Led spot light query

[captain flint]

Hi, 

 

I'm looking at this bulb:

 

https://www.force4.co.uk/force-4-led-g4-1-hd-chip-bulb-side-pins.html

 

It states 12 or 24 volt, as opposed to saying 10-30 volts. I know there are some bulbs that do not like the fluctuating voltage you get on most boats (including mine), which will only work with only 12v or 24v and are not intended for boats. Seems a bit unlikely that a chandler would sell such a thing, but when I emailed Force 4, they said they had no further information beyond what you can see in the ad. 

 

Can't really imagine how anyone else (such as your good selves) could shed any light on it, but hey, there's no harm in asking, I guess.... 

 

Answers, actually, no, scratch that, responses (I anticipate a variety...) , on a postcard please.

[DaveR]

90 lumens is equivalent to a ruptured glow worm.

 

In our bedside lights I have 600lm as we need a decent light to read by.

 

I would suggest that the notation 12/24 volt says it will work on either voltage, as you note the usual way of putting it is 10 ~ 30 volt.

[Phil Ambrose]

Personally I would go for Bedazzled LED lamps.

Yes I know they are more expensive but have a wide operating voltage, they are internally fused and I've never had a failure. Also no problem with interference etc etc.

Phil 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Zooming in on the pictures in the link. The four pin device near the input pins at 7'oclock is a bridge rectifier, so it doesn't matter which side is positive, or negative. It also includes over voltage protection, and protection from voltage spikes, which is the main thing for boat use. The LED supply chip is in the six pin package at around 2 o'clock. Googling the characters on the package and a variety of alternatives show nothing, so can't say what range of of input voltages it can cope with. This and the unhelpfulness of the vendor to me says go elsewhere. I agree with Phil ^^^^^^, buy from Bedazzled. Also agree with first reply. It would be very dim. Plenty of brighter ones around.

 

Jen

Edited November 15, 2018 by Jen-in-Wellies

[captain flint]

3 hours ago, DaveR said:

90 lumens is equivalent to a ruptured glow worm.

 

In our bedside lights I have 600lm as we need a decent light to read by.

 

I would suggest that the notation 12/24 volt says it will work on either voltage, as you note the usual way of putting it is 10 ~ 30 volt.

I know 90 lumens is dim, but I already have a number of very bright spots in the Galley area, which might the whole room pretty bright. And some down lights under the gunwhales. I want some softer lighting for when watching telly etc

 

I really prefer warmer white and a lot of LEDs advertised as warm white are 3000+kelvin.

 

Maybe I would be better off with this for dim lights :

 

https://boatlamps.co.uk/products/g4-12-smd-2835-led-planar-disc-lamp-side-pin

Edited November 15, 2018 by captain flint

[captain flint]

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Zooming in on the pictures in the link. The four pin device near the input pins at 7'oclock is a bridge rectifier, so it doesn't matter which side is positive, or negative. It also includes over voltage protection, and protection from voltage spikes, which is the main thing for boat use. The LED supply chip is in the six pin package at around 2 o'clock. Googling the characters on the package and a variety of alternatives show nothing, so can't say what range of of input voltages it can cope with. This and the unhelpfulness of the vendor to me says go elsewhere. I agree with Phil ^^^^^^, buy from Bedazzled. Also agree with first reply. It would be very dim. Plenty of brighter ones around.

 

Jen

Wow, that's a very helpful response indeed, thanks. As a mention in another reply, it's the warmth of white I'm after. My cabin interior is white from the gunners up, and looks better in proper warm white lighting. Most of bedazzled' warm white lights are 3000k or more, but I've heard good things about boat lamps. They do a brighter and dimmer warmer led spot, maybe I should go for them:

 

165 lumens

 

https://boatlamps.co.uk/products/g4-12-smd-2835-led-planar-disc-lamp-side-pin

 

I'm not sure this brighter light will fit in my fittings, it may be too wide

 

https://boatlamps.co.uk/products/copy-of-g4-12-smd-2835-high-output-led-planar-disc-lamp-side-pin

 

Maybe I'll end up with bedazzled after all for the brighter spots at least... 

 

[Robbo]

You can always run your lights via a PWM dimmer.   I have Hella EuroLED 75 downlights and are quite warm at 2700K and run via a PWM dimmer, however even at 10% they are still noticeable as "downlights" and not "ambient".   You probably need lights that bounce off a wall/ceiling if you want nice "ambient" and placed so you don't directly see the light source.

[captain flint]

15 minutes ago, Robbo said:

You can always run your lights via a PWM dimmer.   I have Hella EuroLED 75 downlights and are quite warm at 2700K and run via a PWM dimmer, however even at 10% they are still noticeable as "downlights" and not "ambient".   You probably need lights that bounce off a wall/ceiling if you want nice "ambient" and placed so you don't directly see the light source.

Thanks for the advice, that sounds fair. Maybe I'll have to look into a dimmer switch. There is a bit of ambient lighting under the gunwhales and the kitchen cupboards. With them on and some dim downlights I think it would be OK, though I guess I'll have to experiment and see. One of the reasons I was interested in those force 4 lights was that they have a somewhat wider beam angle than most spots... 

