Harvey51 wrote:
Folks who use shore power much of the time will also be interested in how the LEDs work when the voltage is up around 13.5. The 48 LED panels I use draw much more current as the voltage rises - and they get hot! Some say more expensive LED lights have built in voltage regulators to eliminate that problem. It would be nice if writeups on specific LEDs could say what the current draw is at 12 V and also at 13.5 V.
Heat has been mentioned in a number of LED threads, and so I have checked mine for that issue. As for the current difference, I just went out and checked mine. At 12.8 VDC, my 48-5050 panels are consuming 0.30 Amps, while at 13.6 VDC (plugged into shore power), they are consuming 0.37 Amps. My strips (4', 150 LEDs) consume 0.81 Amps at 12.8 VDC, 0.96 Amps at 13.6 VDC. The only explanation I have to explain the slightly different readings that those I posted at the beginning of this thread is the fact that those were taken while the LEDs were hooked up to a portable jumpstart unit (at 12.6 VDC) prior to actual installation, while these were taken with the units actually installed in the RV?
Realistically, the current draw is irrelevant while hooked up to shore power (to me anyway), but heat is an issue brought up often. It is important to realize though that even if the LEDs get hot, they are still much cooler than incandescents, as long as there is no "thermal runaway", a condition that has been mentioned in some LED threads as an argument against the inexpensive LEDs. To put my own mind at ease, I did in fact check for high/increasing temps while running at that higher 13.6+ voltage, and found that, in my case anyway, the fears were unfounded. My 48-5050 panels peaked at about 225 degrees F and held steady. This is a fraction of the temp of any incandescent bulb. The strips were even less of an issue; they peaked/held steady at just 125 degrees F. This test was done during the day, with ambient temps in the 90s, and allowing the LEDs to run for at least 3-4 hours straight at tht higher voltage. YMMV.
And interestingly, I cannot see a difference in the light output of my "cheap" LEDs when running at 12 VDC vs 13.6 VDC, either.
