How to convert to LED lighting

[NetBoy]

Hi, I think some of you will be interested in how I converted my RV lights to LED.

I initially tried 12 volt LED bulbs about 5 years go, and they were not satisfactory: they were expensive, didn't put out much light, and failed within a few hours due to over-heating problems. But now the technology has advanced significantly, and the current state-of-the-art multi-LED panels are truly amazing. I have converted every light in my Class C (even including the porch light, the range hood light, and the cab dome light) by retrofitting the existing fixtures with this technology. Basically I replaced each standard bayonet based incandescent bulb with a panel containing 48 SMD LEDs, arranged in a 6x8 array. These panels are available on eBay for less than $3 each including shipping -- you can find them by searching for "48 SMD White LED Light Panel".



The photo shows a typical light fixture after conversion. I just removed the incandescent bulbs and stuck the LED panels to the fixture. The panels come with double-backed foam tape on the back so they will self-stick, but I found the adhesive doesn't hold in the long-run, so I added a few dabs of silicone adhesive to the corners of the panels.

Many of the newer RV light fixtures use #921 wedge base bulbs, and the LED panels mentioned above come with an adapter for those so wiring is simple. Most older RV light fixtures (such as mine) use #1156 bayonet base bulbs, and there is no adapter included with the LED panels for those. So I cut the wedge base adapter off the wiring for the LED panels, and just soldered the wires to the appropriate places on the light fixture's bayonet bulb sockets.

How do these LED retrofitted lights work out? After about 8 months of use, I can say without reserve that they are FANTASTIC. Each panel puts out WAY MORE LIGHT than the incandescent bulbs they replaced, and they only use one-sixth the power (as measured with my digital amp meter: LED panel = .25A; incandescent bulb = 1.5A). Their published life is 20,000 hours and up. I have installed about 50 of these LED panels between my rig and my friends' rigs, and so far zero failures.

I even converted one of my florescent fixtures to this technology. I removed the twin 16 watt florescent tubes and the ballast, and pasted in 6 LED panels in their place (I added a toggle switch so I can use the LED panels 3 or 6 at a time). That light is great -- instant on, no flickering, and way more light than before.

Best wishes.....

PS: (Added on 3Apr12 edit) Check out the Red LED light I added on April Fools Day - details on Page 9 of this thread:

Moderator edit to re-size picture to forum limit of 640px maximum width to avoid scrolling.

[kenreef]

Received the new lights, they look great and even a bit brighter than the original.

[kenreef]

Thanks all for the information.

[DZacco]

kenreef wrote:
Thanks tenbear
You are correct as I am not sure where I got the 1020. So there is no concern with the un regulated having problems lets say between 11 - 14v? I guess that would be normal operating voltage when charging etc. I was looking at the 1pcs BA9S/921/Festoon(31~44mm) Dome Bulb Warm White 36-1210SMD LED Super bright from 2211_led. I believe I read that you have used bulbs from them somewhere in the 20 pages. Should this color temp be close to the 921?

The 5050 LED's produce three times more light than the 1210's on paper (15 vs 5 lumen). I tried the 20-5050SMD boards and they are almost exactly the same light output as the 921 lamp both on paper and eyeball. The super bright might be too blue for my taste so I ordered warm white to more closely match the color of the 921 lamp. The boards I have are slightly whiter than the 921's even though they are advertised as warm white. I have ten 48-5050SMD LED boards ordered which I will combine with the 20 LED units to give more light. I bought the 48's on eBay from another China vendor. I'll also be trying some 18-5050SMD units herefrom seller eversalellc located in USA but product is also from China. I'm really curious about Thesevoltage regulated boards. Does anybody have experience with these? I'm concerned about the RF interference with the TV and stereo system.

[tenbear]

kenreef wrote:
Thanks tenbear
You are correct as I am not sure where I got the 1020. So there is no concern with the un regulated having problems lets say between 11 - 14v? I guess that would be normal operating voltage when charging etc. I was looking at the 1pcs BA9S/921/Festoon(31~44mm) Dome Bulb Warm White 36-1210SMD LED Super bright from 2211_led. I believe I read that you have used bulbs from them somewhere in the 20 pages. Should this color temp be close to the 921?

