Boat Buzz

Has anyone tried replacing their 12 volt instrument lights with an LED upgrade? Batteries Plus makes a bayonet style bulb the correct size, and is only .5 watt....lumens unknown.

Have not tried it, but it sure sounds like a great idea.

If you can, post a link to those bulbs for me.

Thanks!

I am on that kick too.....but don't know about lumens and all that...but would like to put those low energy leds in my cabin lights....most seem to be the one contact type bulb though....where/what about the two contact 12 V type?

I have two of the single contact ones I bought off the net by mistake if anyone wants those I will donate.

John in Va.

Try https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/rv-l ... onet-base/

I am now reconsidering replacing my incandescent bulbs in my instrument panel with brighter LED bulbs. It may not be a good idea. The reason is that when I am running at night (which is rare, so I don't have a lot of hours in those conditions), I don't want excessive brightlight distraction from the instruments under my eyes which will distract from my night vision across the horizon. I will test this on a night cruise this winter. But I can recall several dead still nights when I experienced the phenomenon of reflections of land light onto the water surface called specular reflection resulting in a type of spatial disorientation....the shore lights mirrored onto the water in a harbor. I had to stop and verify my position before continuing. It was scarey. Another time a cruise ship crossed my path and I mistook it for the nearby buildings on shore.
I don't want my instrument lights compounding these problems.

One way to solve this situation, since it happens infrequently, is to wear a headlamp with the red light option. A good headlamp like that is an important part of onboard equipment.

John in Va.

You could also put the LED instrument lights on a dimmer.

Most simple LEDs are either on or off, and you can't dim them. Newer bulbs for household use are dimmable however, presumable do to special circuitry. It may not be as easy as a simple dimmer, but may be do-able just be aware.

I have the LED version of the 1156 single element bayonet bulb in our the anchor light on our '69 Ski Boat. It is amazingly bright! and I can leave it on all night and not worry about the battery not being to start the motor in the morning! It looks funky when not illuminated but who is really looking that closely at light bulbs?

keith colonna wrote:I am now reconsidering replacing my incandescent bulbs in my instrument panel with brighter LED bulbs. It may not be a good idea. The reason is that when I am running at night (which is rare, so I don't have a lot of hours in those conditions), I don't want excessive brightlight distraction from the instruments under my eyes which will distract from my night vision across the horizon. I will test this on a night cruise this winter. But I can recall several dead still nights when I experienced the phenomenon of reflections of land light onto the water surface called specular reflection resulting in a type of spatial disorientation....the shore lights mirrored onto the water in a harbor. I had to stop and verify my position before continuing. It was scarey. Another time a cruise ship crossed my path and I mistook it for the nearby buildings on shore.
I don't want my instrument lights compounding these problems.

I never run our boat with the gauge lights on, just for this reason... Periodically, when I know the path is safe and clear, I will switch the lights on to check gauges then turn them off again to continue cruising. The LED bulbs are not all the same. You can get them with single LED nodes, or multiple. The more nodes, the brighter the light. Also, they now have different intensities available for you can get soft white, bright white, blue-white, even yellow!! I installed all red LEDs in my old vanagon dash.

I'm in the process of converting to LED's in our 45' Connie. One issue was the original 12VDC fixtures with screw in bulbs having edison bases. We found 12VDC edison bulbs for about $4 each including shipping. We have been happy with LED's from www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-boat-lights/ They have a marine section and an RV section. Lots of options on bulb and base types.

I bought some 12V leds off the net.....paid no attention to the bases......needed two pin, got single.....
Will check that place mentioned in the previous post, thanks.

An issue not addressed here, which pertains to all sorts of cockpit and instrument lights, is dangerous reflections cause by the angle of the surrounding windshields/windows on the bridge deck. My Fairchild Scout has been difficult to learn because the windows are plumb/vertical......that creates weird reflections from fore and aft lights on shore....and some back play from onboard light sources. Really dangerous at night. I find I must train myself to look far ahead, beyond. What looks like a very close light ahead is often a reflection on the glass from a light behind you. Just sayin......

John in Va.