LED light and 12v Voltage? UPDATE-OOPS!/Got Kohrees too.

Got the new Kohrees installed and like them very much! Thanks for the good advice to get them.

These use a dimmer instead of having a choice to use either end or both ends at once. The lens gives a soft light instead of the bright white light of the Princess Auto one I started with (although that one does work and can take the higher voltages too as mentioned with the Oops post earlier)

You just poke the knob for on and off and turn the knob for brightness level. Only thing wrong is that it does not cover all the screw holes of the old style dual lamp, so you have to do some handyman work there depending on your ceiling material.

https://www.amazon.com/Kohree-Dimmable-Adjustable-Boat-Natural-4000-4500K/dp/B08C2CD85X/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=Kohree+led+rv+light&qid=1605996181&sr=8-9

MrWizard wrote:
it seems the same brightness level to me, all the time, straight battery voltage or charging,
I have never noticed any difference
Must be some kind of regulation on the lamp boards,
I'm a reader, I don't set in the dark and stare at the Tv, I always have some lights on, even if the TV is on

If LED brightness doesn't change with normal variations in battery voltage that means the LED's have some form of voltage or current regulation. that is GOOD.

it seems the same brightness level to me, all the time, straight battery voltage or charging,
I have never noticed any difference
Must be some kind of regulation on the lamp boards,
I'm a reader, I don't set in the dark and stare at the Tv, I always have some lights on, even if the TV is on

https://phillip8899.en.ec21.com/company_info.html

Seems it is a Taiwan outfit. Their model PY-830 RV light is also on eBay as a "Gustafson" brand.

Anyway, I can keep this one and still use the two Kohrees in the MH and camper, so I am getting lots of LED lighting. :)

Its all good!

Glad you found the problem.

Apologies all round! The light from Princess Auto works just fine. It was a loose connection where I installed it. My fault. Sorry about wasting everyone's time! ( I did learn some good info though.)

I was removing it and it came on! I got it down from the ceiling hanging by its wires, and there was the loose connection. I fixed that and tried at 13.7v and it worked. Turned voltage up to 15.4 and it stayed on.

It worked ok at the lower voltages before. I guess the 14.7 made the loose connection get too hot and it made the two wires get farther apart? Whatever, it works now.

I see it is made by Pai Ying Ent. Co. Ltd, has CSA ca and us, and is 12v 10w. On the back, each light cluster is marked 7W23 81901

Thanks for the good steer on that. I see now on the link where I missed the voltage range on those earlier. I ordered the two-pack of duals, due in a few days. One for the MH and one for the TC :)

BFL13 wrote:
Yes, using LED bulbs in the old fixture is a good choice. Powerfist is their home brand for lots of their things, so I will check the fixture for any other brand that might be on it.

When Mr Wiz gets back, he can say which Kohree he has that has the good voltage range from that amazon link.

Lots to choose from..

KOHREE AMAZON SEARCH

First one on Amazon list..

HERE

Relampable, 60K hr life, 6W with both lamps on 320 Lumens per lamp, "natural white" 4000K-4500K color temp..

"

LED type: SMD5050
Power: 6 Watts
Lumen: 2 X 320LM
CRI: Ra>70
Operating voltage: DC 12V-18V
Size: 11 1/4"(L) x 5"(W) x 1.5"(H)"

Much better specs than Princess Auto light, far brighter, only would need just one light on to equal brightness of the Princess Auto light.. Voltage range would be acceptable, narrow range would indicate it does not use a constant current switching regulator but with the upper rating at 18V should be fine to use.

This is an example of better lights designed for this kind of use.

Yes, using LED bulbs in the old fixture is a good choice. Powerfist is their home brand for lots of their things, so I will check the fixture for any other brand that might be on it.

When Mr Wiz gets back, he can say which Kohree he has that has the good voltage range from that amazon link.

Your Princess auto link didn't give a voltage range, only it was "12V"..

From your link..

"Convenient switch quickly turns the light on or off. Clear LED bulb outputs 324 lumens of light. Durable ABS housing and impact-resistant polycarbonate lens.


Brand Name Powerfist
Item Name Interior Light
Voltage Rating (V DC) 12 V DC
Current Rating (A) 0.67 A
Wattage (W) 8.4 W
Bulb Type LED
Number of Lamps -
Lumens Rating (lm) 324
Average Life (h) 8760 h
Colour Clear
Lens Material Polycarbonate
Housing Material ABS
Mounting Screw
Size (in.) 11-5/8 x 5 in.
Packaging (qty) 1 qty "

Couple of things to me that raise flags..

12V and .67A is actually 8.04W, for it to be 8.4W that would mean the "operating voltage" would be 12.5V.. Running them above 12.5 is going to be a real gamble for sure and indicative of much of the cheapo import stuff..

Second, 324 Lumens for 8.4W is extremely poor, about 38.6 lumens per watt!

Good quality LEDs should be closer to 3W-4W (80-90 Lumens per watt) for that fixture with that Lumens rating..

Granted, they are more efficient than incadescent, but for modern day LEDs they are junk.

Doesn't state the color temp or Color Rendition Index (CRI)but I would guess that it is most likely a rather harsh blueish temp of 5000K-6000K and CRI well below 70 which means a lot of color shift (changes the color you perceive of things around you)..

Oh, another red flag, 8,700 hrs of life? Yeah, those LEDs are way over driven, at least they didn't lie about a "long life" but still the expected life should be upwards of 50,000 hrs or higher..

Personally, if you still have the original incadescent fixture I would put that back in and buy some LED replacement bulbs of much better quality!