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06-27-2009, 10:35 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Trailer: Former Burro owner and fan!
Posts: 9,015
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I have a long history of lighting my rigs via LED and cold cathodes. The FAA often comes to my campsite to investigate the landing lights confusing commercial airline pilots, only to find a couple Beagles and several empty Dr Pepper cans ... and little old me.
I have several 24 LED dome type fixtures that I have been happy with, and are insignificant to my battery. When I sold my 13 foot Burro, I didn't even remove them, they cost so little (10 bones each) I just ordered more and redid the 17 footer. I even have a couple extra ones as I ordered more than I actually needed. I figured "Bigger trailer, more lights needed". The only issue I have with them is not a big deal.. they are old school and the white hue is actually blue, as old leds do.
In a fit of boredom, I snooped around autoluminations website to see if:
1. It has gotten any better (Slightly, it's still hard to navigate tho)
2. If they had anything new to offer.
I ran across these 24 LED Jumbo fixtures, warm white and went "For 15 bones, it'll be interesting to see". They are the first listing on the page.
I got them the other day, and I did a quick mock up to see how they were. Wow. I am impressed. I don't have a lumens meter, so I can only give a subjective opinion that they are about twice as bright as the smaller domes I have been using for, literally, years, and "warm" is a great description. They are much more pleasing than my incandescents. I ordered two more for the front of the coach as soon as I saw how they performed. The two I got already will replace the two in the rear for now, and the two new ones will replace the ones over my gaucho.
I will get pics when the install is done, but I thought I would post them here first. I have seen many references to LED sources here, but they always are MUCH higher priced and I have not been able to figure out why. (Other than these have to have switches installed, but that does not justify the steep increase)
I can't seem to find the current hit on these, I guess I will find out how much of a dent they make and do a measurement myself.
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06-28-2009, 09:08 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Trailer: Casita
Posts: 136
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LED's are defiantly the way to go and fun to mess with . Autolumination has great stuff and I have bought goodies there myself. My green underbody lights and others. I think also they are hear locally in Gilbert for us Arizona folk.
Inside green LED mood lighting
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06-28-2009, 08:28 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Trailer: 2005 19 ft Scamp 19 ft 5th Wheel
Posts: 1,555
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LED lighting has come a long way in the last year and a bit. Buying LEDs for an all-LED-lit trailer still isn't cheap, but the amount of light they produce has gone up, the price has come down, and the range of products and formats available has tripled or more.
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06-30-2009, 12:57 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Trailer: 1976 Boler 13 ft
Posts: 298
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i looked at those and ended up going with a switch type. i hope they look as good as yours do. i found this one for outside. i love the idea of it b/c the batteries can be taken out when not in use. nice to help find your way to a trailer in the dark, i am going to try and use it as an outdoor light up top b/c i don't have one.
http://www.theledlight.com/Wireless-LED-Step-Light.html
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06-30-2009, 12:00 PM
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#5
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Member
Trailer: 1981 13 ft Burro (Sunny side UP!)
Posts: 74
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I bought one of these 6 LED motion sensor lights to use as a porch light, but I like it so much that I kept it inside, next to the sink. It turns on as soon as I open the door and is bright enough to light up the whole trailer. It can be turned off, turned on, or left to the motion sensor. It has a light detector so it doesn't turn on during the day. I went back and got two more, one for my pantry and another one to attach as a porch light!
It comes with a mount that it slides on, so I can take it off when traveling. I don't know if it is weather proof, but for $10 I'm willing to find out!
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=99938
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06-30-2009, 12:06 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Trailer: 2000 Scamp 16 ft Side Dinette Deluxe / 1997 Toyota T-100
Posts: 177
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Gina did the light have a on/off switch?
Dave
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07-01-2009, 08:24 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Trailer: Former Burro owner and fan!
Posts: 9,015
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Hi Dave, no, you need to wire one in. Its not hard. You just put a spst in series with either of the lines. I use the +, some use the -, but it really makes no difference in this application. You just need to break the circuit somewhere.
I bought switches yesterday and will install today. I'll take pictures.
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07-01-2009, 11:46 AM
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#8
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Member
Trailer: 1990 Bigfoot 17 ft.5 ft
Posts: 55
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Why not just get the High Powered 24 LED Aquarium, Reptile & Dome & Utility Light on the same page . It has a switch built into it. Seems like a good price $12.99.
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07-01-2009, 03:14 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Trailer: 2000 Scamp 16 ft Side Dinette Deluxe / 1997 Toyota T-100
Posts: 177
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Quote:
Hi Dave, no, you need to wire one in. Its not hard. You just put a spst in series with either of the lines. I use the +, some use the -, but it really makes no difference in this application. You just need to break the circuit somewhere.
I bought switches yesterday and will install today. I'll take pictures.
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Can not wait to see the pictures.
Some say you need more then the 24 leds but they do say they are 8mm that may help.
I am thinking of getting both the cool white and the warm white.
Thanks dave
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07-01-2009, 04:15 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Trailer: Former Burro owner and fan!
Posts: 9,015
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Dave, I have examples of the differences between the two. I actually like a combo of them both.. more on that later.
OKEY Dokey..
Lets remove stuff from the trailer. In this case, the airline style overhead incandescents. I like them and all, but they are rarely used, and that is a perfect spot for the new leds.. so out they came and into storage they went.
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07-01-2009, 04:43 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Trailer: Former Burro owner and fan!
Posts: 9,015
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I cheated and took the picture after I pulled the fixture and drilled the hole for the switch :-P.. just pretend the switch hole isn't there K?
I had to temporarily take down my cold cathodes, not a big deal, they are actually held up with office supplies I used Fancy suction cup document clips (Secured with screws from underneath) that have a round interior. When the CCs are mounted, they appear to be floating below the surface of the cabinet. So, I just removed them from the clips and let them dangle while I was doing this side of the trailer. They had to come down for the switch hole that you are STILL pretending you don't see.
