LED Strip Lighting for Galley

[GuitarPhotog]

A friend recently gave me some strips of 12 VDC LED lighting. I decided to use one to improve the light in my galley.

I slid the LED strip into 1/2" square acrylic tubing for ease of mounting and soldered an in-line light switch into the supply line. Note the wire nuts are temporary until all the work is done when they will be replaced with permanent crimp connectors.

They are really bright, but at ~1A I'll have to be judicious about using them when I'm not hooked up to shore power.



I plan to make a similar, longer strip to mount on the exterior of the hatch, to act as my backup light for seeing my way into dark campsites at night.

You can read the whole story on my Teardrop Blog.

[Breytie]

You will find those strips work a charm. Just watch out, where you have it mounted now, it will light the area under the open hatch, not the galley itself.

Temporarily mount the light, power it up, turn off all other lights and go through the motions of prepping food and drink in the galley, all the time making sure you have enough light for the job. If not, move the light or add more lights to fix the problem.

The power consumption should not be a problem unless you have tiny a battery or no way to charge for a long time.

[GuitarPhotog]

It turns out that the LEDs are pointed in the right direction by accident. The LED strip is 1/2" wide, about 1/8" wider than the 1/2" acrylic tubing I put it in. That forces the LED strip to be on the diagonal in the tube, which points them directly at the galley, not just down.

But thanks for the tip.

<Chas>

[PaulC]

Taken care of
Cheers
Paul