LED lighting, from bulb to LED...

[rokguy]

<EM><STRONG><SPAN style="COLOR: #888888">The strip ones are great. These ones mount on two push on clips and can swivel. Plug in ends so you can add more. Used outside several plugged together full width make great daytime running lights<BR>Geoff</SPAN></STRONG></EM>

 

[LFM]

<strong><span style="font-size: medium;">I put these in my sailboat, they run on AA&nbsp;batteries. Got them at Walmart. They have a wireless switch to turn on and off. the light it self has a on/off/remote switch too. $20.00 for each set. I have two sets I used one switch just inside the companionway (white switch in 2nd picture)<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 10.65625px;">. </span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 10.65625px;">The 2nd switch I mounted I in the&nbsp;V berth</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 10.65625px;">. So I can turn on lights when I enter the boat and turn off the lights from the bed.</span></span></span></strong>

 

[lesliemorris85]

The strip ones are great. These ones mount on two push on clips and can swivel. Plug in ends so you can add more. Used outside several plugged together full width make great daytime running lights<br>Geoff

<br>Yes, LED strips fit amazingly well and so versatile that they could be used nearly everywhere! We are now tinkering around to see where else we could use it for <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">

 

[VanTrekker]

<p><img class="bbc_img" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NCYAiEBzK...ZnWCyG0/s1600/LED+Task+Light+from+Mendars.jpg" rel="lightbox"><br><br>Lots of light for about a half a watt....&nbsp; (about .5 amps at 12 volts)<br><br>Since this thread was started, I've added two more of these task lights to the van including one by the entrance step.&nbsp; I love the large amount of light they give off and the fact they run directly from the house batteries.&nbsp; The light is soft - more houselike.&nbsp; When the cop knocked on my van a few months ago, I lit up all five of them [before opening the door]&nbsp;so he could see that it looked much like a house inside - very bright and clean looking.<br><br>These things run $25 / unit but are so reliable that they are well worth the money in my opinion.<br><br>They are available here:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.menards.com/main/lightin...ts/led-task-accent-light/p-1739002-c-7239.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.menards.com/main/lightin...ts/led-task-accent-light/p-1739002-c-7239.htm</a><br><br>There are lots of good lighting options here... It sure makes this lifestyle more comfortable.<br><br>Cheers!</p><p>V.T.</p>

 

[blars]

0.5 amps at 12v is 6 watts.&nbsp; That should put out lots of light.

 

[VanTrekker]

My bad...&nbsp;&nbsp; Geez, and I was an electronics tech at Rockwell for 11 years.... I can't do the equations any more...&nbsp; Power = Current * voltage.&nbsp;&nbsp; I do believe the current draw is a half amp so you are correct.<br><br>You can imagine with all five fixtures going, they put out a ton of light.&nbsp;&nbsp;I like the directed LED light because I can light up the eating area without risking light leaking out the back door area (which is covered).<br><br>I like the fact that the LEDs also last a lonnnnnng time, too.<br><br>Brad

 

[HWJ]

Well speaking of cheaper options from China:<br><br>http://dx.com/p/t10-sv85-ba9s-10w-1...led-white-light-car-indoor-lamp-dc-12v-112585<br>I think the above should work for most RVs.<br><br>Browse the complete product line for other interior light options:<br>http://dx.com/c/car-accessories-799/car-lights-723<br><br>I've ordered from the company before for other stuff. It takes about 3-4 weeks for stuff to arrive.&nbsp;

 

[Ballenxj]

HWJ, That site you linked seems to have very good pricing. I your experience with them, how is the product quality? <br>Thanks for posting the link. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img"> <br>-Bruce

 

[HWJ]

It really all depends to be honest. I bought a cheap pair of sunglasses for $2, and they came scratched to hell and useless (in all honestly though I wasn't surprised). But I also bought a 12 pack of LED flashlights for $6 and they are awesome. I have those stashed everywhere ready to use.<br>I've picked up a crank/solar powered emergency radio, cell phone screen covers, and camping axe for my bug out bag - all great stuff.<br><br>It's probably worth buying a couple of items and seeing the result you get.<br><br>My next purchase will probably be a solar backup charger for my cell phone. They have different stuff all the time.

