The dome light switches on my boat all failed over the course of a week long trip. The plastic guts rotted out over 25 years from all the heat put out by 18watt incandescent bulbs.
I buy 3 new high quality Bakelite switches for $4 each. And they have these little led boards on display… wow, low power and not so hot. Wouldn’t that be cool?
So $15 for 6 led, I get 3 way switches so I can do high and low beam (open heart surgery or reading light), and then $5 more for resisters to drop the voltage. My college physics.
And then $11 for thermal epoxy so led can shed heat to the stainless reflector.
With tax I’m out $60 now.
Solder it up, test with truck battery, it’s good. Next day install in boat and… they get hot. Not as hot as the incandescent but I wanted low power to reduce battery stress when camping for days. Those resisters shed a ‘ton’ of watts to drop the voltage. High beam was 4x brighter than incandescent and pulled 15 watts. Low beam pulled 10 watts.
Read on the internet, modern solution is a buck converter, a switched voltage regulator. Tiny things the size of a postage stamp.
Order 6 of the cheapest counterfeit off Amazon for $8. Desolder and rewire all 3 lights. Adjust output voltage. Went much faster only 4 more hours.
Draw for high beam is 8watts, low beam pulls 3.
Cost $68 and only 12 hours of my time.
Similar dome led lights on Amazon are $35 to $50 each! So I saved $35-$85.
I buy 3 new high quality Bakelite switches for $4 each. And they have these little led boards on display… wow, low power and not so hot. Wouldn’t that be cool?
So $15 for 6 led, I get 3 way switches so I can do high and low beam (open heart surgery or reading light), and then $5 more for resisters to drop the voltage. My college physics.
And then $11 for thermal epoxy so led can shed heat to the stainless reflector.
With tax I’m out $60 now.
Solder it up, test with truck battery, it’s good. Next day install in boat and… they get hot. Not as hot as the incandescent but I wanted low power to reduce battery stress when camping for days. Those resisters shed a ‘ton’ of watts to drop the voltage. High beam was 4x brighter than incandescent and pulled 15 watts. Low beam pulled 10 watts.
Read on the internet, modern solution is a buck converter, a switched voltage regulator. Tiny things the size of a postage stamp.
Order 6 of the cheapest counterfeit off Amazon for $8. Desolder and rewire all 3 lights. Adjust output voltage. Went much faster only 4 more hours.
Draw for high beam is 8watts, low beam pulls 3.
Cost $68 and only 12 hours of my time.
Similar dome led lights on Amazon are $35 to $50 each! So I saved $35-$85.
Statistics: Posted by eri — Tue Oct 22, 2024 10:41 pm — Replies 5056 — Views 748780