Public Discussion Forum

It never occurred to me to put a smoke detector in that compartment but I love it. Would certainly give you an extra few minutes to react if that's where a fire broke out.

I, like most have replaced our LED bacl lighting.

I used strips and mounted them to the Clear plastic cover. the round plate in picture is the smoke detector mount.

Jerry Nelson

Forever young 4335

So I have to say that I'm quite happy with the approach I inherited on Kallisto. The original light systems were all removed (found in a drawer), and instead, some ridged LED light strips were mounted on the opposite wall. They not only illuminate the nameplates, but the entire area under the dash, making it much easier to work in that area. No hassles for installation or replacement.

Steve

Kallisto 5369

The shore power lighting was the hardest to mount and looks the worst as far as uneven lighting. I probably could refine the design for a better look but for now it's good enough. No more grabbing a flashlight to check which switch to throw.

yes, it would be great to see a photo of the mechanism and how it looks when turned on.

thanks!

- rob

My boat (4817) had the fiber optic lighting. The LEDs still lit but the light wasn't traveling through to the panel very well if at all.

This past summer I 3d printed u-shaped channels into which I affixed red LED strips. The kind you get on amazon that come on reels and can be cut to length. Because each LED doesn't line up with the labels, I mounted them on the side of the "U" and used a white color to help diffuse the light. Been pretty happy with the result. Not near the boat right now but I can post a pic in the coming days if anyone wants to see it.

I completed this job a couple years back. I used dark blue plexiglass strips behind the name tags and glued LED strip lights to the plexiglass. Worked great and reasonably priced. 

Rob-

The backlighting on my panel is also not working. I too, would like to replace some of the name plates as I am working to overhaul my panel setup. I have not had a chance to dig into it as much as you have.

My naive thought was to just put a strip of blue led lights (or ARGB lights 'hard coded' to be blue) behind the name plates and call it a day. E.g. something like this: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/m5stack-technology-co-ltd/A035/16370098

If that approach won't work I'm game to work with you to solve this problem.

I don't have a CO2 laser at the moment. There is a maker space near my house that I have been thinking about joining that does have one though. If that were needed here it would be something I would be willing to do.

On Roadrunner 48-029 we're looking for replacement blue backlighting for the circuit breaker panel. It appears the backlighting has been replaced once before, as there is an oddly-wired DC-DC converter to produce clean 24vDC power to 16 separate acrylic light guides with LED edge sources + resistor such that each light guide acts as a 24vDC "bulb".

My goal is to replace the backlights with a similar design that allows for easily changing out backlight components/sections as they fail. I'm also going to replace the reverse-engraved backlit labels as the writing is not easily readable in daylight - the letters are all black, not white-on-black.

I have searched the forums and know that we do not have electroluminescent backlighting. The existing acrylic light guides in the panel are placed there with liberal use of hot glue and clear packing tape. I am aware of the fiber optic mat approach, that might be a way to go but I'd prefer to stick with acrylic light guides.

I'm investigating making light guides with a constant current driver and have been experimenting with various blue LEDs. I have a note in to Paul at Selene Yachts America and haven't heard back yet. I have had several groups tell me they don't make things that small, and recieved one quote for $4,346 to replace the panel backlighting, which seems absurdly expensive to me.

As regards the labels, I'm also experimenting with negative-space inkjet printing onto vinyl (then laminated) to create labels that are not confusing (e.g., "toilet blower" is my favorite of the existing labels) - so far the results are fair: easily readable during the day, not quite as black a surround at night.

A couple of questions:

What have other boats done as regards maintaining/replacing the backlighting?

Would there be any interest in going in on a custom order of light guides (if a custom light guide manufacturer get involved)?

Does anyone have a CO2 laser that would be interested in making pits in thin acrylic?

attached is a picture of the light guide I disassembled this morning.

- rob