Engine room lights on my 356

[Viper]

Qr Bbpost Underneath the companionway steps above the batteries. You really have to get your head deep into the bilge and look up.

[Midnightsun]

Had the same thought about them coming loose as you. There are a couple of mounting holes on the strips so I simply drilled into the aluminum frame and secured them with pop rivets.

[km1125]

Looks like some nice bright lights!

How hot do those 10W strips get? What did you do to cover the leads on both ends?

[buster53]

Qr Bbpost Looks like some nice bright lights!

How hot do those 10W strips get? What did you do to cover the leads on both ends?

LED's don't get hot at all. A few years ago I replaced some incandescent festoon bulbs with LED's. The incandescents were over 160. The LED's were under 90 degrees.

[Midnightsun]

Actually the aluminum heat sink gets darn hot at 13.2 volts. I tuned them down by installing a voltage regulator set at 11.5v so now they are just very warm.

[km1125]

Qr Bbpost
LED's don't get hot at all. A few years ago I replaced some incandescent festoon bulbs with LED's. The incandescents were over 160. The LED's were under 90 degrees.

Normally, LEDs don't because they don't consume much current. These appear to be very bright and consume 10W each, which would be similar to a incandescent that consumes 1A at 12VDC. Those get hot.

[Viper]

Qr Bbpost.... LED's don't get hot at all.....

It should be noted that it really depends on output. Some high output units can generate a tremendous amount of heat such that they require heat sinks. Some underwater LEDS for example will burn out in a very short time if operated out of the water. Being submerged keeps them cool and prevents premature failure. A typical halogen pot light replacement LED though is cooler than the halogen for comparable output.

[buster53]

I just replaced some halogens with LED's. The halogens were in the 200 degree range. The LED's are in the 115-120 range and a little brighter

[Rich W]

Like your lights. I notice you are diesel powered. You probably don't have to worry about being ignition protection compliant like those of us with gas engines....I assuming these don't have any such rating. What can you tell me? Thanks

Rich

[Midnightsun]

There is no "explosion proof" rating on any lights I have ever come across. That being said the original light in the bilge are pretty much a standard dome style light, definitely nothing explosion proof about those IMHO. The dangers are more to do with incandescent or halogen where a filament is used, electric arc/spark comes to mind. I do not see this being an issue on any LED product used in the engine compartment.

This article backs up my conclusions. https://www.larsonelectronics.com/a-86- ... ility.aspx