I have used the 36-1210 SMD LED panels from 2011_led (not 2211) with the BA15S base and have been very pleased with them. I think the color is very close to the 1141 incandescent bulbs that they replaced. YMMV. If you want to be sure the color suits you, buy 1 or 2 and try them. A few of mine have had a row of 3 leds go out. The individual leds are still good and it appears that the solder connection has failed. This may have been accelerated by the higher charging voltages, although at that time I still had the Magnetek converter that always ran at 13.6v. My new PD 9260 starts at 14.4v and ends up at 13.2v.

The first 6 I bought came with the 3 bases you mentioned, he didn't have the BA15S bases at that time. I broke the 1141 bulbs and soldered the wires to the old 1141 bases. The light from those looks the same as the newer ones I have bought.

Some people have had a problem with the double sided tape coming off the fixture. I have found that if you gently sand the fixture where the tape makes contact, the tape sticks very well.

I think you will like the 36_1210 panels.

[kenreef]

Thanks tenbear
You are correct as I am not sure where I got the 1020. So there is no concern with the un regulated having problems lets say between 11 - 14v? I guess that would be normal operating voltage when charging etc. I was looking at the 1pcs BA9S/921/Festoon(31~44mm) Dome Bulb Warm White 36-1210SMD LED Super bright from 2211_led. I believe I read that you have used bulbs from them somewhere in the 20 pages. Should this color temp be close to the 921?

[jryotas]

Any one found a place to buy just the adapters for a 921 type bulb ? Im looking for either the empty plastic bulb side socket or the wired adapter for a pin type connection . I see that you can get these with the bulbs but I dont need the bulbs .

[tenbear]

kenreef wrote:
Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of the regulated or un regulated on the 1020 and 5050?

Is the warm color the same on the 1020 and the 5050?

Thanks in advance and great information in this post.

In theory the regulated lights should not change when the voltage changes. There have been reports that some of the regulated leds have caused radio frequency interference (RFI). Some of the un-regulated panels have had problems with the solder connections failing and causing a row of 3 leds to go off. I am not aware of any regulated panels.

Color varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Buy one or two before you buy several to make sure you get what you want.

I am not aware of a 1020 led, maybe you are thinking of the 1210???

[kenreef]

Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of the regulated or un regulated on the 1020 and 5050?

Is the warm color the same on the 1020 and the 5050?

Thanks in advance and great information in this post.

[jacques1]

Good job. LEDs are excellent way to go. I recently retrofitted all of my lights with LEDs.

[Bonefish]

A DC-DC voltage regulator does not create RF. It is basically a diode bridge with a specific output. I tried powering the boards I have from just a 12 volt battery and they do not cause RF interference. The interference only is triggered when hooked to a converter powered system. The interference is coming from a poorly regulated DC power source possibly from switching of float to bulk modes by the converter.

[JoeChiOhki]

Found it, here's the article on LED interference.

LED radio interference

[DZacco]

I too would like more information regarding the interference with radio and TV while using the voltage regulated LED's. I'm tempted to buy a few just to test.

[Bonefish]

Built my own fixtures

Here is the link to my LED conversion. LED pucks purchased at Lowes.

[JoeChiOhki]

camperpaul wrote:

canadiankid wrote:

So my question is::: I have heard people say that the regulated ones will produce interference. Is this on radio? TV? All electronics? A wise tale? or just special electronics like ham radio and such?

Thanks in advance. Don.

The interference is to ALL radio and TV receivers.

Aye, there's a thread somewhere in the TC forum from a year or so ago about a member there experimenting with capacitors to try and eliminate the noise that was being created.

[camperpaul]

canadiankid wrote:

So my question is::: I have heard people say that the regulated ones will produce interference. Is this on radio? TV? All electronics? A wise tale? or just special electronics like ham radio and such?

Thanks in advance. Don.

The interference is to ALL radio and TV receivers.