Festoon bulb diameter

dtfeld

Water Contrails
GOLD Sponsor
Jun 5, 2016
5,518
Milton, GA
Boat Info
410 Sundancer
2001
12" Axiom and 9" Axiom+ MFD
Engines
Cat 3126 V-Drives
I have purchased a couple different festoon style bulbs for the lights heading down the stairs, but I can't get one of the correct diameter.

The one I am replacing is .264" ( approx. 1/4") but everything I have bought is more like .313 (approx. 5/16") The larger diameter will not snap into the blades and stay put.

Anybody else run across this or do I have some bastard aftermarket stuff? Or better yet a recommendation for the correct bulb?

Last option, just replace the entire fixture?

Dave
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For what I've spent on the 3 bulbs that don't fit, I could have replaced all 3...grrrr.

I also have blue LED's in my arch and underwater but the original white halogen fixtures in the cockpit down low. I want to replace them, but I'm thinking about multicolor for the cockpit. I like the blue while at the dock, but for night running, I'd prefer to have all red.

For the Cabin, I'm sticking with the white lights. finding the right bulb would be much easier. So far I've struck out.
 
They sell the same fixtures with white (or red) LED’s. But they are a very stark white. The previous owner of my boat actually installed them on the steps. I felt the light was very harsh, so I changed them to blue. I only like the softer “Warm White” bulbs. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find those fixtures in multi color.
I replaced the festoon bulbs in the cockpit lights with Warm White LED bulbs that I also bought on Amazon. They are a bit whiter than the incandescent bulbs, but not too bad. I have found multi color fixtures (red, blue, white) to replace the cockpit lights with but the white is not “Warm White” so I haven’t ordered them.
My old eyes don’t like any lights in the cockpit other than the gauges and instruments turned down very low when running the boat at night, even red ones kind of hurt my night vision, so I don’t use any. But I do like nice soft lighting in the cockpit when on the hook at night.
I also swapped out all the 12 volt bulbs in the cabin for Warm White LED’s (anal about battery usage) and while they too are a hair whiter than the incandescents they are pretty nice.
 
I agree the white can be harsh. I have bought several types of leds to try on the next trip and make sure I like the color of light before investing in 15 or 20 of them.

Unfortunately I can’t find any bulb (incandescent or led) to fit this crazy fixture. Irritating.
 
Even if you found it chances are it would cost almost as much as the whole fixture. You can sometimes find those particular fixtures on eBay for less money. That’s where I got them for my old boat.

FWIW: this is what I installed in all of the cabin fixtures https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CPCJB46/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is what I put in the cockpit fixtures in the 41MM size:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LXAILCD/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
All of them are warm white and the color is pretty decent.
 
"Even if you found it chances are it would cost almost as much as the whole fixture."

I think your right...Ill have to add that project to the list.
 
Even if you found it chances are it would cost almost as much as the whole fixture. You can sometimes find those particular fixtures on eBay for less money. That’s where I got them for my old boat.

FWIW: this is what I installed in all of the cabin fixtures https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CPCJB46/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is what I put in the cockpit fixtures in the 41MM size:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LXAILCD/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
All of them are warm white and the color is pretty decent.

Thanks John...there are too many options. I ordered the same as you.
 
While it would be nice to have blue lights down low in the cockpit, I can’t have no white at all because there are times when you need the white lights
Unfortunately, nobody makes any kind of multi color festoon bulb or replacement for those cockpit fixtures that has a warm white option in it. They all have that very harsh white.
That’s why I went with warm white one color LED festoon bulbs in the low mounted cockpit lights.
My arch lights are blue only and with just those on at night at the dock it looks pretty good.
I’ve considered adding additional blue LED light fixtures down low around the cockpit, maybe put them alongside the existing fixtures for good coverage, and putting them on a separate switch but haven’t motivated my lazy old a$$ yet.
When I turn on the blue arch lights and have the cabin door open and flip the indirect switch for the blue courtesy lights in the steps with no other lights on I think it looks pretty good. My wife thinks it looks like a porn palace, but I like it.
 
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I have blue LED's in the arch, so I'm going to try the blue LED's in the cockpit fixtures. I may have to revert back to the warm white. Regardless, I'm going LED as the halogens have burned every one of the lenses over the years. Maybe I will add a separate switch for colored vs white light in the cockpit, and hopefully get the switches working correctly at the same time.
 

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