Carver Owners Forum

Where do you get the bulbs or better yet, does anyone have a solution to replace the insides with led? Id like to do the same to the cabin lights. Problem is the dimmers. Is there a good led that can dim as well?
Any advice welcome.

Walt

Google marine LED. There are a host of companies that provide both replacement bulbs and complete fixtures. I’ve replaced a number of both festoon style and halogens. Any bulb you have, has a LED replacement. They can be bought online or just about any marine/RV dealer.

I bought my festoon style from superbrightLEDs.com and my halogen style from Amazon.

A couple other companies… marinebeam.com and doctorLED.com and plenty of others.

Welcome aboard Walt.

I replaced all my bulbs with LEDs bought on Amazon.ca. Take note of the type of bases the bulbs have and search the web for base types to get a base number. This will help narrow your search for the correct bulb. I had about 4 different bulb types to replace on mine. If dimmers are involved just look for ones that specifically say they are "dimmable", put that in the search title along with the bulb type. Look at the ratings and customer feedback, that will give you some idea of their quality, and you get what you pay for so if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. You'll also typically want to choose either cool white or warm white. I went with with cool white in the heads and warm white throughout the cabin. Are yours halogen bulbs or regular incandescent?

Good point about cool vs warm. I prefer warm…cool is just too bluish for my tastes. Warm color temps are in the high 2000’s to low 3000’s. Cool color temps are in the high 3000’s, low 4000’s. Neutral or natural are in between.

Walt, I purchased led bulbs from superbrightleds.com for both inside and outside and they fit the old fixtures. They were also cheaper than a marine store.

This helps so much thanks all.

Im having a hard time finding the base number for the bulbs. is it on the bulbs themselves?

Go to one of the LED web sites and just match up what you have with pictures. They probably have a page showing the different bases just for that purpose.

Been there done that on several boats. Problem is the fixtures get old and brittle with time and will require replacement eventually. Not sure what type you have but getting a complete LED light fixture will give you a better lighting compared to just changing the bulbs although either way does work. These are direct replacements for many models of Carvers.

https://www.amazon.ca/Dream-Lighting-Recessed-Interior-Caravan/dp/B0105KS95C/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1632994857&refinements=p_89%3ADream+Lighting&s=automotive&sr=1-1


Dimming! In order to dim led lights one must have access to both positive and negative leads going to the fixture. Unfortunately boats are wired with the positive lead switching which means you only have access to 1 wire in most cases at the original switch. If you can track down the negative side then yes it will work however I know in my salon this had me scratching my head and left it stock for another day when I feel like really getting into it.