LED upgrades

[John Hilley]

John, do you have those lights on when going down the road? If not they don't see the higher alternator voltages. There would still be the higher voltage of bulk charging however.

 

[John Canfield]

John - the lights are on occasionally with the engine running but they always see at least 13.2 - 13.3 VDC.

 

[kenb1023]

I just finished upgrading the first one of my fluorescent fixtures and and I'm pretty happy with the results.  I plan to upgrade all of my fluorescents, but I chose the 12" Thin-Lite fixture over the counter for my initial guinea pig.  (When I do the 36" main cabin fixtures I'll use two regulators, since they're limited to 2A at 12V DC each.) I decided that I wanted 'white' LEDs for my fluorescent replacements and 'warm white' for the ceiling puck lights.  Here are the materials I used:

• DC DC Boost Buck Regulator
• White Waterproof 5050 300LED 5M 60LED/M Light Strip

I removed the 2 bulbs, removed the center cover, drilled out the 6 pop-rivets from the back (4 for sockets, 2 for the ballast), unsoldered the black and white power leads going to the ballast and removed the ballast and bulb sockets intact (allowing me to put everything back together again if I wished).

The first picture shows the four 12" strips of LEDs wired to the output of the boost/buck regulator (which I adjusted to output 12V DC).  Red is positive and purple is negative.  I put some heat shrink tubing on the ends of the strips where I soldered on the wires and also over my wire junctions.  The original black (positive) and white (negative) wires were soldered to the input of the regulator.  I used some double-stick foam tape to attach the regulator.

The second shot shows the center cover re-installed.

The third picture shows the LEDs lit without the lens (sorry about the white balance).

And finally, the fourth shot shows the end result (white balance is off again).

Where did you get the connectors on the LED strips or are these just soldered on?

 

[cbeierl]

I didn't use any special connectors--just soldered the wires onto the LED strips (after trimming off the waterproof coating over the connection locations).

Btw,  I'm just about to go back and remove the regulators I added to the LED strips for the smaller ex-fluorescent fixtures (I'd decided not to use them for the large fixtures in my original install).  The reason for removing them is that several have died on me even though they shouldn't have been overloaded according to their specs.

 

[John Canfield]

.. The reason for removing them is that several have died on me even though they shouldn't have been overloaded according to their specs.

My strips are still okay, fingers crossed.

 

[cbeierl]

My strips are still okay, fingers crossed.

Just in case there is any confusion, it was the regulators that died, not the strips.

 

[John Canfield]

Yup - roger that.  My strips are unregulated and are handling the ~14V okay - there was some initial concern about that when I installed them.

 

[cbeierl]

I didn't use any special connectors--just soldered the wires onto the LED strips (after trimming off the waterproof coating over the connection locations)....

What looks like a connector is some heat shrink tubing over the soldered joints.

 

[kenb1023]

I ordered all the parts.  I will try the regulators.  Only doing three twin tube lights.  Still cost less than a single LED retro fit tube.

 

[cbeierl]

I ordered all the parts.  I will try the regulators.  Only doing three twin tube lights.  Still cost less than a single LED retro fit tube.

At this point I would recommend skipping the regulators and just using the LED strips.

 

[VA6LM]

If you do not want to solder...
The connectors for the single color strip lights can be found on ebay by searching for all or some of these terms
5 x 2 pin Connector Wire Cable For Led Strip 5050 Single Color 10mm PCB
If your strip lights are other than 5050 search for that type.

 

[John Canfield]

^^ Good tip ^^

73 de John, WB5THT

 

[gmsboss1]

On this page, http://www.rvledbulbs.com/category-s/20.htm G-4 replacement LEDs are offered in lumen ratings from 130 to 170. 

Which lumen rating most closely matches the brightness of the 10W halogens to be replaced? 

Thanks.

Don

 

[Jim Godward]

A quick search said they would be about 130 lumens.

Be sure to get the color you want, "natural" or "cool" white.  I can make a difference in how they are accepted.

 

[cbeierl]

On this page, http://www.rvledbulbs.com/category-s/20.htm G-4 replacement LEDs are offered in lumen ratings from 130 to 170. 

Which lumen rating most closely matches the brightness of the 10W halogens to be replaced? 

Thanks.

Don

I used Warm White 12 LED 5050 SMD bulbs (similar to these http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-G4-12-LED-5050-SMD-Marine-Camper-Boat-Bulb-Lamp-Warm-White-12V-24V-3000K-New-/191111355377?pt=US_Light_Bulbs&hash=item2c7f1fdbf1 or these http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-x-Warm-White-G4-12-5050SMD-LED-Marine-Boat-Cabinet-Yacht-Light-Bulb-Lamp-2-2W-/121306319695?pt=US_Light_Bulbs&hash=item1c3e6b8b4f) which I found to be a good match.  That gives me a choice of warm light from the pucks or whiter light from the former-fluorescents.  (Note that these have a bridge rectifier on them so that you don't have to worry about which way they plug in, and they cost me around $1 each.)

 

[kenb1023]

What looks like a connector is some heat shrink tubing over the soldered joints.

How did you get the rubery covering off to get to the terminal to solder?  I buchered one already and don't want to screw another up.

 

[cbeierl]

How did you get the rubery covering off to get to the terminal to solder?  I buchered one already and don't want to screw another up.

I used an X-Acto knife (a single-edge razor blade would also work fine).  Make a gentle cut through the rubbery coating across the width of the strip.  Don't cut all the way through to start--you can always cut it a little bit more if needed.  Once the initial cut was made I just applied side pressure in the cut to cause the small piece of covering at the end to come off. If it doesn't come off you may need go over the initial cut VERY gently to free it up.

 

[Ray-IN]

This is related, but not about ceiling lighting. West Marine sells a direct replacement, LED- sealed unit, for the floor courtesy lights. They have brown or white housing types.

 

[FrontrangeRVer]

I was warned several years ago about buying cheap Chinese made LED bulbs that with a "regulator", these things wouldn't last.  I haven't had one solitary LED burn out yet.  8)

Also, the last LED replacements I wanted to do was the three flourescent two-bulb fixtures, and not spend the rediculous price for the Star lite LED tubes.  I ended up using CabinBright LEDS and I'm happy.

Here is my thread (with pictures) about this on the remodeling forum here at RVForum.net.  http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php?topic=70794.msg645499#msg645499

 

[John Hilley]

This is related, but not about ceiling lighting. West Marine sells a direct replacement, LED- sealed unit, for the floor courtesy lights. They have brown or white housing types.

Here is a link to the West Marine Companionway Lights, very reasonable at $10.49
http://westmarine.com/west-marine--led-companionway-light--P009_276_005_513