LED light power supply

Motor, Motor Maintenance, Winches, Cooker, Heater, Fridge, Battery, Battery Charging, Shore Connection, Instruments, Autopilot, Anchor etc
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Mika Harju
Posts: 218
Joined: Thu 02 Nov 06, 13:19
Your Country: Finland, Turku

LED light power supply

Post by Mika Harju »

There are available many LED lamps ready to be installed to boat's existing lamps. LEDs does not stand too big voltage (bigger voltage= bigger current) coming out from shore power, solar panel or motor alternator. It is necessary to protect LEDs with a DC/DC converter or other kind of power supply.

Here is one simple solution to do it with DC/DC converter:
Example of LEDs:
http://uk.farnell.com/sunbrite/ssp-1156 ... dp/7606436 ,price about 10 euros
DC/DC converter:
http://uk.farnell.com/tracopower/tmr-12 ... tt=tmr1222 , price about 15 euros
Circuit board:
http://www.vectorelect.com/Product/Circbord/8022.htm

Just cut a piece out of circuit board and solder the converter and wires there. It is possible to connect a single light or a group of lights to one converter. All these components should be available on your local component dealer.

Some notes:
-no external components needed, just input voltage to pins 1 and 2 and connect LED lights to pins 6 and 7.
-wide supply voltage allows shore power, solar cell and motor alternator to be on while lights are on without damaging LEDs.
-different output powers available for different sizes of LED groups.
-cabin roof halogen lights can't be repalced with LEDs because of two stage connection (low and high power) which turns the current polarization.
Mika Harju
DF1000 Racing #8
Double Horizon
Posts: 440
Joined: Wed 09 May 07, 0:18
Your Country: USA

LED replacement bulbs for interior Halogen cabin lights

Post by Double Horizon »

I have installed replacement LED lights that use much less power compared with the Halogen G4-base bulbs, and are brighter. I would recommend this change to others, as there is no weight penalty and the money spent on LEDs to reduce power draw is much less than it would take in solar/batteries to increase amp-hour capacity.

I don’t think the dimmer can be used with these.

I bought the lights from various eBay suppliers, and due to the transient nature of eBay sellers I'm not linking to specific ads, because this post is likely to survive any particular listing. I dealt with US-based LED Wholesalers, Inc., and Hong Kong-based whats_up_sun with good results from both. If you're not sure of the type or supplier I suggest you buy one of each type to test, then buy more if you want.

Enter the following search words on eBay : warm white led g4 smd.

I used three types of bulbs using SMD (surface mount devices) LEDs:
The first type I used are small cylindrical arrangements. Key words (leave out quotes): “15-SMD warm white LED G4 ”. The main cabin of a 1200 requires these for the swiveling ceiling spotlights. I had to enlarge the center opening of the reflector, and that took about 1-minute per reflector using a Dremel tool with steel burr grinding bit. Wear eye protection. That was the only light fixture type that needed to be modified. These bulbs are also used for the wall sconces, and for the circular white covered light above the toilet (same type used in the DF920 and DF35).

The second type are small round disks with side-pins. Key words (leave out quotes): "G4 6 SMD LED Warm white LED". These are used in the small flush-mounted covered or open ceiling fixtures that have the bulb socket in the side (not the rear) -- such as above front of V-berth, above head sink, above galley sink, aft cabin ceiling. Quorning is using many of these same small flush-mounted ceiling fixtures in the DF35. These can also be used in the wall sconces. No light fixture modifications required.

The third type are small round disks with rear-pins. These are available with 6 SMD and 10 SMD configurations. Key words (leave out quotes): "G4 Rear Pins 10 SMD LED Warm White". I used the 10 SMD models for more light. These are used in the moveable reading lights in the V-berth, and the chart light above the navigation table. The 6 SMD lights are brighter than the halogens, and the 10 SMD bulbs are very bright.

You can save money if you search for listings with 10-bulbs instead of buying single quantities. If you want to confirm with me by email I will let you know if any particular listing matches what I tried.
Larry - Former Owner DF-1200
Paul
Posts: 93
Joined: Thu 28 Jan 10, 7:46
Your Country: Australia, Cairns

LED's

Post by Paul »

I replaced all my incandescent and fluoro lights on my last boat a 10 meter catamaran, including the anchor light and all navigation lights. I sourced the LED' s through the following outlet:

www.ledshoponline.com

I found them reliable and very knowledgeable, I know Australia is along way from most of the Dragonfly fleet, but these are tiny and light so postage is minimum. They also source very high quality led's (some are rubbish).

Cheers, Paul
Einar Gloersen
Posts: 30
Joined: Thu 11 Oct 07, 15:46
Your Country: Norway, Oslo

Post by Einar Gloersen »

Just some more information. A dimmer can be used together with LED-lamps to aproximately 50% light. At least this works fine in my DF35 where I have installed 6xSMD LED in all downlights and other lamps. Except for special occasions I find a reduction of 20-30% suitable for the downlights. Anchor and sailing lights are also changed to LED. This together with a solar panel makes it possible for me to connect to shore power only once or twice during a four week summer holiday.
Einar
DF35 No.16 Gwaihir
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