LED Bulbs

Update on my situation. Apparently they were so busy packaging my new bulbs they didn't have a chance to reply. Kudoos to LED trailer lights.

M4 Products was pretty responsive, btw.

They have a fax number in their about us section ..... but in general, I won't do business with someone who makes it that difficult to contact them. There are other fish in the sea.

Fax: 509-238-3084

Does anyone have a phone # for www.ledtrailerlights.com. I have sent email with no response.

beachseekers wrote:
I am on the hunt for LED bulbs, specifically 1141 and 1383 types. I do not want to rewire the fixtures but to use the bulbs in existing fixtures. I have been looking online and am somewhat frustrated. Has anyone out there found a great online source?
Thanks in advance!!

YES.

www.ledtrailerlights.com

1383

1141

I've been running their products since about 2008.

The owner of that company has a truck camper and knows his stuff.

I bought these G4s from the internet at a "cheaper" price to replace my halogens.

They were G4s for my overhead cabin area lights (4).


They lasted about a year then BOOM - failure. Took the 21005-DB (100 Watt Dimmer Switch) apart to see what was happening. I found the internal glass fuse soldered to the board fried. And, its not a fuse you can slide out from the end caps and replace--ughh.


Decided to check the LEDs and sure enough some were toast. Evidently, when they failed internally there was enough to fry the fuse in the dimmer. Found a replacement dimmer on Amazon for $22. I intend to pay a little more for LEDs this time to get better quality and reliability.

Was looking at trying to replace the fuse on the board but I don't have the tools for "board" work. I don't even know the size of that fuse yet. Regardless, I hope you all learn from my experience.

n7bsn wrote:
I would recommend against the super cheap LEDs via eBay (and other sources) for two reasons
1) they tend to fail early
2) they tend to have not "compliant" power sources. By that I mean they are not shielded and do not meet FCC specs for home equipment. Which means that they interfere with all AM radio and will also interfere with weak signals on FM and TV.

I've been buying mine from SuperBrightLED

This is another reason I had to replace all the factory LEDs in my wolf creek. Turn on a light and digital TV signals went away. Plus the were almost blue to me. Used 12-18v LEDs from Amazon. Warm white.

Chuck and Di wrote:

Please point us to any bulb intended for automotive / RV use that does not have a switching power supply built in.

Please explain to us why that is necessary if the device is to be used in a system where the voltage is a relatively constant known value ?? Hint: It isn't really.....except for reliability maybe.

For instance, you engineer the device for a reasonable light output and reasonable life at 18 VDC with an appropriate resistor to limit the forward current.......and then specify it for use at 12 VDC. If it encounters a BIG voltage spike, it burns out, much like it's incandescent cousin. And it costs maybe $.25 to make instead of $2.00.

996Pilot wrote:

YES -- I do know that LED's (individually) don't run off of 12V. NO - most inexpensive LED's DO NOT have a full voltage regulator in the base, most use series resistors (cheap and easy). YES -- some/most inexpensive LED's ARE made by stringing multiple LED's together in addition to using a series resistor in line to achieve the proper voltage drop.

Please point us to any bulb intended for automotive / RV use that does not have a switching power supply built in.

n7bsn wrote:

996Pilot wrote:


We're not talking 110V bulbs with built-in power sources the OP is looking for 12V bulbs like 1156 base - no power supply. These are DC, LED bulbs so there is NO interference with anything electrical.

Amazon - there is a company that has 20 pieces for $18.99. They are WARM WHITE color which is preferred as you don't want that blue cast inside at night.

I purchased mine a couple of years ago and they are great, nice light, cool to the touch, and none have failed (I'd doubt they will fail for the life of the camper, at least they will last a darn site longer than the old filament bulbs). All of the LED lights on draws about as much as one of the old lights.

Dan

You do know that LED's don't run off 12V? Or don't you know that there is a voltage regulator in the base of every "12V" LED bulb.

None of them are made by wiring a series of LEDs in series (OK, I have some I've personally made)

A few use resistors, but most use DCtoDC regulators and some of those make RF noise.

YES -- I do know that LED's (individually) don't run off of 12V. NO - most inexpensive LED's DO NOT have a full voltage regulator in the base, most use series resistors (cheap and easy). YES -- some/most inexpensive LED's ARE made by stringing multiple LED's together in addition to using a series resistor in line to achieve the proper voltage drop.

For those made with DC/DC voltage regulators, the amount of RF noise is -- well -- in the noise. There's nothing in my camper (at night) that is going to be affected by anything those bulbs can put out. If there is -- it's got to have its own crappy circuitry that should be questioned.

ALL OF THAT SAID -- the two posters that wanted to po-po my post with their electronics expertise MISSED my over arching message ------ I have been using the Amazon (call them the cheap ones) LED's as well as ones purchased straight from China (by me) for years with ABSOLUTELY no adverse effects and nothing but great results. Again, try to find 2700K - 3600K color temperature (my personal preference) to keep out the blue cast light. If you want to spend a few bucks apiece for them - go for it!! Just sayin I've had alot of success with the <$1 ones.

Go camp!