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Tom_M1's avatar
Tom_M1
Explorer
Sep 14, 2013

LED upgrade

I took the plunge and updated several of my incandescent bulbs to LEDs. I didn't do anything with my fluorescent fixtures because they are quite efficient already. I purchased 14 of the circuit board type units, 10 warm-white and 4 white from eBay. The vendor is in China of course.
Here's a link to the eBay store: duan-led2010.
They are also known as 2011_led. It took 9 days for delivery.

10 pieces - Warm-white: 10x BA9S/T10/Festoon Dome LED Bulb Warm White 12-5050 SMD leds

2 pieces - White: 2pcs BA9S/T10/Festoon Dome LED Bulb White 12-5050 SMD LED panel

I placed the warm-white LEDs in my reading fixtures, and the white LEDs over my stove and in the porch light.

Here's some photos of the project:

LED board with plug attached.


I removed the wires and soldered the plug direct to the board and glued the plug in place.


I used PL-Premium to attach the plug. This stuff is the greatest.


Board plugged into reading fixture.


Shot comparing 921 bulb with LED. Shot at night with the single fixture turned on.


I checked the light output using a photographic light meter.

For the side-by-side comparisons, the camera was set for manual exposure, auto white balance off, and white balance set for daylight. The colors look quite different in the photos, but to the eye they seem much closer.

Voltage: 12.7 vdc
921 bulb current: 1.30 amps
LED module current: .17 amps
Measured with a Fluke 77 multimeter.

I'm quite pleased with the results.

15 Replies

  • Harvey51's avatar
    Harvey51
    Explorer
    Jul 09, 2014
    I used the same ebay supplier. After 2 years I am still very happy with them.

    Keep in mind that these low cost LED panels do not regulate the supply voltage. At the higher voltage we experience in RVs when on shore power (over 13 volts), these lights are much less efficient and they get hot, probably shortening their lifetimes.
  • sdf2's avatar
    sdf2
    Explorer
    Jul 08, 2014
    Now I understand what I need, all I need now if to find the best place to get it.
  • tenbear's avatar
    tenbear
    Explorer
    Jul 05, 2014
    Kountryguy wrote:
    You might take a look at these.
    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310782651459&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:US:3160


    Have you used these? How much current do they draw?

    I looked at the data sheet for the 3650 LED and it shows the typical light output is 34 lumins at 100ma. That is some serious light and current for 36-3650 lights. Also some serious heat (43 watts). 1224 lumins at 3.6 Amps. A 60 watt incandescent bulb is 880 lumins.

    Surely they don't run these panels at this kind of current.

    Edit: Having rethought this, they probably put 3 LEDs in series so the panel current would be 1/3 of what I said above. That makes it 1.2A and 14.3 watts. Better but still way high, close to the power of an 1141 bulb, but much brighter.
  • camperpaul's avatar
    camperpaul
    Explorer
    Jul 05, 2014
    sdf2 wrote:
    I took a look at the link. WOW how in the world do you decide which ones to order and use??


    Take a look at this thread: "My LEDs"
  • Kountryguy's avatar
    Kountryguy
    Explorer
    Jul 05, 2014
    You might take a look at these.
    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310782651459&ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:US:3160
  • sdf2's avatar
    sdf2
    Explorer
    Jul 05, 2014
    I took a look at the link. WOW how in the world do you decide which ones to order and use??
  • Tom_M1's avatar
    Tom_M1
    Explorer
    Jun 30, 2014
    Horizon170 wrote:
    TomM, I take it the White is brighter/clearer than the Warm White, right? My lights look similar to THESE except with 1156 bulbs. Maybe I need something like THIS.
    Thanks
    A standard 1156 bulb puts out about 400 lumens of light. The LED bulb you reference is rated 150 lumens and is cool white which means a lot less light and it would have a bluish tinge. I think you would be better served with the panel type LEDs like the ones I used. The ones I bought did not come with an adapter for an 1156 type bulb. You can either look for ones with the proper adapter or do like I did for one of my fixtures and break a bulb and solder wires to the base. White and cool white LEDs will put out slightly more light than warm white but the difference is not all that great.

    Here's a couple links to LEDs from the same outfit I used:
    Warm white 24x5050
    White 24x5050
  • tenbear's avatar
    tenbear
    Explorer
    Jun 22, 2014
    Horizon170 wrote:
    TomM, I take it the White is brighter/clearer than the Warm White, right? My lights look similar to THESE except with 1156 bulbs. Maybe I need something like THIS.
    Thanks


    15 3528 LEDs will not be anywhere near as bright as the 1156 bulbs. 24 5050 or 48 3528 LEDs will be about the same brightness but will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Cool white could look somewhat blue. Warm white is about the same color as the 1156 bulbs.

    Buy 1 or 2 of what you think will be right and try them out before buying more.
  • Horizon170's avatar
    Horizon170
    Explorer
    Jun 22, 2014
    TomM, I take it the White is brighter/clearer than the Warm White, right? My lights look similar to THESE except with 1156 bulbs. Maybe I need something like THIS.
    Thanks
  • CaveRun's avatar
    CaveRun
    Explorer
    Sep 20, 2013
    Great post!!!

    Thanks for taking the time to make this thread!

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