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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Shoot, manufacturers cut costs again,Lighting

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rrick
Captain

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USA
261 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/06/2013 : 23:21:15

I just got a Talyorbrite Cold Cathode Fluorescent (CCF) lamp fixture from the clearance rack (likely because it was a 24V model). The color is not blue but regular lamp warm, it claims 25,000h life, absolutely no on/off wear (works like a neon lamp) and the fixture is marine grade. I called Taylor and they have eight available, but 3x the price I paid. The reason for discontinuing this awesome product was the extraordinary cost to manufacture as LED's progressed. I'm still not sold on LED's producing welcoming light, so I may save up for another CCF lamp (the one one with red and white will complete the list).

Molly Brown: 1967 Grand Banks 32-#34. Bronze, mahogany, teak, oak, with 120hp diesel to push all 10 tons. Currently an abuser of the bilge pump. Also... The Tall Rig Spirit: 1978, #973, Cast Fe Fin Keel on a Trailer

Edited by - rrick on 03/06/2013 23:21:44

awetmore
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1144 Posts

Response Posted - 03/07/2013 : 12:37:02

As with CFLs you can find LEDs that are harsh and terrible, or ones that are very nice. Look for high CRI bulbs, that is the color rendering index and 100 means it renders colors the same way as sunlight. Anything above around 80 is very good, cheap flourescents and LEDs will be down in the 30s.

I just bought 3 of these for my Pearson and really love them:
http://www.lumiteclighting.com/products/recreational-marine/interior-lights/dome-lights/aurora

They aren't the ultimate high-CRI bulbs, but they are quite good. They throw a nice broad amount of light and have a built in dimmer and very nice switch. They aren't too expensive either, about $60 for white only, or $90 for red/white combo. The 4" size should fit nicely on a C-25, where 5" dome lights done fit under the side decks.

Edited by - on

rrick
Captain

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USA
261 Posts

Response Posted - 03/09/2013 : 02:52:09

Cold cathode fluorescent, my friend. There is no filament on either end to heat up and wear out. There are just single electrodes at each end. Same tech as flatscreen TVs and laptop backlighting ( before they too went LED).
Two inline ammeters measured just 0.6 A running both, my rat shack meters don't provide inrush and I cheated by skipping over the 12-24V converter. But talk about Holy 22 AWG to light an entire yacht... well, I guess LEDs do that, if you're the type to enjoy sterile blue tinted highly directional point source lighting.

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 03/09/2013 : 07:57:44

I'm not crazy about the LED fixtures that I got from CatalinaDirect, but they were a good match to the original fixtures, so I live with the poor CRI and have kept one incandescent bulb in the aft berth and the two incandescent spots over the cabin table. That way I have better light available if I need to read a chart or do some other color-critical action.

But I did want to mention that the Jenneau 38 that I chartered in BVI last January was outfitted with puck-shaped LED fixtures that had about a dozen little LED dots clustered together. The light that they put out was extremely warm hue with great color fidelity. I don't know what brand they were, but if I were redoing my lights I would look for those.

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rrick
Captain

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USA
261 Posts

Response Posted - 03/11/2013 : 11:15:36

Alex, those photos of the Aurora lamp make it hard to believe they aren't halogen (my favorite bulb). That website also demonstrates great use for blue bulbs by gently lighting a deck to simulate full moon. I'll use CRI from now on. When shopping for an expensive bulb for special locations, I'd aim for high Kelvin numbers just to get disappointed with blue, unless they were halogen. For some reason a 5500 K fluorescent or LED will look blue, yet a 5500 K sun does not.

And Rick, I too bought that red/white LED replacement puck fixture for my Catalina but never installed it realizing it looks too modern. In a tucked away location the red half may be worth while.

On another note, using a voltage converter for lighting adds a nice touch of comfort by maintaining a fixed voltage (example, it draws up to 30 A from the 12 volt system, chews up 10% in conversion then spits out 14 amps maintaining 24.0 +-0.1 Protects those commercial electronics sport fishing nuts love to buy you no longer have to mouth "come on, baby!" while starting a powerboat.

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 03/11/2013 : 11:46:38

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by rrick
 ...And Rick, I too bought that red/white LED replacement puck fixture for my Catalina but never installed it realizing it looks too modern. In a tucked away location the red half may be worth while...
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I did not buy pucks - I saw some on a charter. The one I bought is this one, which looks almost identical to the OEM originals:
<center>[url="http://www.catalinadirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=1569&ParentCat=339"]

[/url]</center>
The red feature is very nice, and I must say that I have made great use of it at nighttime. Because they consume so little juice, I would turn them all on red whenever I was out at night, and have a well-lighted (safe) cabin down below.

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awetmore
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1144 Posts

Response Posted - 03/11/2013 : 12:35:10

CCFLs can still be made with variable qualities of light, it isn't just the electrodes. CFLs and LEDs both produce light in a similar way, energy is used to excite phosphors that glow at different wave lengths. The cheapest way to do this is to excite them a 3 specific wave lengths of blue, red, and green that blend into an approximation of white. On cheap LEDs this is normally done by using a blue LED that has red and green phosphors added, which is why they are often blue biased. Look at the "phosphor based LED" on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode. Also check the "phosphor composition" section on this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp

CRI is the best way to rate lights because it is judged based on how wide of a spectrum of color is provided by the light.

I'm still loving the Lumitec Aurora. It looks nice and is easy to retrofit where other dome lights once lived. The integrated dimmer/switch is really cool, and the red/white ones work nicely too. I wish they were a bit cheaper, but I think they are worth the money.

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rrick
Captain

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USA
261 Posts

Response Posted - 03/12/2013 : 11:55:11

Ever since I saw a reef aquarium shimmer under an HID light, I've wanted the the same for my home. Well, I got lucky a few days ago thanks to Jimmy Carter's H4H thrift store and my dream came true. Likely pulled from a millionaire's pool. It's fiber-optic driver, a box with ballast, fan, a very nice 85CRI 150W HID projector bulb and a 3 color rotating filter. Normally dozens of fiber optics distribute the 10k lumens gently but I did a little mod and now nothing is between the bulb except a UV filter. Wow! The power of ten regular light bulbs lights emanating from a 1/2" bulb is pretty close to having a mini Sun. The fan is noisy and even a quick glance at the lamp it is worse than looking at the sun because you aren't already outside (in a scientific laser lab, the rule is to keep the room bright so eye damage is minimized).

Edited by - rrick on 03/13/2013 18:13:40

awetmore
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1144 Posts

Response Posted - 04/08/2013 : 18:22:51

Seattle folks: Second Wave has two of those red/white Aurora LEDs for $40/ea (less than half of the best new price anywhere). They are white plastic.

I just bought and installed 4 of them for my Pearson, wish I had come across these first.

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