Lights

[phibbs]

Still new to the forums... I was wondering what can be done with a light above our sink ? We have a 1973 22 foot Argosy. Being fairly helpless and ignorant in the electrical field... the switch seems to have stuck, it can't be turned on anymore. At first we were able to jiggle (big technical term ) and it worked, but no luck now. Can these be replaced? I would like more lighting there, since when doing the dishes, it is too dull to see. ALSO, our lights above the table/bed don't work, any suggestions for better lighting? Thanks,

[Rivetedude]

You can easily replace it with a 12 volt flourescent light which will significantly increase the amount of workable light you have. I'm going to do the same thing on my '72 Ambassador. It's pretty simple to do. Disconnect the old, connect the new, put in the bulb, flip the switch, enjoy the light! Good Luck!

[87MH]

Originally Posted by phibbs

Still new to the forums... I was wondering what can be done with a light above our sink ?...ALSO, our lights above the table/bed don't work, any suggestions for better lighting?

I certainly agree with Ben's solution (above).

Fluorescents present more light for the amperage and are cooler to boot.

They install easily - just 4 screws and the body of the light fixture will cover the hole left by the old light.

There are only 2 wires to replace and there are probably wire nuts already of the existing fixture hookup.

Note which wire goes to ground before you remove the old fixture, or have a meter handy that will allow you to determine which wire goes to ground and which is "hot". AS did not (as far as I know) use the same color wire for "ground" in all instances.

[RiskIt]

If you want a cheep fix... just get a auto switch for the light. Any car parts place has them. Just switch out the sitch and your good to go. Next up is the Fluorescents... they will save ALOT on power as well. Then the next is: CCF (Cold Cathode Fluorescent) these are great... but are very costly. I put one above my sink and it's great. It takes about 1-2min to heat-up... don't know what it's called because they never "heat". You can leave it on for a day and touch it and it doesn't feel hot at all. Heat = energy.
So you can see what I'm talking about:

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs.../10001/83/82/9



My first idea to fix the light problem = $2.00 the last one = $100.00

Anything is better then the original for both power and just plain old lighting.
Best of luck