LED lighting in Casita

[Roy in TO]

What's happening is that they navigate by the light from stars or the moon, always keeping one side pointing at that distant light -- When we introduce a closer light, they start flying in circles around the light, eventually getting to it and being very confused.

http://archives.stupidquestion.net/sq72601.html

Now that I've had a chance to read the link and think a bit. The LED's should not attract as many bugs, nor keep them circling around. If the theory is that they are using a single light as a directional beacon of sorts. Most LED lights have multiple sources of light. From a distance it may look like one light but the closer they get, they sources become further divergant to the insect. Therefore the lights cease to be a "beacon".

Does that make any sense?

[peterh]

Could you elaborate on the voltage regulators that you used? Also do you know which LEDs come with built in regulators?

I use "7812" integrated circuit regulators. They're a standard fair in electrical circuits; you can buy them from Radio Shack stores that sell components for about $2.00 each or order them in lots of 20 on eBay for around $5.00 (including shipping). I solder them in-line between my light switch and my LED-equipped lights.



[attachment=20621:08Jul13N...LightLit.
JPG]




One of the Home Depot track lights I converted to use LED lighting. Here's a wiring diagram.





There are two little catches, though. The first is that these little regulators will fry in less than a second if you wire them in backward or hook your battery up backward. You can tell when it happens: they get very hot to the touch, smell like fried electronics and usually let off a tiny puff of smoke. Not that it's ever happened to me . . .

You can avoid the backward wiring thing by adding a rectifier diode into the circuit, but doing so means your lights will dim slightly sooner when your battery runs down below 12.4 volts.





The second thing is these regulators can only handle one amp of current before they overheat . . . I tend to assume they shouldn't be pushed beyond half an amp. The problem with being limited to 1 amp throughput is that your average 1156 incandescent bulb, the ones our trailers tend to come with, draw 1.5 to 1.8 amps. So if once you solder in a voltage regulator you're stuck with using LEDs in that spot. (Not a problem for us: All our interior trailer lights are LEDs.)

How can you tell which bulbs use voltage regulators? Very few LED lights have regulators, but here's a simple test: Charge (or discharge) your trailer battery so that it has about 12.4 volts of power (about half charged), turn all the LED lights in your trailer on, then stand inside while someone else plugs your trailer's converter (or battery charger) in to shore power. The lights that get brighter do not have built in regulators.

[Glenn Baglo]

I'm still reading, but one more question. I had a florescent lantern that interfered with AM radio reception. You could hear the thing cycling on the radio. Any problem with LEDs interfering with other devices?

baglo

[peterh]

I'm still reading, but one more question. I had a florescent lantern that interfered with AM radio reception. You could hear the thing cycling on the radio. Any problem with LEDs interfering with other devices?

No. Fluorescent lights use a high-frequency oscillator circuit that can create radio interference. LEDs, on the other hand, are a pretty straightforward circuit: just a battery, a resistor, one to three LEDs and maybe a voltage regulator, nothing there to create interference.

[Gilles D]

I use "7812" integrated circuit regulators.
One of the Home Depot track lights I converted to use LED lighting.

Good Idea Peter ! I use a empty 1141 socket and insert a 7812 regulator (isolate from the socket) inside put a G4 ontop and seal with Heat shrink to fabricate a Halogen socket last mounth here a picture of all I use for my testing.



I already start a threat about 'indoor lightning' (Casita Forum) and made lot of testing using Halogen (10/5W),1141 bulb,1003bulb and 36 leds board from Honkong ($5 each) .The best result I obtain are from the 36Leds board using a clear lens instead of the white OEM. (263uA/90Lumens)
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From Peter ""The second thing is these regulators can only handle one amp of current before they overheat . . . I tend to assume they shouldn't be pushed beyond half an amp. The problem with being limited to 1 amp throughput is that your average 1156 incandescent bulb, the ones our trailers tend to come with, draw 1.5 to 1.8 amps. So if once you solder in a voltage regulator you're stuck with using LEDs in that spot. (Not a problem for us: All our interior trailer lights are LEDs.)""
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Well maybe you can try to install the regulator inside the socket of the led like I did for my Halogen adapter ,no more retrofit problem this way!

I wil do this test soon !

[Bill F.]

To Peter & Gilles
On the Superbright led site they warn not to cut the bulb base off the circuit boards and wire direct because it contains a buck driver circuit which is required to maintain warranty and they also mention that their bulbs have current limiting resistors as well. They claim the bulbs will work on anything from 8 to 30VDC so they can be used in either 12 or 24VDC applications. It would seem they have all bases covered. I've been watching for a solution like this for some time now and hope to order some of these tomorrow. We want to be more energy efficient so we can run our furnace without shore power in the off season(no campgrounds open) while traveling south to get to warm weather. We will test them on our way to Texas at the end of December.
Bill

[JenPB]

Thank you all for the further information. I've ordered our goodies and hope to have them installed shortly. (We only have two lights in the CJ - one over the hob and another at one couch end. With all this electrical "savings" I plan to install a second fixture over the other couch, and one outside! WOO HOO!

Jen

[JenPB]

OH! Where would I find the clear lens for the existing fixtures in a '71 Compact Jr.?

Jen

[Glenn Baglo]

How many campers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

This is getting so complicated that I'm just gonna remain an observer and wait for the next generation of LEDs, or maybe the one after.

And, on that note, I think I'll go to bed. It's getting dark.

baglo

[peterh]

They claim the bulbs will work on anything from 8 to 30VDC so they can be used in either 12 or 24VDC applications.

