I have 2 of these fluorescent fixtures in the Lance, they work great and give off lots of light but not really very energy efficient when boondocking. I looked at swapping in LED bulbs in place of the T15s but the bulbs were pretty expensive.
After doing some reading and research I decided to re-make the fixtures with LED strip lights. I found this 5 meter light strip for $12 on Amazon, and got a bag of solderless connectors. This light strip has defined cut points at every 3rd LED so you can make any custom length. The strip is also backed 3M adhesive tape so it's peel-n-stick.
I drilled out the pop rivets holding in the bulb holders and ballast and got down to the bare fixture frame. I cut the LED strip into approx 15" sections and used 4 strips per fixture.
The LEDs are covered in a rubbery plastic to make them waterproof, so you just need to clean off one end of each strip and clip on a connector. Wire to 12v and done.
Lights are slightly brighter than the fluorescents and not as affected by the cold weather. All in all was a very easy and inexpensive upgrade!
After doing some reading and research I decided to re-make the fixtures with LED strip lights. I found this 5 meter light strip for $12 on Amazon, and got a bag of solderless connectors. This light strip has defined cut points at every 3rd LED so you can make any custom length. The strip is also backed 3M adhesive tape so it's peel-n-stick.
I drilled out the pop rivets holding in the bulb holders and ballast and got down to the bare fixture frame. I cut the LED strip into approx 15" sections and used 4 strips per fixture.
The LEDs are covered in a rubbery plastic to make them waterproof, so you just need to clean off one end of each strip and clip on a connector. Wire to 12v and done.
Lights are slightly brighter than the fluorescents and not as affected by the cold weather. All in all was a very easy and inexpensive upgrade!
BurbMan wrote:Unless I'm suffering a brain fade, you need a DPDT switch to do the hi/lo switching. This is how I did it:
Schomer, rather than a dimmer you could double the # of LEDs and add a hi/low switch to the fixture, so that you can turn on half or all of the LEDs.
My fluorescents had an SPST rocker swicth on the end:
Replace it with an SPDT:
These LEDs were advertised as "cool to the touch", but I left them on for about 3 hrs on shore power and they got pretty hot, but you could still touch the metal fixture so I don't think they are a fire hazard.
Wopachop I get what you are saying about higher voltage shortening the service life, but appreciate the use case: This is a truck camper that is used 95% off the grid at battery voltage, not plugged into a CG pedestal. The Honda gen and the solar only charge the batteries during the day, when the lights will be off. I also figured these would be cheap LEDs buying off of Amazon, where do you recommend buying LEDs from?
Schomer, rather than a dimmer you could double the # of LEDs and add a hi/low switch to the fixture, so that you can turn on half or all of the LEDs.
My fluorescents had an SPST rocker swicth on the end:
Replace it with an SPDT:
A lot easier than a dimmer.
Wopachop I get what you are saying about higher voltage shortening the service life, but appreciate the use case: This is a truck camper that is used 95% off the grid at battery voltage, not plugged into a CG pedestal. The Honda gen and the solar only charge the batteries during the day, when the lights will be off. I also figured these would be cheap LEDs buying off of Amazon, where do you recommend buying LEDs from?
Schomer, rather than a dimmer you could double the # of LEDs and add a hi/low switch to the fixture, so that you can turn on half or all of the LEDs.
My fluorescents had an SPST rocker swicth on the end:
Replace it with an SPDT:
A lot easier than a dimmer.
