Reader Tip: Lights
I bought three marine cold-fluorescent lighting units for $80 each that do a good job of lighting the large cabin areas of my 44-foot Bruce Roberts ketch, Willow, but I was looking for a less expensive solution for smaller areas like the heads and nav station.
At Fry’s electronics I found the perfect solution—12-inch CCF lighting tubes and power supplies intended for illuminating fancy clear-sided desktop computer cases! They come in several colors (obviously the white tubes are best suited for this application—P/N 6200540 at www.frys.com). The lighting tubes cost only $6 each, pull five milliamperes, run on 12 volts, have a wiring harness, and are encased in a clear tube covering that is tough and only 1/2-inch in diameter, so they are easy to use in a confined space. Each power supply can drive two tubes and don’t seem to produce any discernible RF noise. I hid some behind the fiddles for indirect lighting.
Another solution is available at Lowes or Home Depot—12-volt fluorescent lights that can run on batteries or external 12 volts. They’re bulkier and don’t produce as much light as the computer tubes, but are available everywhere in either 6-inch or 10-inch units. They cost around $10.
Check Amazon.com as well, but last I looked they didn’t have the white tubes in stock. However, they DO have black lighting tubes if you want to get a velvet painting for the saloon and return to the subtle elegance of the ’60s!
Do you have a simple solution for a problem on board? Send your idea and a photo to HOS@cruisingworld.com. If we use your tip in the newsletter, we’ll send you a cool Cruising World_** Hands-On Sailor t-shirt!**_
