LEDs replaced florescents but get hot

tinstaafl wrote:
I bought these LEDs on E-Bay for $2.75 each. Are these just cheap (crummy) LEDs or are they supposed to be that hot?

In my opinion yes. That's incredibly cheap. No, they're not supposed to be hot. A little warm, maybe.

tinstaafl wrote:
I have not had any luck finding a regulator like those being referred to.

If you bite the bullet and get decent quality LEDs you will solve your heat problems, your voltage problems, and they'll last a lifetime.


If you go the regulator route, this Victron DC-DC converter (blue) keeps my rig at 12.5vdc constant.

Your problem could be:

tinstaafl wrote:
I bought 28 "48SMD LED Light panels)to convert the 12 Volt lights to LEDs.

I bought these LEDs on E-Bay for $2.75 each.

tinstaafl wrote:
I bought 28 "48SMD LED Light panels)to convert the 12 Volt lights to LEDs. So far I have converted two florescent fixtures, removing all the florescent components, circuit board, etc., and sticking the LED panels to the fixture housing and then replacing the fixture lens cover.

Everything works fine except that the LEDs are giving off a great deal of heat. I thought that the LEDs would be extremely efficient since all the consumed energy converts to light, not heat. That does not appear to be the case as there is a lot of heat being produced. Removing the lens cover from one of the fixtures I cannot keep my hand on the 48 LED panel because it is too hot.

I bought these LEDs on E-Bay for $2.75 each. Are these just cheap (crummy) LEDs or are they supposed to be that hot? At this point I'm not sure I want to convert the rest of my fixtures.

Thanks in advance for whatever comments or suggestions you might offer me.

Many folk have been bitten on this.

LEDS ARE NOT 100% efficient.

In fact they are all over the map so to speak and the ones you bought are at the bottom of the heap.. Most likely 60%-70% of the power going into those is being converted to HEAT.

You want an array of LESS LEDS which are designed to dissipate the heat better.

To get high efficiency LEDS you need to look for ones that are at least ONE WATT PER LED and even those BARELY come close to a fluorescent light at 100 lumens per watt.

For those 1 watt LEDs you WILL PAY much more than $3 for the array.

You should have just left the fluoros alone.

Where LEDs shine at is replacing INCANDESCENT bulbs.

The other appeal of LEDS is for those who really don't mind living with candle light just to squeeze out a few more seconds of battery time.

LEDS allow for lower power usage but at a cost of light output measured in Lumens. MANY if not all LED light manufacturers OVER RATE the Lumens output of LEDs. This is easy for them to do since LEDs develop a very bright SPOT in the center of the beam. They totally ignore the fact that the light output drops the further off center from that..

Something else they forget to tell people is these so called high brightess LEDS often DO NOT LIVE LONG. Yep, conventional LEDS typically will give 100,000 hrs but these high output ones DO NOT.

Even the turn signals and maker lights I put on my TT, simply do not last.

I have replaced TWO brake lights in less than six camping seasons with a total of less than 6000 miles. I would estimate those modules have about ONE HUNDRED HOURS of use.

This year I found TWO LED marker lights that I WILL have to replace...

I am thinking about replacing those LED markers with BULB markers and forget about LEDS... The bulbs are cheaper and the sockets can be made trouble free by using some No-Alox...