30v vs 40v LED lights

[Chasemmc]

Want to replace existing overhead lights with new LED down lights. They appear to be pretty common in 10v-30v, while my system is 32v and most likely higher with the engine/gen running. Marinebeam has some 12-40v lights available, but the light temperature choices are not as good.

Want something in the 2600~3000K range and dimmable.

First question, can I run the 30v and other than running a little hotter and perhaps lower life expectancy, would their be any other issues? Safety?

Second question, would it be better to put a step down DC/DC converter, let say a 40v to 12v at the power feed. They are $16 on Amazon, and I would only need 6~8 of them to do all the overhead lights.

Third question, what is the best way to splice the wiring. Looking at the old Hatteras splices, some of them are just wrapped around bare leads and covered with a glob of silicone. YIKES !!!
Normally on land would just use wire nuts, but seem to recall the use of butt splices or hand shake connectors are preferred. Opinions?

Thanks for the insight

[Jammin']

I'm putting in new engine room LED lights next weekend and I've been thinking about wire splicing too. I'm running all new 14 gauge supply wire because the existing wiring is a hodge podge mess. It seems that a three way step down butt splice connector hasn't been invented yet. The thought that just came to me this afternoon is to strip the 24 gauge pigtail from the light fixture the whole length of a 10-12 gauge butt connector and thread it all the way through with the two 14 gauge supply wire ends in either end and crimp the wires together on both ends of the butt splice. I don't know if you can thread a wire all the way through a butt connector.

[Pascal]

My worry about the $18 step down converters is that they re made in red China.... I have used a couple but really try to avoid chinese junk when it comes to electrical parts, and dog food.

[MadHatter53]

Most butt connectors have a stop so you know when your deep enuff. Wire nuts are a no no, my old boat had quite a few I redid. Only the mid bilge was corroded due to a damp environment. I have done 3 and 4 ways with butt connectors. I'm also looking to redo some of my lighting and will test the voltage as I found two converters that are hidden but powered up and I didn't have the time to see what they run so that's another one for the list. Running something Over or under rated voltage isn't good. The previous owner replaced the eng room bulb lightsWith two tube type per ER and they are great. This is my third season with my boat and I have yet to scratch the surface on figuring things out. Eg my autopilot compass is wired to the breaker for my stbd eng heater.

[Boatsb]

Why not get the right stuff. But 40v lights and they can daisy chain or run drops from the mains.

If you dont understand the process you probably shouldn't be rewiring a boat.

[Chasemmc]

Who makes a quality step down and where to buy?

[Boatsb]

Who makes a quality step down and where to buy?

I sell lots of the victron units.

Isolated makes the output voltage stable and I've had 0 failures of them.

[Wiredup62]

I have been researching this to death. Are all your lights DC, or are some stepped down AC? I have some of both, but in my salon, they are all stepped down 110 to 28vac. I tried 24vac led replacement bulbs, those didn't work, blew quickly. Are you looking for LED replacements, or totally new fixtures?

[davidwigler]

I replaced all of my 32 volt incandescent bulbs with 60w equivalent Phillips dimmable 120v LED bulbs from Home Depot and they have worked great for several years with no failures. For some reason the 75w and 100w equivalent bulbs did not work at that time.

[rustybucket]

I replaced all of my 32 volt incandescent bulbs with 60w equivalent Phillips dimmable 120v LED bulbs from Home Depot and they have worked great for several years with no failures. For some reason the 75w and 100w equivalent bulbs did not work at that time.

Wait, so you are saying you screwed a 110v AC dimmable LED light bulb into a 32v socket? And it worked?