How to convert to LED lighting

NetBoy wrote:
Hi, tenbear's posting giving some info about different kinds of LEDs made me curious, so I did a bit of online research, and thought I would share the results with you-all:

LED stands for "Light Emitting Diode"... these devices are manufactured in a variety of packages.

SMD stands for "Surface Mounted Diode" - SMD LEDs are just one type of LED "package". Instead of having leads, SMDs are soldered directly onto the surface of a circuit board (thus the name "Surface Mount").

SMD's come in different package sizes, and are named according to their physical size. Making things a little more complicated is that their name may be in either inches or millimeters, so one particular SMD may be known by two different names. Here are some examples:

> SMD 0603 (inch): conversion to metric is 1005, means the length of LED components is 1.0mm, width 0.5mm. So by metric it is called SMD 1005, By inch, it is called SMD 0603.

> SMD 0805 (inch): conversion to metric is 2125, means the length of LED components is 2.0mm, width 1.25mm. So by metric it is called SMD 2125, By inch, it is called SMD 0805.

>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.

> SMD 5050 (metric): This is called by the metric, means that the length of LED components is 5.0mm, width 5.0mm.

For the LED SMD light panels we have been discussing in this thread, the 1210 and the 5050 SMDs are the most common at this time.

1210 SMDs have a single light emitting diode in their package; while 5050 SMDs have three. Thus a 5050 SMD puts out roughly 3 times the light and uses three times the current. Since 5050 SMDs contain three light emitting diodes, they are sometimes called a Tri-Chip. While the 5050 SMDs of most interest to us for RV lighting are the white or warm white ones, it is worth noting that some 5050 SMDs contain 3 different colors - Red, Green, & Blue - and each color and it's brightness can be controlled independently, creating millions of possible color combinations.

So tenbear is right that a panel containing 24 each 5050 SMDs is brighter than a 36 or 48 1210 SMD panel (the 5050 panel would be roughly equivalent to 3x24 or 72 1210 SMDs). You can of course expect panels containing 5050 SMDs to be more expensive than panels with the same number of 1210 SMDs, but remember that the 5050 SMDs put out more light.

Here is a photo of an LED panel with 5050 SMDs:

Notice that you can almost see the 3 individual LEDs within the 5050 package. You can also see 6 connections soldered to the circuit board - 2 for each of the 3 LEDs inside the 5050 SMD.

Which SMD package is better for RV lighting? I think it is somewhat a matter of personal preference. Panels with more 1210 SMDs (such as 36 or 48 to a panel) are physically larger, and thus spread the light source out a bit more -- I think this may be an advantage in larger fixtures (such as RV ceiling lights) because they will more evenly light the fixture's diffuser. In smaller fixtures (such as RV reading lamps), more compact 5050 SMD panels may be more advantageous.

On eBay (and other sites), panels containing 5050 SMSs are most common in configurations of 6, 9, 12, 18, 20, and 24 SMDs. Panels using 1210 SMDs are most common in configurations of 12, 24, 36, and 48 SMDs. Other size panels are often available with both types of SMDs.

Best wishes....

I just ordered some 5050 24 light panels for only $2.65 each in packs of 10, with free shipping, not from e-bay but from Alibaba.

http://www.aliexpress.com/fm-store/107398/211076233/car-led-bulb.html

The money is held in escrow account until you receive the goods and release it to the seller. You can use a credit card to process the order.

I also bought some 13 SMD round lights, and some 18 round lights, and for my Ford van interior light a 6 LED 5050 light that will replace the burnt out dome light with 1/4 the amp draw.

The round lights will be a easy install for the interior lights in my RV, I will only convert some light to the 12 or 24 LED panels, depending on what I feel like doing. The 12 light panel is only $1.69 (yes all this prices include shipping) so my total order was only $65 for 10 each 12 LED 5050 panels, 10 each 24 LED 5050 panels, 10 each 6 LED dome lights, 2 each of the 13 and 18 LED 5050 round lights.


Fred.