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After reading about Sensibulb LED lights elsewhere on this forum, I decided to get on with my own cabin light conversion. I emailed Sailorssolutions.com to ask if these bulbs would replace my old MR16 halogens, but the answer was no.
Searching the web I found these bulbs and decided to try one.
It worked well so I ordered two more.
As they are surface-mounted LED's they shone out from the face of the lamp too much, so I turned a small hood from a PVC pipe coupling as a shield.
The end result is a good looking lamp,
that lights up the cabin with a warm glow, bright enough for reading.
Without going into a lot of detail the bulbs from LED wholesalers and Superbrite LED are of a cheaper nature than the bulbs from Marinebeam.
While LED Wholesalers & the Superbrite bulbs look absolutely 100% identical they are not. MarineBeam uses only the best "binned" emitters and the knockoffs use "orphan" emitters or the lowest quality emitters from a lot of bulbs. LED emitters are batched tested for color, and many other variables. The best bulbs are put into a top quality "bin". The top quality emitters can cost as much as 350-400% more than orphan emitters. The bulbs from the "cheap guys" are usually "orphan emitters or a significantly cheaper "bin".
This can make a difference.
The bulb on the left is a high quality MarineBeam the bulb on the right is a Superbrite LED bulb. As you can see they look 100% identical. They are so hard for even me to tell apart that I hate to label them with a sharpie marker.
This is the SuperBrite LED's MR-11 WHP6. It's a six SMD bulb and a decent knock off to the Marinebeam MR-11-6 below. To the naked eye looks virtually identical but the lighting & current draw tell a different story. It has a cold blueish tint and is slightly less bright than the MarineBeam MR-11-6. At $14.95 it is a decent value but certainly not the best color representation. Another clue that it is not the same exact bulb as the Marinebeam is the current draw. This bulb drew .141 amps and the Marinebeam drew .158 amps.
This is the MarineBeam G4 / MR-11-6 it uses 6 SMD LED's Compared to the Superbrite LED bulb it was noticeably warmer in color output. At $24.99 it is more money then the Superbrite bulb but also much more pleasing and warm:
While LED's may look similar they do not always perform in a similar fashion. You do not always get what you pay for. The MB bulb above is significantly warmer and both were ordered and labeled upon delivery as "Warm White"...
P.S. You can always try a MarineBeam festoon to compare the two. If you don't like it Jeff will refund your money..
Maine Sail,
Thanks for the comprehensive rundown on LED's. I also read your "More LED Bulb Reviews !!" Good info! And thanks for the link to the warm white festoons. I was wondering if they were even available.
I like the base they show in the link. I need three of those to repalce the old overhead (read: bump-your-head) cabin fixtures.
My reason for using the cheapest lamps I could find is that I'm still experimenting with this new technology to see what is going to work best for my existing fixtures (picked up at an N.O.S. sale for $5 a piece).
So far I'm very pleased with my choices. By the time they need replacement the price of better quality bulbs will probably be 1/10th of what it is now, and even newer technology will probably be available.
The slight difference in current draw is acceptable, as the old bulbs drew a full 10 Watts each, adding up to 80 Watts total if all the lights were left on. That is no longer an issue ... I can keep a nice bright cosy interior at night, using as many lights as I please. And when I re-wire I don't have to worry about wire sizes being too small for the load :-)
Ain't technology great!
At $17.50 they are one heck of a deal and utilize a real glass diffuser. They hold the Sensibulbs perfectly too. I replaced the plastic lights in my boat with them and replaced the halogens with Sensibulbs. For $53.45 you can have a Sensibulb and a brand new fixture in white, stainless or brass.....
I think a lot of folks don't know how good of a deal can be had on fixtures especially these ABI's...