The 78xx series of voltage regulators accept inputs up to 30 volts DC, so they probably do have a 7812 built into the circuit. As for the "current limiting resistor," that's part of any well-designed LED circuit. Like I said earlier, an LED circuit is made of a battery, resistor, and one to three LEDs.

[Steve L.]

My first pass at LED substitutes quickly started burning out individual LEDs of the array. I assumed it was due to the high voltage the charger was holding the battery at.

The "buck" driver LEDs have lasted a couple years with all LEDs in the array still working.

I didn't do any rustic camping last summer, but most summers I do a fair amount. I'm a bit of a bookworm and read for hours pass twilight and I felt the LEDs would help defer "generator" time a bit.

LEDs are pretty robust so I'm not worried about them rattling about, but perhaps a very small dab of clear silicone would tidy up the installation.

[Gilles D]

The 78xx series of voltage regulators accept inputs up to 30 volts DC, so they probably do have a 7812 built into the circuit. As for the "current limiting resistor," that's part of any well-designed LED circuit. Like I said earlier, an LED circuit is made of a battery, resistor, and one to three LEDs.

Your right Peter,I suspect that to. It can be a constant courrant buck regulator or some kind of pulse switching voltage regulator circuit .Here some link for reference only http://www.dimensionengineering.com/AnyVoltMicro.htm
http://www.leddynamics.com/LuxDrive/datash...27-BuckToot.pdf

My suggestion was for china cheap buy Leds board assembly like the 36 Leds I got for $5 not for those expensive board superbrightlite sold, I didn't check and test them to find out if they already got a regulator circuit but I suspect they only got a resistor and this explain why the dont last long so a cheap not effective solution like a 7812 look more appealing for this task.

[Jay DeRoussy]

Hey guys first post. I also replaced all my (exterior) lights with LEDs on my boler.

I'm not sure if it uses a simple resistor circuit internally or a buck/boost circuit. Either way it seems to work very well and has (so far) stood up to a hard summer of camping!

Here is a youtube video I did when I first installed the lights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im4VeT8DLoc

Then we made a trip down the PNW coast to see the sand dunes, redwoods, etc all along the way. Found a lot of nice campsites!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/274453...a9109a6e6_b.jpg

And

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3175/274455...8602e8e5c_b.jpg

[April Wilcox]

I don't know if this is a good price or not, but I found these on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/2pc-Energy-Saving-12V-...%3A1|240%3A1318

[Donna D.]

I don't know if this is a good price or not, but I found these on ebay...

Good price, but: Item location: Hong Kong, Hong Kong

[peterh]

[quote]I don't know if this is a good price or not, but I found these on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/2pc-Energy-Saving-12V-...%3A1|240%3A1318


Attachment 17154


Well . . . At $1.00 each they sound too good to be true.

Oh, wait, $10.00 for shipping . . .

And no information on power consumption or light output . . .

And "super white" LEDs? I think they're talking about "ultra white" LEDs which are the least expensive white color LEDs on the market and have a distinctly blue-white color. That's a fine color for outdoor lighting, but most people find it's awfully harsh for interior lighting.

And there's no mention of a voltage regulator or "buck" driver to protect the LEDs when you're running on shore power.

None of this says they're a bad deal, but I'd think very carefully before I buy.

[Pete Dumbleton]

These look a lot like the ones SuperBright carries -- I wonder if SB subs out the making to an Asian manf...

[theresa p]

can anyone help us?? we are interested in using less battery power to provide us interior lighting...but also have to consider that our fridge runs on battery and electric only. we do like to boondock but wonder what are our best options ---do we consider switching to LED lights for the interior, or augmenting our lights with dome LEDs as we have now, (the ones that just stick on) ...and how does all this factor in to the amount of battery power we need to run the fridge.?
like glenn, we do enjoy sitting out by the fire at night, and really try to conserve our 12 volt battery "juice"....but are constantly conscious of not using too much. any thoughts or ideas???

[Gilles D]

[quote]I don't know if this is a good price or not, but I found these on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/2pc-Energy-Saving-12V-...%3A1|240%3A1318


Attachment 17154


I already got 3 set (6pack) and test them ,my testing result are 12V/264mA/90Lumens with a clear lens, They dont have a buck regulator circuit just 18 SM resistor under the board , they cost about 5 or 6$ each with shipping so nothing to complaint. They will not last forever but if like me you never use more then 3 lights at the same time you got 3 spares!
The wise thing to do is not moding all your inside light ,keep some bulb and use them when you're running on shore power this way your Leds will last very long. You use your light about what? 4Hours per night? They can last 500Hrs or 1000Hrs or... Nobody got a clue...buy 2 and test them next summer It's cheap and they do the job! (lower battery discharge)

Here a picture of the light they produce with a clear lens




PS :G...I forgot Superbrightled are import from China! Almost all led board or assembled there...

[Gilles D]

can anyone help us?? we are interested in using less battery power to provide us interior lighting...but also have to consider that our fridge runs on battery and electric only. we do like to boondock but wonder what are our best options ---do we consider switching to LED lights for the interior, or augmenting our lights with dome LEDs as we have now, (the ones that just stick on) ...and how does all this factor in to the amount of battery power we need to run the fridge.?
like glenn, we do enjoy sitting out by the fire at night, and really try to conserve our 12 volt battery "juice"....but are constantly conscious of not using too much. any thoughts or ideas???

Running a fridge on 12V is the worst scenario possible in dry camping, your best option is to change your fridge for a LP unit it's the cheaper one to(I assume you got a 3 cubic feets fridge in your trailer) a generator (2000W+gaz) or a solar system setup
(panel/regulator/twinT105battery) will cust you more. No mather how conscious you are your fridge will alway's require to much power.