S/V Jane'O

DIY Dual Voltage Lighting

2010-01-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a handy project - 120VAC and 12VDC lights in the same fixture. And it's easier than you might think!

When we bought our boat it had dual voltage lights, but we didn't really like them. They were huge and the style didn't really match ours, and most of the light lens was covered with metal, so light only came out the top+bottom! Very dumb design, but they are dual fixtures, with a regular 120VAC socket, as well as a G4 12VDC socket. It wasn't until I decided to convert some lights myself and was removing the old lights when I discovered the old ones were DIY projects too! So obviously I'm not the first to think of this, but if I had noticed that the old ones were self-converted it would have saved me some time. I spent a bunch of time and effort trying to find replacements that were dual voltage from the factory, and I wasn't having much luck. Now I now why!

Original lights:

1. Go to a good lighting store and find some outdoor 120VAC lights you like and which have room for a socket and light. I didn't like what the local home improvement stores had, but a local lighting store had a great selection to choose from.

I already decided on using Sensibulb LED modules (which I had in the old lights). These modules are large (but great and only draw 160mA, 1/12th as much as the old halogen lights! More on LED modules later) - so needed to make sure the lights had room for them. The modules had to fit in the lights, with room for the 120VAC bulbs as well. Think about shadows and how the lights will affect each other. I also think choosing outdoor fixtures makes sense for the marine environment as they are better sealed and protected from moisture.

We choose incandescent for the 120VAC side, since they are on a dimmer, but also the standard fixtures were about 1/2 the cost of fluorescent, and we won't use them except at the dock anyway. Even if you want more energy efficient bulbs, it makes sense to buy the cheaper fixtures with standard sockets that you can buy bulbs anywhere for, and then just put in fluorescent bulbs.

Think about how and where you will mount the lights. I was fortunate in that the footprint of the new lights was smaller than all the holes from the old lights (even though they were much bigger), so I didn't expose any holes in the bulkhead. I was also able to use the mounts the lights came with, but that may or may not be possible - it just depends on your lights and where you are mounting them.

2. Drill some holes into your brand new fixtures and render them non-returnable and void the warranty! I used the G4 sockets from the old lights because I already had them, and they are what the Sensibulbs use. Drilling the holes was the hardest part of the project! The metal on our new lights was pretty tough stuff, and it took some time to drill through them. It doesn't help that my drill bits are cheap and dull... From there it was a simple matter of bolting them in with some stainless hardware from Home Depot or wherever.

3. Solder in the 12VDC bulb sockets and attach them. Electrical isn't a problem for me, so this went quick. Use some heat shrink to insulate the connections, as well as where the wires come through the hole to assure no short circuits! (It's not obvious in the pictures, but on one fixture I used clear heat shrink and the other I used black).

Then mount up the lights:

You can see the G4 socket in the picture above just to the left of the 120VAC light bulb. Or in the picture below, to the right of the bulb.

Other side, with Sensibulb LED module installed:

That's all there is to it! Overall I'm really happy with how they turned out. The new fixtures are not all that large, so the LED modules are pretty close to the 120VAC bulbs. This results in some shadows. Also the modules are a bit close to the curved part of the glass, so the light output is a bit inconsistent. But all in all we are really happy with how they turned out - the lights are considerably brighter than the old ones since most of the light isn't covered with metal!

A few comments about Sensibulb LED modules. LEDs are really great, but you have to be careful. There's a lot of really, horribly crappy LEDs out on the market. I have one from West Marine that's a very harsh blue light and nothing more than a nightlight - completely useless as a replacement for halogens. There's probably some other good products out there, but I'm really impressed with the Sensibulb LED modules. They have a very warm and wide output, and only draw 160mA - compared with the 2000mA the old halogens drew - just 1/12th the energy!

I think the following are all important things in selecting LEDs:

1. Power consumption. Any LED is going to use less power than an incandescent, a halogen, or a fluorescent. Considerably and measurably less.
2. Light output. You need a light that's bright enough to be useful. This is harder than it sounds, many LED lights are just not that bright.
3. Color temperature. Many LEDs produce a harsh blue light, but you can find some that have a much warmer temperature similar to incandescent lights.
4. Light angle. Some LEDs have a very narrow angle of output, which doesn't make them very good for general lighting.
5. Cost. Don't be fooled by the cheap but crappy bulbs and modules. The good ones aren't cheap, but they should last for years, if not a lifetime of use.

OpenCPN - Open Source PC chartplotter software

2010-01-02T21:12:00.000-08:00

OpenCPN is a really neat project, and worthy of a post on any cruising blog... This is an Open Source and completely free PC chartplotter software solution supporting lots of features, with new features being added constantly.

Currently, OpenCPN supports BSB3, S57, and CM93-2 chart formats. It integrates with any NMEA0183 GPS source, and supports AIS. Take a look!

This project is well worth supporting - go download it today: http://opencpn.org

Another related, and useful utility is navmonpc, available free from http://www.navmonpc.com/. The combination of both these utilities makes for a really great navigation solution, with NavMon consuming all NMEA0183 sources and creating a virtual serial port for OpenCPN.

Sea Scout Tree Lot is OPEN!

2009-12-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's that time of the year again! The annual Sea Scout Chistmas Tree Lot is open in Palo Alto, CA.

