LED clearance light upgrade

I like to do things like that as well...

With the DOD Safety lights however they are all powered by the Truck Start battery and doesn't give me any savings in the reducing the Trailer battery drains so I usually leave all of those alone.

Granted however some of those LED LIGHTS sure look great compared to older Incandescent automotive lights...

I'm sometimes a bit hesitant about changing things over to LED technology. I know sometimes I pull right up behind a big tractor trailer with obvious LED lights installed on the rear and my Ham Radio starts getting broadband hash - RFI Interference... LED Lights are known to to do this to you hehe...

Reducing battery drain is always good to do...

Roy Ken

RoyB wrote:
I like to do things like that as well...

With the DOD Safety lights however they are all powered by the Truck Start battery and doesn't give me any savings in the reducing the Trailer battery drains so I usually leave all of those alone.

Granted however some of those LED LIGHTS sure look great compared to older Incandescent automotive lights...

I'm sometimes a bit hesitant about changing things over to LED technology. I know sometimes I pull right up behind a big tractor trailer with obvious LED lights installed on the rear and my Ham Radio starts getting broadband hash - RFI Interference... LED Lights are known to to do this to you hehe...

Reducing battery drain is always good to do...

Roy Ken

Roy,

Very few marker/tail lights use switching regulators/drivers, in fact most if not all use nothing more than simple resistors to limit current.. You might even find some that omit resistors all together by adding one or two extra LEDs into each series string.

So your RFI hash is most likely not coming from the LEDs but in a lot of cases more likely the vehicles body control module which drives the vehicles lights..

Most automobile LED lights are cheaply built and tend to not last all that long..

Took me having to buy 8 extra spares of Bargman #84 tail lights to finally get some that last more than one camping season and those puppies run $35 each..

I have marker lights that fortunately are not sonic welded and as they die, I am removing the dead LEDS by grinding them out and putting in sealed industrial 12V LEDs made for outdoor signage..

They are an improvement in longevity over the cheaply made automotive junk..

Had I known when I bought those markers how cheaply made the LEDs were I would have simply done my own retrofit in the old incadescent markers and saved the $9 per marker I paid..

And by the way, I went LEDs not to save current draw, but to get better visibility, longevity, eliminate bulb sockets corrosion and lower power is a side benefit that comes with the conversion.

I do like the brightness of my Bargman #84 tail lights (when they are not going bad), they DO get attention and my setup has TWO sets of them on each side for good measure..

Only a legally blind person could claim they are not able to see my tail lights. :B

Gdetrailer wrote:
I do like the brightness of my Bargman #84 tail lights (when they are not going bad), they DO get attention and my setup has TWO sets of them on each side for good measure..

Only a legally blind person could claim they are not able to see my tail lights. :B

I run the Model 84 LED Modules as well(in my other RV). The incandescent 84 is a joke with regard to how little light it puts out.

I've had one Bargman model 84 LED Module fail, that was about 4 years ago.

deltabravo wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
I do like the brightness of my Bargman #84 tail lights (when they are not going bad), they DO get attention and my setup has TWO sets of them on each side for good measure..

Only a legally blind person could claim they are not able to see my tail lights. :B

I run the Model 84 LED Modules as well(in my other RV). The incandescent 84 is a joke with regard to how little light it puts out.

I've had one Bargman model 84 LED Module fail, that was about 4 years ago.

I bought my Bargman #84s about ten yrs ago when they started offering LEDs, pretty much the first LED version that Bargman offered. Took me five yrs and multiple replacements before getting some that last more than one yr.

Even though I have not had an issue the last four yrs, I STILL carry FOUR NEW modules..

As far as warranty goes, you HAVE to ship them back ON YOUR DIME, AND WAIT to see if they will replace. The shipping cost back to Bargman is nearly the same cost as buying a new module so I just bought new modules. Found the best cost effective way is to buy the entire two module tail light assembly. Much cheaper than buying single replacement modules.

Love the brightness, not all that impressed with the initial quality which is why a caution folks to buy and carry a couple of spares.. You can't find these at Walmart and if a module quits, it becomes a pretty big safety risk..