LED Bulbs for trailer interior in a real store, not online?

For my motorhome, I initially bought these flat panel bulbs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FSIN0U6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Which as it turns out, had no heat sink capability and no name LED elements. They looked great, were easy to install, has the 4500K natural light color, and a lumen capacity similar to the 1141 bulbs I was replacing. What could go wrong? well, they were cheap junk, that is what. They all worked but in the course of the first year of light use, the elements, one by one, started failing, making for less light from the panel. Eventually, I gave up and that is when I did a full conversion to LED flat panels with the elements being separated from the driver circuity by an air gap, and the capability of dissipating heat.



Companies like M4Products and SuperBrightLEDs, while charging more for their products, go to great lengths to provide a product that won't fail, provides the expected light and color, and back them with a good warranty.

I consider spending the extra money to get a well made long lasting product, worth every penny.

Disclaimer: I have no connection to M4Products other than being a satisfied customer. I learned of the company and their products thru the RVGeeks videos on LED upgrades, and in fact, if you do order, watch one of the videos, and specify "rvgeeks5" as a discount code to get 5% off the purchase price.

Charles

profdant139 wrote:
Lots of great tips -- thanks! And to those who suggest that I shop online, I may have to do that sometimes. But I try not to. Otherwise, where will all those sales people find jobs? There are so many half-empty shopping centers all over the country.

Those online stores employ people too. Order filling, packaging, shipping, delivery all require employees.

profdant139 wrote:
Lots of great tips -- thanks! And to those who suggest that I shop online, I may have to do that sometimes. But I try not to. Otherwise, where will all those sales people find jobs? There are so many half-empty shopping centers all over the country.

Pretty simple.

Do what I and many others have done, be proactive, get additional education above high school then ACTIVELY SEEK REAL PAYING JOBS.

Retail sales jobs have ALWAYS BEEN ENTRY LEVEL JOBS.

Retail sales are jobs which traditionally are for folks starting out into the real world of work and were never intended on supporting a mature adult nor family.

Making this move means folks have to get out of their "comfy zone" and stretch a bit. That means they must be willing to put some effort into life rather than just be content with living at poverty level and waiting for others to hand them stuff.

I HAVE put forth a lot of effort in life and resent folks that feel that they should be able to start work in an entry level job and get paid the same wage or more than what I make..

Because I put a lot of energy into my life, I CAN if I wanted to walk away from my job and never work again at age 54! I have everything I ever wanted and them some, house paid off, multiple vehicles paid off, RV paid for in cash and much more..

I have seen a lot of lazy folks, I have had to train a lot of lazy folks I have only worked with TWO people that I can honestly say they were willing to put some effort into making their lives better, they moved into higher paying jobs.

Menards and Walmart both have good selections. I get mine from Superbright LED's online. Never had an issue with returns either.

Check out 12 volt landscape lighting bulbs at Lowes or Home Depot. They are marketed for 12 volts AC, but many are designed to work with DC. The package probably says 12 V AC, but the bulb itself will probably be stamped "12 VAC/DC."

I know I only added to Bezo's bank account... But, I got 20 1156 LED bulbs for $20 shipped in 2 days (yes, I also have Prime...)

Swapped out every single bulb in the trailer and they all work fine.

I try to go to the physical stores in the small towns we visit and try to pay cash when I can too, but there is only so much that you can do.. It's a changing world and eventually, you have to change (for the better or worse) with it..

Good luck!

Mitch

:) Hi, I buy all of my 12 volt LED's from Ebay. The choices are endless. I cringe when I see the prices of LED's in stores, even at Wal-Mart.

Lots of great tips -- thanks! And to those who suggest that I shop online, I may have to do that sometimes. But I try not to. Otherwise, where will all those sales people find jobs? There are so many half-empty shopping centers all over the country.

Chatsworth, California, on the NW side of the LA metro area.

M4 Products. I have bought from them, and while pricey, they quality is way above the other crappy stuff on the market.

Look at and read their homepage. Showroom by Appointment.

http://www.m4products.com/

I had Progressive Industries lighting in my Winnebago, with bayonet base bulbs, and removed the sockets and dished reflector plates, and made new flat plates and installed the flat plate LEDs that M4 sells and then hardwired them in (the fixtures do not have switches. Sold the motorhome.)

Bought a travel trailer (interim unit till the Unicorns bring me what I really want) and just the other day converted it to the flat plate LEDs, same thing, removed the sockets and hardwired the flat plate LEDs to the switches. These are the very common fixtures that have the round rocker switch in the middle, use the 921 bulbs with the wedge base and have a tiny little metal reflector. I removed the reflector and the sockets (they just snap out) and rewired and reinstalled a fixture and then removed the next one and off to the bench.

Flat plate LEDs are great, they project all of the light down, where is should go, and the lenses scatter it enough to provide side light.

I used the larger flat plates this second go round and may have outdone myself this time. Will have to order some of the smaller ones for a couple of the under cabinet and bathroom sink alcove fixtures where you don't need as much light.

I prefer natural daylight color, about 4500K. Cannot stand the bluish light or the yellowish warm light. These flat plates DO come with both wedge and bayonet base adapters to plug in but I just do away with the sockets and cut the adapter bases off the wires on the lights.

Really freaking bright, love it. http://www.m4products.com/alplate-48-5630-nw-natural-white-double-aluminum-plate/

this one is about the same brilliance as the original bulbs, http://www.m4products.com/alplate-24-5630-nw-natural-white-double-aluminum-plate/

They also have many other bulbs and also in cool and warm color.

Charles

profdant139 wrote:
I am having a heck of a time finding LED wedge base bulbs for my trailer in a real world store, rather than buying them online. (I prefer real stores -- it is easier to return merchandise if needed, and they employ real people in my area.)

Camping World has a few bulbs, but their selection is not great. Does anyone know of an alternative?

Thanks!!

Why are you stuck with limiting yourself with sticks and bricks stores, they (the management of these stores) simply do not care about what their customers want or need. Instead, they allow their stores computer systems spit out the orders based on what is popular based solely on sales numbers.

12V LEDs simply does not hit high on their purchasing list.

The result is limited qtys and extremely poor quality of what they are willing to buy and stock and then they will glady charge you 10 times what they are worth.

You need to shift into the modern world when it comes to specialty items.

Amazons returns are dirt simple and painless, the only time that may not be the case is some of the third party vendors (READ THEIR RETURN TERMS BEFORE ORDERING).

I have been forced to depend on online purchasing from Amazon and other non stick and brick businesses for better part of 10 yrs because my local stores simply do not carry what I need or want.

The sticks and bricks by maximizing inventory turns by limiting to only what sells are slowly putting themselves out of business and they don't seem to care either..

Walmart is OK for picking up a new pair of jeans or a simple T shirt or perhaps a gallon of milk, anything else, forget about it, mine doesn't have it, or stock it and has no plans to ever do so.

My local Walmart has very few 12V LED lights and the ones they do have are not efficient and only come in 6K color temps..

Online you can pick out from thousands of vendors with higher efficiency and the color temp you want for a reasonable price and heck it shows up at your door in a matter of a couple days..