Replacing Fluorescent Tubes with LEDs

[Nigel]

I read this in the YBW forums:

... the new Bedazzled and Boatlamps LED tubes are brighter and better than 2 or 3 of the standard 8w tubes. However, for less than half the price these are just as bright [eBay item 400509439377 £12.99 for 300mm]

I bought one of these to try, they are excellent.

I've also found them cheaper (£11.49) from the same seller on Amazon, Strictly Lamps, and the even better news is that this Amazon link will help me to fund our forum at no cost to the buyer!

Note: Seller confirms they are 12V - 30V, not 240V. Listing now corrected, so discussion removed.

Unlike cheap LEDs they have a proper regulator, not resistors. You can tell this by the large voltage range allowed, perfect for a boat.

In order to use these, you must disconnect all the fluorescent driver circuitry (see Downloads link on main entry page). However, I'm going to make some circuit boards for the Bavaria fitted Rensch/Resolux 505 lamps to simplify the task. If enough people are interested, I could get a large batch made.

This is what the Rensch/Resolux 505 fittings look like:

[sailprincess]

I realize this is an old post- so hoping this message gets viewed. I have a 2002 Bavaria 40 with these Rensch 50 fixtures as described. I have purchased LED replacement bulbs (these ones: http://www.lunasealighting.com/docs/Lunasea_LLB-05WD-81-00-1.pdf) and I have downloaded the instructions by Nigel to alter the current circuitry. Having no experience with this, I am a bit confused. I do not know how to link the 3 points together... I have a soldering iron (which I think I need?) but have not used it before as I'm just learning but am eager to get these all switched over. Any further info or step-by-steps would be much appreciated!! Thanks in advance.

[Nigel]

Hi sailprincess,

The lamps you have bought are slightly different: they take power via seperate wires rather than the pins. One of these needs to be connected to the negative input to the lamp, the other to the switched positive. In addition, I would advise removing as many of the original components as you can, or at least cut the power to them.

[sailprincess]

Hi Nigel- Thanks so much for your reply! I'm totally new to DC work, so am wondering if you would be so kind as to update that PCB diagram and post it for me? I am not sure what is supposed to go where with this set up (as you said, the LED bulbs I'm using have wires that come off- I believe one is positive and one is ground?) I think I can tackle this if I have clear instructions. I'm also not sure what linking those 3 points means either....Really appreciate your help!!! I'm anxious to learn;)

[Nigel]

Take a picture of the circuit board in your light, close up like the one in my guide.

[sailprincess]

Thanks for the reply- here you go!

UPDATED PHOTO as it was upsidedown! sorry about that

[Nigel]

Thanks for the reply- here you go!

UPDATED PHOTO as it was upsidedown! sorry about that

OK, so you have the same circuit board as in my guide. For a replacement LED tube with attached wires, do the following:

Discard the blue wires (red in your picture) that connect the other contact.
Make the cuts in the tracks as shown
Connect your negative wire to the pad next to the negative terminal, as marked with blue arrow
Connect your positive wire to the pad next to the switch, as marked with a yellow dot.
Note: the other yellow marks can be ignored, they are normally linked with a wire to take the +12V to the contact. 

[sailprincess]

Thanks Nigel! Another question before I start... You talk about connecting the positive and negative wires. I assume you're referring to the 2 wires coming off the lunasea led bulb. The bulb does have 2 wires coming off it, however they are both black and the package says one is positive and one is ground. So where would the ground go?

[Nigel]

Ground in this context means the same as negative. If the wires are not identified as positive and negative (ground) then they are probably interchangeable. Check with source if not 100% sure.


Note I will probably split this topic in a day or so.

[sailprincess]

Thanks Nigel. Okay, I just got confirmation from Lunasea that the wires are interchangeable, so that is good
So, in step 1, when I 'discard' the top 2 red wires, I assume that means cut them and wrap them in electrical tape?
When connecting the wire from the lightbulb to the negative pad, how exactly do I do this? Just solder it on to the little pentagram-shaped pad with the 3 little squares on it? Sorry for needing the hand-holding. I'm literally going to watch a YouTube video on soldering before I tackle this project! (p.s. can those two wires currently attached to the light (pos & neg) be easily detached so that I may do this work at a table?)

[Nigel]

Cut both ends of the red wires, throw away.
Cut tracks as shown.
Solder your wires to pads as indicated.