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revco32's avatar
revco32
Explorer
Apr 05, 2016

LED Upgrade... Done!

So prior to joining here I had decided to upgrade the lighting in our travel trailer to LED. A common issue I noticed while reading reviews for various LED replacement lights on Amazon was that the lights that people were installing while labeled for 12v use often times did not take into account that there would on occasion be small surges or general line voltage changes that could spike the voltage being sent to these lights at times well beyond their design capabilities and as a result there were horror stories in other forums and various Amazon reviews about lights catching fire, showing signs of extreme over heating and in some cases just being complete junk.

After spending a considerable amount of time trying to locate an LED replacement light that would 1. fit the 921 base, 2. put out a comparable amount of light, 3. work at slightly higher voltages when needed,4. be as inexpensive as possible. I arrive at these.

12-28 volt LED

Hopefully the link will appear.

So far they seem to work perfectly, there were no duds, so far no flickering and no apparent over heating.
I plan to load test them tonight to see just how much they draw but my guess is that it will be minuscule compared to the incandescent bulbs.

Will let you all know how well they do when they're actually needed. :)

8 Replies

  • I just replaced all the single and double pancake lights with 3" round LED lights on my 5ver. Did the same on our last one also. Easy to install and do not have to worry about the bulbs. Had them in our last 5ver for over 3 years and never had a problem.
  • Finding the right LED can be challenging but definitely worth the effort, particularly if you camp without hookups often. A few years back someone on the forum had a great write-up and I used the very same panel LEDs from Ebay. Four years later they are working great with zero failures and adhesive still keeping them in place, even the exterior LEDs are holding up fine.

    After our LED conversion we only use one side of our dual side overhead lamps since a single LED panel provides the same illumination as 2 incandescents. Our Iota converter outputs 14.8vdc which has posed no issues and panels run in the mid-ninety degree range. Since we primarily camp off the grid installing LEDs felt like we had added another battery. One of my favorite mods.
  • We prefer the Gold Stars brand found on Ebay but have a bunch of the ones RoyB posted a pic of. Didn't pay any where near $50 for ten though; $15 is what I remember. The adhesive backing isn't very good. Much better on the Gold Stars.
  • I bought the exact same led lights, they work great, much brighter that the old incandesent bulbs. I have had them in for 3 years and they all still work.
    I also upgraded my tail/turn lights to led and all the running lights to led.
    Here are links to what and where i bought them:
    http://www.amazon.com/Camper-Trailer-Brake-Lights-License/dp/B00L6F04U4?ie=UTF8&colid=UTK5DVNLK920&coliid=I2YTVA92ZPHCV&ref_=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl

    https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/oval-marker-lamps/oval-led-truck-trailer-light-with-reflectorized-lens-4in-led-marker-clearance-light-with-4-leds/580/
  • I bought the warm white version, I agree, they are great. Much better then the dim blue/white first batch I bought.
  • I bought some of these LEDs on eBay:


    ____LED with G4 base

    I used these in my florescent fixtures. They are very bright and will handle a wide range of voltages. They have an on-board voltage regulator so they will handle voltages from 10 to 30 volts. As mentioned earlier this can be a problem for TV reception. The ones I have seem to only affect the VHF channels. Since these have a G4 base they would have to be adapted to use a wedge base.

    I also replaced most of my incandescent bulbs with LEDs. Here's a link to info on my install:
    LED bulb replacement
  • A Forum member that is an electrician did some testing few years ago. The result was that cheap LED arrays fared well when powered with 15V. That would be the most voltage a typical RV 12V system experiences. My solar charging system approaches that in Winter and I haven't lost a single SMD panel.
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    When I encounter the LED BOARDs that had the built-in DC VOLTAGE regulator always seem to create enough RFI to blank my HD TV signals, give havoc to my Ham Radio Operations in the VHF regions, and mess with my WX RADIO reception. The HDTV being picked up using the OTA BATWING antenna from the local towns was most often blanked out by using thee LED boards.

    Hopefully you are not bothered by any of this... Maybe the quality of the LED Boards from todays markets are better than those that were available in the 2008 era.

    I am currently using the LED boards purchased from ebay-china that only have a DC VOLTAGE range of 12vdc-14Vdc.. They were so cheap I ordered a whole bunch of spares. To date I have only replaced one LED boards out of eight installed in 2008 time frame...


    These boards were available for quantity ten each for about $50.

    I gave away my high dollar boards that had built-in DC VOLTAGE Regulators.

    Roy ken

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