LED Lighting Project Update

[bstreep]

Wheels,

The Luxeon LEDs I'm using are rated for up to 1000ma, and a life of 100,000 hours (at 100,000 hours, they are down to 70% of original lumens). I run them at 700ma, as this is the recommended current. LED failures are typically in the first few hours - and it's for this reason that Philips recalled a bunch of these Rebel LEDs not long ago.

LEDs should NOT get hot if they are properly heat sinked. If they do get hot, it will significantly shorten their life.

The fluorescent bulb is about 5 months old - with just a few hours on it. That's what prompted this whole mess - Mamma said "that is with a NEW bulb?".

Schooner Dog: I took down one of my ugly fixtures in the galley, and pulled the guts out. I then prepped and painted it with white appliance paint (the whole thing). Then I put 3 LEDs & a driver in it. It's the one in the 2nd picture. The parts would be:

3 Luxeon Rebel Stars (145 lumens each)
1 700ma 12v driver
3 heat sinks (from fleabay, etc - usually about $1 each - needs to be at least 1.5 x 1.5).

Mount the stars on the heat sink. Wire the 3 LEDs in series to the driver. Wire 12v (switched) to the driver inputs. Stick the heat sinks to the fixture with double sided tape (not sure this is the best solution though...). Replace the cover - I've bought the plastic cover material from HD. Total cost, about $35. But, no more bulbs to replace. That's it.

I just left the boat this morning - we're having some work done & it's now out of the water for a couple of weeks. I'll try and get a finished photo of the "guts" for you.

[bstreep]

Bill/Gideon,

I'm kind of intrigued by the "cold" cathode tubes - I'm not hung up on my LEDs, if I can find something I like better, I'll use it. EXACTLY what do I need to buy to try this out? BTW, from info I've read, they are anything but "cold".

[bill good]

I purchased them from an electronics component store & fitted the 2 tubes into the old housing of the 12v fluro unit on the boat. Very little heat is generated. They come with a matching "inverter" unit & it is small enough to fit inside the housing. I think $20.00 & the 2 tubes are as bright as the 8w fluro which was always burning out the bulbs.

Bill Goodward

[northerncat]

YACHT BUILDING CORNER :: View topic - Lighting
i posted some photos of some of the lighting tests i have done with various bulbs here i cant seem to link the photos to this page easily this is the bulb here
http://www.goingsolar.com.au/pdf/cat...2_lighting.pdf
they go for 16$ and will out last a halogen. they come in every colour imaginable so you can use them for onboard discos if you like
any feedback welcome, especially on other bulbs i could try as i would love to improve my lgihting efficiency if possible(although it currentlly sits at 112 watts with every single light on the boat on)
sean

[bill good]

The ones I used were very thin & I believe are used as back lighting for the laptop screens. from jaycar electronics. I have noted a few cats with disco lights red /blue etc around lately not mine yet
Bill

[Silverado6x6]

I owned a business back in 2000 that made LED flashlights, had to get out of it because the Chinese were making them cheaper. For the latest scuttlebut on Luxeons which is really now not the best emitter compared to the latest Cree they are relatively cheap, drawback on these super emitters is that yes they DO put out heat, to get a relatively cold lamp using 5mm or 10mm single LEDs is a better bet. I have a project that involves large diameter fiber optic cables that I have suspended from a high ceiling at various heights and many smaller ones all tied in to a bank of LEDs to simulate a night sky inside. A smart person with access to bundles of surplus fiber optics could theoretically illuminate a space or compartments with just a few well placed light sources like Cree emitters, HID or use sunlight, in the old days ships used a roof prism to direct light belowdecks, the Egyptians used mirrors, I have several riflescopes that use fiber optic sights, they glow both with ambient light and tritium light.

[schoonerdog]

Thanks Bill, I'd like to see pictures of the interior. 145 lumens is a LOT of light.

Originally Posted by bstreep

Wheels,

The Luxeon LEDs I'm using are rated for up to 1000ma, and a life of 100,000 hours (at 100,000 hours, they are down to 70% of original lumens). I run them at 700ma, as this is the recommended current. LED failures are typically in the first few hours - and it's for this reason that Philips recalled a bunch of these Rebel LEDs not long ago.

LEDs should NOT get hot if they are properly heat sinked. If they do get hot, it will significantly shorten their life.

The fluorescent bulb is about 5 months old - with just a few hours on it. That's what prompted this whole mess - Mamma said "that is with a NEW bulb?".

Schooner Dog: I took down one of my ugly fixtures in the galley, and pulled the guts out. I then prepped and painted it with white appliance paint (the whole thing). Then I put 3 LEDs & a driver in it. It's the one in the 2nd picture. The parts would be:

3 Luxeon Rebel Stars (145 lumens each)
1 700ma 12v driver
3 heat sinks (from fleabay, etc - usually about $1 each - needs to be at least 1.5 x 1.5).

Mount the stars on the heat sink. Wire the 3 LEDs in series to the driver. Wire 12v (switched) to the driver inputs. Stick the heat sinks to the fixture with double sided tape (not sure this is the best solution though...). Replace the cover - I've bought the plastic cover material from HD. Total cost, about $35. But, no more bulbs to replace. That's it.

I just left the boat this morning - we're having some work done & it's now out of the water for a couple of weeks. I'll try and get a finished photo of the "guts" for you.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by schoonerdog

Thanks Bill, I'd like to see pictures of the interior. 145 lumens is a LOT of light.

I don't think that 145 lumens is a lt of light, for most purposes.
ie: A standard 100 watt incandescent lamp emits about 1800 lumens.

[northerncat]

i forgot to mention that i have 22 lights on boardonly 2 outside are halogens
sean

[bstreep]

As Gord says, fluorescents put out a fair amount of light. A single 8w bulb is SUPPOSED to put out 400 lumens. However, there are a BUNCH of things to consider:

Age of bulb
Reflectivity of the fixture (this is HUGE).
The condition/efficiency of the ballast

The LEDs put nearly 100% of their output into the room. The comparison between a fluorescent of - allegedly - 400 lumens, and 435 lumens of LEDs is just plain, not fair.

[northerncat]

i agree but only cause of the way they throw their light around, i still have yet to see an led that will give light the way a flouro or halogen will
sean

[knottybuoyz]

Sorry about the poor image quality. If I were to hazard a guess I'd say the LED's are 10 times brigher than the 1157's that were in the nav and anchor light before.

[hooked on water]

Does anyone know where in australia I could pick up regulators to control the leds system please
am fitting the whole boat in leds, including flood lights
cheers

[Alan Wheeler]

The Regs are built into the LED cluster itself. Or are you wanting to build your own??

[adrian pye]

The LED lamps sold in the UK are designed to run on A/C, a step down transformer 240v to 12v but not rectified. What happens when these LED lamps are subjected to 12v dc? If I remember rightly from my electrical training 12vdc is what it says, whereas 12vac is 12 x 0.707 (its root mean value)= 8.48v average.
I curently (pardon the pun) have 25 of 20w halogens using 41.6Amps as lighting on my passenger vessel and am looking into an alternative. does using D/C reduce the life of the LEDs or not?
Ade