This tree lot is a primary fundraiser for Ship #145-SSS Challenger and Ship #51-SSS Intrepid, and as always lots of high-quality trees of different varieties.

This year the lot is at the corner of Alma St. and E. Meadow Dr. in Palo Alto.

Hike in desert canyons at Painted Canyon

2009-11-28T09:12:00.000-08:00

A great 6.5 mile hike near Mecca, CA. Painted Canyon is an amazing set of desert canyons with many trails, including the Ladder Trail which winds through 100' tall rock fissures, finally coming out on top with a great panoramic view of the valley and Salton Sea.

http://wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=635091

Thanksgiving Day Hike in Cap Homme / Ralph Adams Park

2009-11-26T13:26:00.000-08:00

Took a quick hike up a nearby mountain in Palm Desert at Cap Homme / Ralph Adams Park on Thanksgiving Day morning. Ready for turkey and all the other goodies now!

http://wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=634552

Happy Thanksgiving from the crew of Jane'O!!

Golden Gate Video Medley

2009-10-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

Some great views of the Golden Gate Bridge taken from various locations including the North observation area, but mostly from the Marin Headlands.

Point Bonita 360

2009-10-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

360 degree pan from Point Bonita, on the cliffs just above the lighthouse.

Raptor Hunting a Mouse at Point Bonita

2009-10-16T12:09:00.000-07:00

A ride on the Nike Missile elevator

2009-10-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

This was really neat - we got to take a trip on the Nike Missile Elevator. (Note this happened in a different order, but I edited it saving the best for last).

Jacob takes Ginger for another dingy ride

2009-10-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

Just a fun silly clip of Jacob and Ginger in a borrowed dingy.

The sound of the 2-stroke in the background is in stark contrast to the silent electric motor on the dingy. Didn't even notice it while recording.

Washington Sunset

2009-09-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Scott had a great opportunity to crew on a delivery from Washington to Oregon. The trip across the Columbia Bar was rather crazy, with 20+ feet breaking waves. No video of that, but here's an incredibly awesome sunset along the Washington coast.

Birds at Westpoint Slough

2009-09-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

A whole bunch of noisy birds flying in formation in Westpoint Slough. On each ebb tide hundreds of birds would come and do this as land was revealed by the outgoing tide.

Interesting discussion about marketing and customer service by African Cats/FastCat

2009-08-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

Various companies have different approaches to how they market their products and do post-sales customer service. How would you feel about a company that promises boats or systems for years that they never deliver, meanwhile submitting articles to every possible magazine, blog, and sailing site suggesting these products are already in production? What about a company who advertises other manufacturer's products as their own? If you buy a boat from a manufacturer would you expect the CEO's wife to go on a personal attack against you because you posted issues with the boat on your blog? Would you buy a boat from a company who threatens legal action against people discussing these topics?

Gideon Goudsmit and Suzan Groeneveld of African Cats seem to consider this business as normal. Is this the sort of company you really want to do business with? Would you buy a FastCat from them? Not me!!

Take a look at this thread at the Multihulls4us forum as well as Butterfly and Barnacle's blog.

UPDATE 08/18: It seems that African Cats may be threatening legal action against their own customers for discussing quality issues. I have no words for this...

Returning the Sunfish to SSS Challenger

2009-08-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

After about year with the Sunfish, it's time to return it to the SSS Challenger for Summer Cruise. We varnished the tiller and centerboard, and did some fiberglass patching on a few spots.

A daysail out the gate

2009-08-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

Had a great daysail out the gate with some friends. Pretty calm conditions, but had a great time. Did some MOB drills and general offshore training. Good stuff!!

Jacob at the "Your Name Here" Sea Scout Regatta

2009-07-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

Jacob and Tristan did some great sailing in the "Your Name Here" Regatta. They represented Challenger, Ship #145 and did really great! They came in 6th overall, qualifying in 3rd place from Northern California - meaning they can very likely go to the International Sea Scout Regatta next year on the East Coast!!

New hatch frames

2009-07-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

While visiting the folks in Wyoming, my dad made new frames for two of our salon hatches which had started to delaminate due to water damage. My dad's got an amazing shop with all the tools needed for this sort of a project. The hatches were made out of teak with a bit of a history (this teak was purchased in the 80's by Atari, believe it or not). Here's a couple of pictures dry fitting them after sanding, along with one of the "wood" side of the shop. Don't have pictures of them varnished and permanently installed yet.

4th of July in Wyoming

2009-07-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pictures of our 4th of July trip to see Scott's folks:

Day sail with Hans and Anna

2009-06-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

We rented a sailboat from one of the local sailing clubs with our friends Hans and Anna for the day. Had a great time with wonderful company...

Challenger takes first at 2009 Old Salts Regatta

2009-05-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Challenger, another first place regatta!

Pictures thanks to Hans S.

Challenger takes first at 2009 Seafarer's Regatta

2009-05-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

Sea Scout Ship 145 - Challenger took 1st place at the 2009 Seafarer's Regatta. Well done guys!

Sailing with Ray and Carrie

2009-04-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

We had a great sail with Ray and Carrie when they came to visit with us for a few days.

Low tide

2009-01-09T18:50:00.000-08:00

Low tide... And the infamous chunk of concrete...

Christmas on JaneO

2008-12-25T19:10:00.000-08:00

I love the marina at night during Christmas!

Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa

2008-11-26T19:23:00.000-08:00