Swapping out 921 interior bulbs for LEDs in our Parkliner

[frank_a]

I know a lot of you have swapped out interior bulbs for LEDs. I find the assortment of types really confusing and have a few questions.

Looks like some are just 12V. I need to make sure they're AC/DC right?

What's with all the labels for cool, warm, etc? How do you decide on a type LED without buying and testing a bunch of them?

Thanks for any help. We're trying to get ready for low power trips!

Frank

[cpaharley2008]

Frank,
They should all be 12v bulbs or dc type with either automotive type round twist sockets or wedge type bulbs. The color or "warm vs cool" refers to the ability to read while one is on. This may be a personal preference. I have always had good luck with https://www.superbrightleds.com

[frank_a]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Frank,
They should all be 12v bulbs or dc type with either automotive type round twist sockets or wedge type bulbs. The color or "warm vs cool" refers to the ability to read while one is on. This may be a personal preference. I have always had good luck with https://www.superbrightleds.com

921's are wedge type, and some say 12V only, while others say AC/DC. I mean I know incandescent 921's are 12V, but for an RV running 110V at times LED replacements need to be able to take 110V as well as 12V right?

What's better for reading, warm or cool?

Man, this stuff is complicated!

Frank

[Fallon]

http://www.seesmartled.com/kb/choosi...r_temperature/

Color temperature is the color of the light. Typically you want a warm yellow in a living room. Offices & garages usually have a cool light.

Personally I'd go for middle of the road around 4000k or a little towards the "warm" end of the spectrum.

Sent from my A0001 using Fiberglass RV mobile app

[cpaharley2008]

Frank,
Even when you are hooked up to 120v, your converter is changing that to 12v for your lights. Unless it is a plug in type 120v light or one wired direct into you a/c circuit, your lights will be 12v. I like the warm for reading.

[kootenaigirl]

I have had good luck with these ones. I prefer the warmer white, I found the blue white too bright and stark.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Gerry Kiernan]

Originally Posted by frank_a

I know a lot of you have swapped out interior bulbs for LEDs. I find the assortment of types really confusing and have a few questions.

Looks like some are just 12V. I need to make sure they're AC/DC right?

What's with all the labels for cool, warm, etc? How do you decide on a type LED without buying and testing a bunch of them?

Thanks for any help. We're trying to get ready for low power trips!

Frank

I have purchased a number of 12 volt LED bulbs from "tmart" give them a try.
If you have regular automotive style bulbs, "1156", order the bulbs with the most diodes. I have found that the bulbs with 68 diodes are very bright, and give adequate light for interior use.

Gerry

[WaltP]

On ebay search for 68 SME LED and you should come up with good options for both the bayonette and wedge type bulbs. You want close to 300 lumens and the 68s will give you that. They come in sets of 10 so you could either have some spares or share with a friend. And they have come down in price so much that I wound up buying both warm and cool(or pure) white to experiment with.

Walt

[frank_a]

That's what I did Walt. Got a 6 pack of warm white and a 5 pack of cool white coming from ebay, less than 12 bucks including shipping. We'll see what works.

Thanks to all for the comments and advice. Much appreciated.

Frank

[War Eagle]

Frank, I think you already have the idea, but just to clarify a bit (I hope), if your ParkLiner is wired anything like our EggCamper, whatever runs off of your 12V DC camper battery(ies) while boondocking will continue to run off of your camper battery's 12V DC electrical system while hooked up to 120V AC shore power. The difference will be that some of the 120V AC shore power will be going through your on-board AC/DC converter to charge and maintain your 12V DC battery while it continues to power those 12V DC items. Also, if your camper is wired like ours, when you look in your camper's power distribution center, you'll see a bank of automotive-type fuses protecting all of the battery-powered 12V DC circuits, and a bank of house-type breakers protecting all of your shore-powered 120V AC items (like the air conditioner, maybe your water heater, any house-type 15W AC receptacles for a microwave, hot plate, etc.) - including a 120V AC breaker dedicated to your AC/DC converter. So when you are plugged into 120V AC shore power, as long as your main breaker is switched on, and then under that the individual breaker for your AC/DC converter is switched on, your 12V DC lights should run off your battery forever (theoretically!), without running down your battery, because the battery is constantly being recharged by the 120V AC/DC converter. Does that make sense? I know there are electrical experts out there, so any corrections to my understanding/explanation of the above will be appreciated by me and I'm sure others. Dale

[frank_a]

That makes perfect sense Dale, thanks! I'll take another look when I get a chance, but that sounds very similar to the setup in our egg.

Frank

[rdickens]

Frank,

My personal preference is around 5000 - 5500 Kelvin.

7000K feels too blue and harsh to me.
2700K "soft white" now feels too yellow.

With the "daylight" (5000K - 5500K) it seems a lot easier to see more detail (sharper letters
on a printed page, etc.).

I know that we have all been pre-conditioned to the "soft white" yellowish incandescent bulbs,
but I sure see better with less actual lumens at the middle "daylight" color temperatures.

As always, YMMV! 😉

Ray


Sent from my iPad using Fiberglass RV

[War Eagle]

I haven't tried to verify it, but I read once that Edison initially used metal components that gave off a brighter white light in his original light bulbs, but consumers were used to, and preferred, a softer amber glow like that from their coal oil lanterns. Since that's what the customers wanted, and were willing to pay for, he switched to metal components that rendered a more amber glow, and that became the standard color of incandescent light bulbs for decades. I don't know if all that is true, but it's nice that we now have choices to match a variety of settings and individual preferences.

[War Eagle]

Frank, I'll try to post a photo of our EggCamper's power distribution panel with this post to show you the house-type 120V AC breakers on the left and the automotive type 12V DC fuses on the right that I mentioned in a previous post regarding the electrical supply in our EggCamper. On the 120V AC side, you see the 30 amp main breaker on top then the AC/DC converter breaker right under that. The other breakers below that are for the water heater, air conditioner, heater and galley. They all go to house-type 15V or 20V electrical outlets (ground fault), and then the water heater, air conditioner and heater are simply plugged in to those outlets. The galley breaker goes to an outlet above the counter top for plugging in the microwave and another outlet on the face of the cabinet to plug in a hot plate, crock pot, etc. I hope that helps answer any questions you might still have about what power goes where in our camper. Dale

[frank_a]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

Frank, I'll try to post a photo of our EggCamper's power distribution panel with this post to show you the house-type 120V AC breakers on the left and the automotive type 12V DC fuses on the right that I mentioned in a previous post regarding the electrical supply in our EggCamper. On the 120V AC side, you see the 30 amp main breaker on top then the AC/DC converter breaker right under that. The other breakers below that are for the water heater, air conditioner, heater and galley. They all go to house-type 15V or 20V electrical outlets (ground fault), and then the water heater, air conditioner and heater are simply plugged in to those outlets. The galley breaker goes to an outlet above the counter top for plugging in the microwave and another outlet on the face of the cabinet to plug in a hot plate, crock pot, etc. I hope that helps answer any questions you might still have about what power goes where in our camper. Dale

That's very similar to ours Dale. Thanks!