 

I did a web search for the Hella downlights and got links to light fittings not bulbs. Am I missing something? Maybe a silly question...!? 

Edited November 15, 2018 by captain flint

[Robbo]

18 minutes ago, captain flint said:

With them on and some dim downlights I think it would be OK, though I guess I'll have to experiment and see

I'm on a widebeam, and have the downlight s in two rows down the boat and one row is in my field of view so that's probably why I notice them.   I've individually cabled mine so can control each one separately to create better lighting, but "bounced" off things lighting will always feel nicer in the evening, so uplights/wall lights, table lights etc,  are probably more evening stuff.

[captain flint]

2 hours ago, Robbo said:

Hella EuroLED 75 downlights

Thanks for your comments, Robbo. No sweat either way but if you happen to have any links for bulbs that would be amazing! 

[Robbo]

5 minutes ago, captain flint said:

Thanks for your comments, Robbo. No sweat either way but if you happen to have any links for bulbs that would be amazing! 

The Hella's are not bulbs but the whole downlight..   the 75 is the width, and they do different sizes...

 

http://www.hellamarine.com/en/products/interior-exterior-lamps/euroled-75/warm-white-euroled-75-led-down-lights.html

 

I got mine from ASAP - https://www.asap-supplies.com/euroled-75-hella-led-light-724967

 

The PWM dimmer I'm using is a Zigbee ballast for using on the Philips Hue system, so probably not relevant.

Edited November 15, 2018 by Robbo

[captain flint]

1 hour ago, Robbo said:

The Hella's are not bulbs but the whole downlight..   the 75 is the width, and they do different sizes...

 

http://www.hellamarine.com/en/products/interior-exterior-lamps/euroled-75/warm-white-euroled-75-led-down-lights.html

 

I got mine from ASAP - https://www.asap-supplies.com/euroled-75-hella-led-light-724967

 

The PWM dimmer I'm using is a Zigbee ballast for using on the Philips Hue system, so probably not relevant.

Thanks. Appreciated 

[Richard T]

Most of the lights on our boat came from Aten https://www.atenlighting.co.uk/boat-lighting

So far none have failed after over 5years of use. We replaced 12v flourescent tubes with LEDs using lamp holders and suitable LED array keeping the original diffussers as we couldn't get any new fittings to fit the recesses in the timber panelling.

[captain flint]

33 minutes ago, Richard T said:

Most of the lights on our boat came from Aten https://www.atenlighting.co.uk/boat-lighting

So far none have failed after over 5years of use. We replaced 12v flourescent tubes with LEDs using lamp holders and suitable LED array keeping the original diffussers as we couldn't get any new fittings to fit the recesses in the timber panelling.

Thanks Richard

[Sea Dog]

Ours lamps in the downlighters throughout the boat are Bedazzled units. All are still good after more than 5 years in place.  These provide a good working light, but for relaxing in the evenings we have wall lights. Actually, these are led spots which can be switched to either a gentle blue or a brighter white and provide either a pool of light for reading or, angled to reflect off the deck head, give a difused ambient light. You may have a better result with something like this than trying to accommodate all your lighting needs with just the main downlighters.

[captain flint]

14 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Ours lamps in the downlighters throughout the boat are Bedazzled units. All are still good after more than 5 years in place.  These provide a good working light, but for relaxing in the evenings we have wall lights. Actually, these are led spots which can be switched to either a gentle blue or a brighter white and provide either a pool of light for reading or, angled to reflect off the deck head, give a difused ambient light. You may have a better result with something like this than trying to accommodate all your lighting needs with just the main downlighters.

Ta for the advice

[captain flint]

Well, I think my search is over. Not too cheap but if they last a few years it sold be well worth it

 

https://bedazzledledlighting.co.uk/product/g4-horizontal-9-led-dimmable/

 

I'd not been looking at dimmer bulbs as I had figured it would need a dimmer switch. I've fitted one before but what with needing a pwm dimmer it felt like unnecessary over complication. 

 

In the end I looked at one and realised there are some out there which don't require a dimmer switch, you turn them off then on again to cycle between 3 settings. 

 

And bedazzled do one with the new SMD2835 LEDs that are supposed to be brighter and more efficient - and whose warm white is around 2750k.

 

So I'm happy with that. Thanks for all the help

[WotEver]

12 minutes ago, captain flint said:

In the end I looked at one and realised there are some out there which don't require a dimmer switch, you turn them off then on again to cycle between 3 settings. 

I wonder what you do if you have several on the same circuit and one gets out of sync...

[captain flint]

55 minutes ago, WotEver said:

I wonder what you do if you have several on the same circuit and one gets out of sync...

Take it out, get others in sync, put it back? 

 

Or have a party

[WotEver]

2 minutes ago, captain flint said:

Take it out, get others in sync, put it back? 

 

Or have a party

Have a party.