Two stage LED's??

[morgynm]

Is there such thing as a two stage LED 1156 bulb?

I bought some replacement LED bulbs for the fixtures the other day. Have to return them though as their lumen output is the pits. And they're too blue. I'll order some nicer and warmer ones from amazon canada instead.

One of things I encountered was that I missed having the two stage light over my sink. I know LEDs are either on or they're off. But is there a specialty one that can maybe only light up a few LEDs at low power and then the rest at full power?

The other problem I had was with my double overhead light above the dinette. Usually the first notch on the slider is the right bulb then the next both bulbs. With the LEDs, only the left bulb would turn on. (And yes, I checked the right bulb!!) Is it again either LEDs are on or they're off and it has to do with the way the power is going through that double fixture?




Morgyn
1981 13' Boler
Nova Scotia

[The Minimalist]

I'm not aware of any two stage bulbs available. I have a two bulb slide switch type fixture in my galley. First position is one light; second position is both, and it works with LEDs. It should work the same on your fixture. Having checked the 'right' LED, have you tried switching positions, left to right. Sounds like you may have socket issues.

Also, you might try putting one of the slider lights over the sink.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by morgynm

Is there such thing as a two stage LED 1156 bulb?

I bought some replacement LED bulbs for the fixtures the other day. Have to return them though as their lumen output is the pits. And they're too blue. I'll order some nicer and warmer ones from amazon canada instead.

One of things I encountered was that I missed having the two stage light over my sink. I know LEDs are either on or they're off. But is there a specialty one that can maybe only light up a few LEDs at low power and then the rest at full power?

The other problem I had was with my double overhead light above the dinette. Usually the first notch on the slider is the right bulb then the next both bulbs. With the LEDs, only the left bulb would turn on. (And yes, I checked the right bulb!!) Is it again either LEDs are on or they're off and it has to do with the way the power is going through that double fixture?




Morgyn
1981 13' Boler
Nova Scotia

I'm not sure if there's commercially available dimming LED bulbs. With a little engineering most LEDs can be made to dim. It would take some external electronics to do it. What I did was purchase two LED fixtures that had 25 LEDs in each fixture. I found an easy place to remove an internal wire and add a switch. One way has 10 LEDs on the other has all 25 on. Most of the time only 10 are on.

I just did a quick check on Amazon.com. Search on dimmer for led lighting and you'll find some external dimmers for 12 Volt LED lights. Don't worry about the current rating (8 amp) it's far greater than you'll ever need in your trailer.

A bit how they dim the LEDs. Leds come instantly when current is applied, unlike incandescent that take a bit of time to come up full brightness. Using that feature the dimmer turns the LEDs on and off with brightness controller by the amount of time they're on hence the term PWM (Pulse Width Modulation).

I hope all this technical stuff helps a bit.

[David Tilston]

I have some LED's that don't have any voltage regulators. They light up on 9VDC, but are much brighter on 12VDC. I think I will try to use a PWM as a dimmer. I will let you know.
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tor-64815.html

[Roger C H]

It has been my experience that electronic things tend to 'blow' when powered on. I would think that turning the power off and on many times per second would shorten their life. We have two brightness of LED lights in Homelet. The dim ones have 16 LEDs and the bright ones have 25.
They also cause visual retention. After glimpsing one, it is a few seconds before the vision of bright spots goes away.

[David Tilston]

I think the capacitors on the PWM help smooth out the pulses. The LED's I am going to use to test, were cheep.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

I think the capacitors on the PWM help smooth out the pulses. The LED's I am going to use to test, were cheep.

Not to worry. LEDs can be turned on and off many millions of times. Unlike incandescent lights that heat and cool with each power up and power down.

If you want to believe otherwise look at your cable or DSL modem and watch the flashing lights (LEDs).

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Roger C H

It has been my experience that electronic things tend to 'blow' when powered on. I would think that turning the power off and on many times per second would shorten their life. We have two brightness of LED lights in Homelet. The dim ones have 16 LEDs and the bright ones have 25.
They also cause visual retention. After glimpsing one, it is a few seconds before the vision of bright spots goes away.

Not True. The PWM technique is used just about all LED display situations. Any LED display that has numbers for dots for create letters uses a form of PWM known a multiplexing. Number displays only have one segment on at a time. Your statement is true for incandescent lamps, but not LEDs.

[kirkman]

I took a piece of white duck tape and stuck it on the lens of one of my dome lights, instant redneck dimmer!


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[morgynm]

Lol! I'll remember that!

On better news, I'm getting both left and right lights now on my double fixture. I had a light socket issue.





Morgyn
1981 13' Boler
Nova Scotia

[Jared J]

FYI, LEDs are polarity sensitive unlike incandescents, so that's another thing to look for if you run into one not working. I had to rewire 2-3 fixtures in my camper as the +- were swapped, and LEDs wouldn't work.


Sent from my iPhone using Fiberglass RV

[morgynm]

Tore out the old double light fixture with the wonky sockets and put a new one with LEDs in it. I wish I had taken a picture of the wiring for the old one! It's was all little pieces of wiring stuck together with different connectors and none of the colours matching. I was so happy when the new one worked on the first try. So was my daughter so she could get back to her colouring.


And I'll wait until I have more experience to wire in an LED dimmer.



Morgyn
1981 13' Boler
Nova Scotia

[Sandy Christie]

Morgynm

Check out Lee Vallery tools. They have all sorts of LED stuff, like dimmers, switches tapes of LED Coloured LED and much more.
Warm White LED Tape Lighting System - Lee Valley Tools

Sandy C

[morgynm]

I LOVE Lee Valley! Why haven't I seen those before??


Morgyn
1981 13' Boler
Nova Scotia

[Sandy Christie]

Morgynm

Lee Valley is a great place. Living in Ottawa I have to be careful about going there, it can get expensive very quickly, particularly since I do a lot of wood working. I will be replacing the fluorescent light in our scamp with their Led's.

Sandy C

[Timon]

There are 12V dimmers available for LED. They take more room than the normal RV type switch. The dimmers use PWM for dimming which is the only correct to dim LEDs.

Most of these dimmers come direct from China. I'll put together some links once I find some that will work well for RVs.

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by morgynm

Is there such thing as a two stage LED 1156 bulb?

There are Two Stage Bulbs, but they're not 1156, they are 1157.

Starlights Revolution 1156 LED Replacement Light Bulb is a single stage (bright only) bulb. In the tail-light fixture, it is the Back-up bulb. The keys on each side of the base are aligned with each other. It is also the most common bulb used for interior lighting in recreational vehicles.

Starlights Revolution 1157 LED Replacement Light Bulb is a two stage (Bright and Dim) bulb. In the tail-light fixture, it is the Turn Signal & Brake lights (bright) AND the Running or Tail lights (Dim). The keys on each side of the base are offset to match the offset keyways in the light fixture. This type of interior light fixture is rarely seen.

My Fiber Stream has both types of light fixtures. There are four 1156 (on-off) lamps, and two 1157 (bright-off-dim) lamps, one of which is the bathroom light, and the other is next to the stove.

[morgynm]

That makes sense. The 1157 has two contacts in the base.


Morgyn
1981 13' Boler
Nova Scotia

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Not to worry. LEDs can be turned on and off many millions of times. Unlike incandescent lights that heat and cool with each power up and power down.

If you want to believe otherwise look at your cable or DSL modem and watch the flashing lights (LEDs).

Or, have you noticed how some of the automobile LED taillights leave a "comet" trail on your retina when you quickly look away? They are full on or off many times per second. PWM regulation is so efficient because it does not burn the power (well, very little) to keep it from the light bulb the way something like a rheostat would.