Turn some old cabin dome lights into cool RGB LED lights.
These bulbs are Red Green Blue (RGB) and each comes with an IR remote.
You can use one remote for more than one light.
There are different modes i.e. flash, smooth, fade, strobe.
Select any color or white.
They are not really bright enough for task lighting, but they look good.
These lights are 3 watts each. They stay cool and have low power consumption.
12 volt MR16 2 round pin GU5.3 - also used used in some low voltage landscape lighting.
The bases have clips to grip the lamp and hold it in place.
LEDs from Deal Extreme
Weight: 2.89 oz (82 g) The bases came from Light Bulb Emporium
The little mending plate nailer came from Lowes.
I think my prototypes turned out ok. The tabs that the bracket is riveted to should go north and south instead of east and west. That way, the metal next to the original base location wouldn't be so thin. The original dome lights could be mounted flush. These can not. They do fit perfectly in the original radar arch location on my boat. I wired a switch for them at the helm.
The bulbs are spotlights. These fixtures have glass domes, which does nicely diffuse some of the light.
I spent a total of $48.33 with shipping for the lights and bases, and about three hours time. New light fixtures are about $85 each.  I made up this Vibration Table Jig to repair my bow pulpit. I split the pulpit open and removed the rotted plywood. I positioned a layer of 1-inch foam board centered in the cavity. The foam board is held in position with glass along with two stainless steel 3/4 by 1-inch bars that are 50-inches long and run the length of the pulpit on either side on the anchor roller opening . The foam board and stainless steel bars were then completely surrounded by Seacast poured in at the top. It is very stiff and strong and should last for all eternity.
| If you have a bunch of nice looking stainless or brass cabin dome lights that have failed, consider installing some new bases and LEDs of some type. |