Ah, here is is, you can look now.. its there.
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07-01-2009, 04:46 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Trailer: Former Burro owner and fan!
Posts: 9,015
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Wiring for the non Electronically inclined.
After the hole is drilled, time to start wiring the fixture. I used a pre wired Single Pole Single Throw push switch with a low profile. I prefer push to paddle, but there are no particular advantages to a push over a paddle when stuff is this small. I have both kinds, as you will see. *Normally*, I would solder and heat shrink but because most folks don't, I crimped this single connection for the masses. (And before ya start, in my 35+ years in electronics manufacturing, I have seen many crimps fail, including from corrosion, but never a *properly* tinned and soldered wire join corrode and fail. It's all in the prep and skill, just like anything else)
Attach one of the wires (Makes no difference which one) to the + side of the fixture, in this case, the red wire. The other wire on the switch will simply go to the + side of your 12v feed. You can put the switch on the negative/ground side of switch and feed as well, if you prefer. Either one works. A Single Pole Switch is nothing more the a gate to allow the electrons of a single wire to flow through. In a two wire circuit like this (+/-) all you want to do is "break" the flow of one, and the light or "thing" you are wiring will stop working because the circuit can not be completed)
*Make note that these fixtures are prewired to DC standard, meaning the black wire is Negative/Ground. Double check your trailer wiring with a meter to determine the + line. My first Burro wire colors were to DC standard, this one is to AC standard, which is the reverse (White is the ground) Always check, never assume the wire color has anything to do with... anything.
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07-01-2009, 05:06 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Trailer: Former Burro owner and fan!
Posts: 9,015
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You aren't ready to hook up the wires to your 12v system yet. You have to mount your switch in that hole you are now allowed to see first.
If you buy a new switch, it should come with all the hardware to mount it. Stick switch through the hole and install the finish nut to secure it.. no degree required. The nut on this switch recesses into the glass making a nice reasonably flush fit. (The paddle switch next to it is for the Cold Cathodes and was wired exactly as this one is)
Next, I simply attached the + and - wires to my 12v feed, secured with wire nuts along with the wires from my cold cathodes and stuff them up into the gap.
Also note that all those loose wires are not live, I pulled the fuse from my battery main feed before I started any of this... as you probably should too.
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07-01-2009, 05:16 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Trailer: Former Burro owner and fan!
Posts: 9,015
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Because the airline style fixtures left that huge lovely hole in the glass, I had to mount the LED fixture onto some wood large enough to cover the gap. I used scraps from my ongoing cabinet finishing project.
There are 4 nice holes in the fixture to do this with. I used short wood screws to .
I drilled a pass through hole in each corner of the wood backer and then ran long hi-low screws through to the glass. All snug as a bug. I used a white caulk to conceal some of the edge gaps between wood and glass, and will sand/scrape the over spill on the edge after it dries so the wood is seen again. Tomorrow...
Remount the cold cathodes, energize the 12v system, push the switch and *WALLA*
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07-01-2009, 05:23 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Trailer: Former Burro owner and fan!
Posts: 9,015
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its hard to take pics of working lights in daylight, but here are examples of the differences between the warm and cool whites. (Blue is the "cool" white)
and I actually like a combo of both.. but that defeats the point of saving battery power.
I did not remove the old blue ones.. didn't see a reason to. They don't hurt anything there and I can use them as the mood strikes me.
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07-01-2009, 05:48 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Trailer: Former Burro owner and fan!
Posts: 9,015
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Bill, just saw your post.
The blue domes you see are those. They just came out with the ones with the switch.
The LEDS in them are smaller, and as you can see from the pics above, even two of those (48 leds total) are not as bright as the single fixture with the 24 8mm LEDs.
My meter has a blown fuse in it (Nope, I didn't do it) so I can't measure the current draw right now.
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07-02-2009, 11:35 AM
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#17
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Senior Member
Trailer: 2000 Scamp 16 ft Side Dinette Deluxe / 1997 Toyota T-100
Posts: 177
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Just got a e-mail from superlumination they said you can order the JUMBO led lights with an on/off switch .
They reported that they produce 70-90 lumens.
I e-mailed them back to see what the price is with the switch .
Thanks GINA
ps. post what the draw is sometime.
DAVE
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07-02-2009, 02:37 PM
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#18
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Senior Member
Trailer: Former Burro owner and fan!
Posts: 9,015
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My meter has puked.. if you talk to them, ask them what the spec is.
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07-10-2009, 08:17 PM
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#19
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Senior Member
Trailer: 1973 Compact Jr
Posts: 532
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I sent an email asking about the current draw -- here's the query and response:
Query
I am interested in your "item #24" aka "24 LED (Large 8mm leds) Ceiling- Utility Lights"
What is the current draw?
Are they available with a built-in switch?
If so, what do they cost with the switch and how do I specify that model in my order?
Thanks!
Answer
Hi-
Those lights do not come with a built-in switch.
We have switches that can be wired in here:
http://autolumination.com/flash.html
Or, any switch can be used.
Those lights draw 0.2 - 0.3 amps at 12 volts.
Thank You
Chris Bacon
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07-11-2009, 11:25 PM
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#20
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Senior Member
Trailer: Former Burro owner and fan!
Posts: 9,015
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Thanks Dana. .3 amps is good.
There are two "Jumbo" fixtures.. there are cool white small ones that are called Jumbo, and they are the smaller bluish ones you see in my pics. They recently added the switch to them as an option.
Go to Radio Hack and pick up a "Mini" single pole, single throw switch.. they are about 4 bucks each (Over priced IMHO) but easy to find there.
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