convert standard reading light to led?

Rapidroy5858

Member
Sep 23, 2018
82
LaPorte In.
Boat Info
1990 searay sundancer 270
Engines
Twin 4.3 mercruiser
Trying to find the correct led bulb set up for the cabin reading lights on our 1990 sundancer?
If anyone has info on this it would be greatly appreciated .
The lightest I want to change have the push in and twist socket similar to the 1056 style bulbs on a car.
Thanks.
 
The standard automotive led bulbs you buy at the hardware store will work fine. Led bulbs are polarity sensitive so if you put them in and they don’t work. You have to pull the light fixture off and switch the wires around. On my boat I had to switch the wires on every light. They work great though.
 
Look for the “Warm White” LED equivalent of your incandescent bulbs on Amazon. The Warm White LED’s will still be slightly brighter but about the same color as your incandescent bulbs.
I swapped all the bulbs in the cabin on this boat to LED and did the same in my old boat.
Had them in the old boat for several years and never had to replace one. On season 3 with the LED bulbs in the cabin fixtures on this boat and no issues.
I’ve got LED’s in my Arch and cockpit lights too and never had an issue with VHF interference.
Basically, just about everything that might be on when the engines aren’t is LED now . The exception is the anchor light.
I never put them in the dash or running lights because the engines are running when those bulbs are burning so no worries about killing a battery. All of those are still incandescent.
If I were to have an interference problem with the VHF and LED’s, I would imagine the dash bulbs would do it.
Plus there is some question if LED bulbs will be visible from the distance the USCG requires for running lights.
My anchor light is still incandescent too for the same reason.

Just looked back through my old Amazon orders and these are the ones I used in my old boat. Not sure if they are the same as what you need, but if they are they work really well and if the bulbs are exposed they look like a regular bulb:

LEDwholesalers BA15s Single Contact Bayonet Base Water-Resistant 0.7W LED Bulb 12V AC/DC (6-Pack), Warm White, 1429WWx6
 
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I replaced the bulb in my anchor light with an LED and you can see it for a long long ways. Further than the original.
 
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I replaced the bulb in my anchor light with an LED and you can see it for a long long ways. Further than the original.

Please consider it is not a just a function issue, it is a requirement issue. We are required to run CG approved navigation lights, CG does not approve any bulbs, only complete fixtures. Putting an LED in place of an incandescent bulb does not equal an CG approved fixture. When will this matter? Probably never, until tragedy strikes, like the thread about the night crash and conflicting stories about navigation lights. Then is when the investigators and other side attorneys will discover, gasp, you did not have the required CG approved fixtures. No matter how far you can see them.

A couple of other quick points, the CG approved incandescent bow fixtures are tinted to provide the provide proper color with the incandescent bulb, an LED bulb may not provide the correct color and the color may vary or wash out over distance. A friends bow lights looked OK at the dock but was almost white a mile out, the LED overpowered the colored lens. LED bulbs are directional, not all around like incandescent bulbs, so LED bulbs may not have the correct degrees of coverage required by the CG.

MM
 

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