

Very good people to deal with. I bought some of their fixtures (cockpit light and 3 position saloon light) last year in Savusavu. Excellent rep among the cruisers that have bought their stuff.

And they employ the local folks to build the fixtures.

[islandplanet]

Very good people to deal with. I bought some of their fixtures (cockpit light and 3 position saloon light) last year in Savusavu. Excellent rep among the cruisers that have bought their stuff.

And they employ the local folks to build the fixtures.

Zonker,

Thanks for the tip. Any idea if their fixtures cause any RFI? Any strangeness when you transmit on your HF radio?