How to convert to LED lighting

Joeyo67 wrote:
Ok, I just ordered the 10 pack and two bayonet style bulbs. If I get them before our next campout (April 20th) I'll get them installed.

Are the lights hard to get out of those little sockets?

Thanks, Joe

Are you asking because you never changed a light bulb? You squeeze the lens, and it should pop off fairly easy, or you are doing it wrong. Then push in slightly on the bulb (into the holder) and give a gentle twist, the bulb should come out fairly easy. There are little tabs on both sides of the bulb to hold them into the socket, and by pushing in and turning, they come right out.

Then put in the new adapter, test the light, and consider your mounting options, remember that the lens cover will need to go back on. Some stated the double sided tape is not strong enough, and used some silicon to help hold the light panel in place, in addition to the double sided tape.

Whatever you do, try your best to not block heat from leaving the fixture. I don't think I would want to use double sided tape IF it causes heat to be retained (tape will act like a insulator to retain heat, especially bad when applied to the heat sink).

If the light will not come on, consider the fixture might be reversed polarity, something the old light bulbs did not care about, yet the LED is critical to have it forward biases. Switching the light fixture's wires from black to white and white to black might solve the problem. Make sure it is working before mounting it inside the fixture, and put on the lens, or everything has to come back off, take un-done, ect.

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Someone asked about the SMD 5050 LED and how it compared to the 3525 LED. That is 5 mm X 5 mm or 25 MM square, VS SMD 3528 (3.5 X 2.8mm or 9.8 mm square, so the larger SMD 5050 is 150% larger, or the smaller one is only 40% the surface area. So 24 of the larger SMD 5050 bulbs should produce more light than 36 of the smaller SMD 3528.

Quote" Some of the ones in the Listing I gave are using the SMD 1210 / SMD 3528
(SMD 1210 (inch): conversion to metric is 3528, means that the length of LED components is 3.5mm, width 2.8mm. So by metric it is called SMD 3528, By inch, it is called SMD 1210.)" End quote
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Also check your battery voltage. While 14.0 volts might be OK with LED's, not much more voltage will lead to significantly higher running temperatures, and pre-mature failure due to heat. Always make sure the battery is connected, so the charger does not have voltage spikes.

With a 10 pack of these light panels for only about $50, I can finally say that LED light conversions are worth it, that converting to LED's is less expensive than just installing a 100 watt solar panel, and use the extra power that you produce to power the old lights. I will probably order some LED's soon for my work van and select lights within my RV.

Fred.