Cheap 12 volt LEDs

[kdhanso]

Originally Posted by Tim Wood

Ken, I would think that the 68's will do you just fine. In fact I have some with less, so I would think 68 should be nice and bright. Let us know when you get them.

Thanks. Will do.

[rabbit]

Originally Posted by kdhanso

I just checked my Scamp and the light fixtures have 1141s. Are these the same base as the 1156? You mention heat. Does one generate more heat than the other?

IIRC (a big IF), the 1141 is rated 18w and the 1156 28w. There's also an 1139 which is even lower wattage. Same 20mm base which I think is referred to as a BA19s. Maybe the wattage on the filament bulbs is academic if the LEDs are becoming affordable. I have no idea how many of these little lightning bugs it takes for parity with a particular incandescent. I do know that the "Superbright" internet seller replied to me that his 36smd was higher lumens than his 45smd. I made this make sense to ignorant me by noting that the itty bits on the 36 are larger than those of the 45 so total light-emitting area should mean more light. I don't if bigger is better or more of them is better; merely guessing. It's a crap shoot as I haven't seen these cylindrical "tower" LEDs locally and it's hard to buy just one of each from Hong Kong.

jack

[rabbit]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Actually I meant the trailer battery being low since the t/v did not charge it enough, sorry about the vagueness, I'll correct it now. Actually on second thought, you brought up a valid point, if the draw is too high, you may not be charging the starter battery either. Without a battery isolator installed this could be also happening. I wonder how many of us have one of those?
Either way, either battery, if you reduce the draw, you are better off. JMHO...

I understand a bit better now; I've never been wakened with one buzz of the alarm; never been KO'd by one punch.

jack

[Panoz77]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Yup, and my question was originally to Tim who said he was replacing exterior lights.

I was replying in general to the direction of the thread and not specifically to you, that's why I did not quote you in my reply.

[Rick G]

Originally Posted by kdhanso

Thanks Tim.

I'm considering LEDs for interior lights and yard light (not for running lights) and see some 1156 LEDs with 102 SMD, some with 68 SMD. I'm assuming that 102, 68, etc. are the number of diodes. Any thoughts on these options? Should one get 102 or are 68s (or less) doing the trick?

Hi,

I have replaced all of my interior trailer lights with LEDs, and also my exterior tail/stop lights and marker lights. They all work great.
If you are considering interior lights, you should also think about colour with LEDs. The LEDs with a 5500 or so degree colour temperature have a blue-ish white light that looks very bright, similar to a fluorescent tube light. I know some people like the extra brightness, however, I personally do not like that colour, and prefer the warm white of incandescents. Fortunately, warm white LEDs with a 3300 or so degree colour temperature are now being made that can also be found on eBay very cheaply, for example here: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/G4-25-SMD-LED-Warm-White-Marine-Light-Bulb-Lamp-12V-/270795824170?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0cb0 5c2a . These are 1 dollar each with free shipping, but do not come in a base. In order to solve this problem, I bought a collection of the bases (type BA-15, suitable for both 1141 and 1156 bulbs, about 50 cents each including shipping) and soldered my own.
From my own measurements, this particular light uses 0.08 amps each at 12.5 volts, compared to the 1.4 amps for an 1156 bulb. This means I can run 16 of these for the same current as one of the incandescent light bulbs. See this thread http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f51/group-buy-of-leds-to-replace-incandescent-bulbs-44944-2.html#post239747 for more details of the experiment.

The down side was that the 25 LED light was not as bright as an 1156 or 1141. So, I put 2 of the LEDs in some of the bulbs, and 3 in the fixture over the sink (it was a double fixture with 3 in each side, for 6 LEDs in total over the sink). This gave me sufficient light at an attractive colour and much less power consumption. I installed a new fixture by the entry door with a single LED light in it, which is sufficient for that location.

The result is that I now have 15 of the LED lights in 7 fixtures in the trailer, and when they are all running they use less power than a single 1156 bulb. Now I can easily run all the lights all night long without any worries, not that I ever stay up all night anymore.
For the rear tail/stop lights, I bought red LED 1157 bulbs from Princess Auto. These simply plug in and work great. For the red marker lights, I made lights using 4 red single LEDs soldered into the small base that the fixture uses. For both these lights it is important to use red LEDs because an LED gives off light in a narrow wavelength range, and a white LED does not give off much red light, if any.

For the orange marker lights I used 3 warm white single LEDs soldered into the bases. These wavelengths are close enough to the orange that the light shines through adequately, and are easily seen at night.

The reason for going to LED exterior lights was to reduce the load on the alternator of my tow vehicle. Each of the marker lights was using more than an amp of current even though they were small lights, and the tail lights even more when everything was going. The 10 – 12 amps that I save by using LEDs means that I can run my stereo at night in the rain with the defroster running full blast and not worry about the alternator not being able to keep up. That same 10- 12 amps would also allow me to run my fridge on 12 volts from the tow vehicle if I wanted to, as it only uses about 8 amps in 12V mode.

Hope that helps,
Rick G

[Rick G]

Yikes, I added that reply twice. I would delete one of them if I knew how...

Rick G

[John_M]

Whoops! Don't worry, I'm sure a mod will fix it soon..

[kdhanso]

Originally Posted by Tim Wood

Ken, I would think that the 68's will do you just fine. In fact I have some with less, so I would think 68 should be nice and bright. Let us know when you get them.

My 68s arrived yesterday and they look great. I had ordered 4 of them and decided to replace the outdoor 'yard' light, the light over the main bed/dinette, and the two over the side dinette. There are two other lights in our Scamp. One near the kitchen sink and the one in the bathroom. So far, we don't seem to use these two lights for long periods of time so I decided to keep 1141 bulbs in these.

I agree with Tim that the 68s are plenty bright. The only difference I see is that the LEDs are a whiter light than the 1141 bulbs which appear more amber in comparison. This has been a fun little modification.

[Panoz77]

I like the whiter light, I am waiting on delivery of two different lights 36 led, $4.39 delivered for two. I'll post pics of how they look when they arrive.

2X 36 LED WHITE 1156 TAIL or STOP bulbs BA15S P21W US - eBay (item 250863144487 end time Aug-26-11 23:47:52 PDT)

[Panoz77]

Update on the 36 LEDs that I linked to above. They are nice, they are not as bright as the 68 LED lights but are sufficiently bright for my use. I am placing them in the two side lights near the beds. They are also a whiter light than incandescent lights, I prefer the whiter light. They are bright enough to use for any fixture but the 68s definitely are brighter and closer to the Revolution 150s are far as light output, but these would be sufficient to read by or light up at night. Here are some pics. I think I am going to get some amber and red 36 leds for my tail and turn lights.



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