Reading Light Replacements

[Semi-Local]

Hi folks,

Although I'm sure Diana and I would appreciate the warmth in winter, in Maine ... the halogen reading lamps are cooking us out here in the Bay!

We had the same issue with our PDQ 36 but never did anything about it.

Has anyone found simple replacements for those gooseneck fixtures ... maybe with LEDs rather than the halogen bulbs?

Thanks,

Mark

[rkimble]

No need to change the fixtures. I don't have the LED number but you can replace the halogen bulbs with LED's. All of the lights on our boat, including the salon light now have LED's in them. Cooler and less energy usage with plenty of light.

[Semi-Local]

Thanks for getting back to me Russ.

Where did you get the LEDs?

And I thought I had heard they could be over-powered or some such thing in a standard fixture? Any problems?

Best, Mark

[rkimble]

I'll be on the boat in the morning. I'll get you the brand and model #. I did not put them in (previous owner) but they have not been a problem in the 2 years since he did it. They put out a lot of light too.

[Semi-Local]

Thanx Russ! REALLY appreciate it!

[rkimble]

The original halogen bulbs are MR16 12 volts. These bulbs have 2 prongs to plug in, instead of scewing in. The LED repacements look like they are made by Philips. Mine have 9 individual LEDs in each bulb. They are 5 watts in the gooseneck fixtures. Can't find a model # on them. Since they are kind of expensive, I'd recommend maybe getting 1 as a test to make sure it works before investing heavily. Seems to be a lot of on-line sellers.

[MagicDragon]

We purchased lots of our replacement LEDs online on EBay - use the current light bulb designation and search using that plus the LED - you'll find lots of suppliers, and they are designed to replace the standard bulbs in your existing fixtures. We were able to replace almost every bulb, but only after I'd purchased new fixtures and couldn't figure out how to wire them because the size of the wires were totally different. Good luck.

[duetto]

hi angela,

not sure of what you were saying. did the bulbs fit the std pdq sockets or did you have to replace every fixture? replacing every fixture does sound like fun.

[rkimble]

They will plug into existing fixtures including salon ceiling lights. Don't need to change any hardware.

[MagicDragon]

Russ & Nancy are correct - replacing/rewiring each fixture is not necessary. Pull out your existing bulb and examine it - most of ours were marked with a designation (like 60w on the regular house light bulbs). If it isn't on the bulb, examine the fixture closely and you might find it there. Then just search using that designation plus "LED" and you will find plenty of suppliers, even for the fluorescent fixtures! Good luck,

[Ross Bowling]

I bought gooseneck LEDs at West Marine, $29 per fixture. Unscrew the lens, pull out the old one, stick in the new one and good to go. I took the old one in and they were hanging a plenty on the hook in the bulb area.

[billp]

So for those of you who replaced the halogen bulbs with LEDs, did you go with warm white or cool white? It seems most companies offer both.
Thanks for such good information!

[Ross Bowling]

The LED I replaced did not offer a choice. The bulb offers the same bright light as those I have not replaced, I assume them to be cools.

[windrush]

I'm also planning to replace all of the halogens with LEDs on Windrush, but I could use some real world advice... There are some cheap ones on eBay like "Item number: 320733931652 or 220840172652" but visiting the website "Marinebeam.com" seems to strongly suggest we need much more expensive units like the ones they sell!!! Does anyone have any insights they'd like to share. I know the truth about you get what you pay for, but .....
Thanks in advance.

[SecondWind]

Take a look at http://www.superbrightleds.com and http://store.marinebeam.com/.