222 Fisherman - LED bulbs added

[mhinch]

I recently added LED bulbs to the cockpit lights and nav lights. Here are some before and after pictures.

 

[DennisG01]

FYI, you might want to put the regular bulbs back in the nav lights. Unless you have housings specifically designed for LED, the light won't travel as far. It's not about how bright they are up close - it's whether they still meet the 1 mile CG requirement. Chances are your existing housings' reflector isn't designed for LED. It's nice to have LED in the cockpit lights, though - much less draw for when the engine isn't running.

 

[SkunkBoat]

I bought some led bulbs on eBay to replace the courtesy cabin lights on my 265. Didn't work. The bases are the same with double contacts but they made the leds using the metal base as negative and both contacts as positive. The light fixtures have a plastic base(i.e. does not connect the bulb to neg) and pos & neg to the contacts.
Unlike the incandescent bulbs, the led will require correct polarity.

I can probably figure out which contact is wired to pos and jump the other one to neg...but its 12 degrees outside..

 

[Fishtales]

they sell exact replacement led navigation led lights, just replace the entire housing.
I put the blue bulbs in the cockpit attwood lights and some lumitec bars under the gunnel. The lumitecs are white or blue, so if needed I can get plenty of white light between those and the led spreader lights. the blue looks great for night cruising.

 

[Fishtales]

also did led on my mast light - definitely led is the way to go for brightness and better distance observation.

 

[mhinch]

I also replaced the mast bulb (all around white) and it is my opinion that the are more recognizable as navigational lights versus the "softer/dimmer/warmer" incandescent type bulb.
Pics when it warm up.

 

[DennisG01]

I know. I realize they "appear" brighter, but as I said above the reflectors inside the housing are not meant for the type of light that LED's emit. The light will NOT travel as far... in other words, other boaters will not see you as easily, which sort of defeats the purpose of the light. Boats are already hard enough to see in many conditions. IF there was an accident and IF the CG inspected your lights, they would find they are not CG approved. Yes, I know, those are two big "if's". It's your call, but just because you may have seen others on forums doing it or you "want" it to work without spending the extra money on the proper light fixture doesn't mean it's the proper thing to do. I'm not trying to be harsh, but I learned this from someone much smarter than me who's business is this type of thing.

Forums can be bad for things like this... we see it and hear it on multiple forums and assume that it must be OK. But why? Is it true just because many people do it? How do those people know it's good/OK? Have any of them done the research or are they just looking for the cheap way out?

 

[mhinch]

DennisG,
Solid information. FWIW I think I'll go back to the incandescent bulbs in my navigation fixtures and keep the LED's in my cockpit lights until I change the fixtures to LED specific.
Thx for your detailed reply.

 

[Ky Grady]

I changed all my lights over to LED on my 228. I've got these for my nav lights. 2 mile visibility.

 

[Ky Grady]

 

[Ky Grady]

My interior LED's.

 

[DennisG01]

Mhinch, your welcome. I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer - but better safe than sorry.

KY - I like the red. It doesn't mess with your night vision as much as other colors. I used red in my previous boat. I actually have an overhead light for my current boat that has both red and white - I just need to get around to installing it......... been on the shelf for 4 years, now :roll:

 

[Ky Grady]

Dennis,,,,mine is the combo White/Red LED overhead light.
Here's the white on.

 

[Fishtales]

Those are the Attwood nav lights, much brighter close and across the bay. I found the same with the mast light just changing the bulb. No comparison.

 

[Ky Grady]

All round light is a LED Attwood also.

 

[Ky Grady]

LED spreaders.

 

[Greyduk]

They really light things up well.Your boat looks great!!!

 

[Ky Grady]

They really light things up well.Your boat looks great!!!

Thanks 8)

 

[Fishtales]

Led spreaders are probably 2X brighter than the older stock halogen. An easy upgrade to perform.