 

[wrcsixeight]

800 lumens is very bright. &nbsp;I don't believe that claim, most of these type of flat LED panels struggle with half that amount of light output. &nbsp;12000k is very blue. 8000k is very blue. &nbsp;2700k is halogen light color<br><br>Lots of the Cheaper LED cannot handle charging voltages for long, and the bargain becomes a waste of money in short order.

 

[blars]

The bases supplied will not work in most RV light fixtures.&nbsp; BA15S is the most common.&nbsp; The BA9S base supplied is much too small.&nbsp; Some use T10, that is supplied.&nbsp; BA15D is another seen on some RVs.

 

[wrcsixeight]

I just bought some 168/194 LED replacements. &nbsp;4 for 5$. &nbsp;Pleasantly surprised. &nbsp;Only slightly less bright than some others I paid twice as much for, but with a much whiter/ less blue color. &nbsp;It is difficult to find a really bright bulb with this type of base, and no doubt I will keep searching for one which is disgustingly bright.<br><br>&nbsp;

<br><br>The bulb on the left is my new aquisition. &nbsp;The pics make it look like the bulb on the right is much brighter, but this is not the case. &nbsp;<br><br><br>The blue tint on some LED's is no good. &nbsp;Really throws off color perception.<br><br>I put the bluer bulbs in my side marker external lights, where they fill the housings much better than the old incandescent 194's, without the heat, and the 4 other bulbs joined my interior retinue, as the color matches some LED fixtures I bought many years ago, and is much more pleasant.<br><br>

 

[wrcsixeight]

I've been doing a little more experimenting with LED bulbs and thought I'd share.<br><br>I bought some 1156/ BA15s bulbs for my reverse lights that claimed 1000-1200 lumens and 7 watt CREE Led's.<br><br>Sounds impressive right? &nbsp;Well, One was dead on arrival from China. &nbsp;The company sent a free replacement, but I Honestly don't like the light. &nbsp;I knew it would not fill out the reflector of my taillight but thought it would still be sufficient firing into the crenelated clear lens. I was wrong.<br><br>

<br><br>The incandescents are brighter and give better visibility when backing up. &nbsp;Not only that, the incandescents I have are not 1156's rated at 402-440 lumens, but 1141's rated at 262 lumens, and soon will be replaced with 3497's rated at 565 lumens.<br><br>So Today I pull out some fixtures for the Ba15s base and put these LED bulbs in them, and after 2 minutes, they start overheating and flashing on and off. &nbsp;I also measured their current at less than 2.5 watts, and I estimate the lumen output at around 250, or 1/4 of the claimed output.<br><br>Anyway I would avoid these LED's. &nbsp;I gave them a bad review on Amazon and sent the company some hate mail. &nbsp;It is a shame as their light output would make a great interior task light, even if they did not work well in my taillight as a reverse light.<br><br>My quest for a brighter T10 wedge base bulb continues, but ends with the dollar signs of the ones I think would fit the bill, like these:<br>.<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jtech-7-5W-Po...34&amp;sr=1-16&amp;keywords=LED+Bulbs+168+194" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Jtech-7-5W-Po...34&amp;sr=1-16&amp;keywords=LED+Bulbs+168+194<br><br></a>But 7.5 watts is not exactly low draw.<br><br>I bought 2 different versions of the bulb on the left in my previous post,&nbsp;<br><a href="http://www.amazon.com/5-SMD-White-High-Power-Lights/dp/B0047RV8WG/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/5-SMD-White-High-Power-Lights/dp/B0047RV8WG/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header</a>&nbsp;and they are not much brighter despite 100% more LEDs to fire into the reflector.<br><br><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0047RZRFU/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0047RZRFU/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1<br><br></a>While 3 of them are nice and white with no blue, one is pretty blue. &nbsp;This trial and error is getting tiresome and expensive.<br><br>I also tried some red LED's in my dash cluster, but there were green filters inside for the incandescent bulbs which passed no red light. &nbsp;I did put two of the fairly dim red LED bulbs in my red side marker lights and they are surprisingly bright. &nbsp;I found my brightest &nbsp;white/blue LED's in those marker lights were too bright and pinkish and might draw unwanted attention. <br><br>&nbsp;Anyway with LED's, the bulb color should match the color of the lens. &nbsp;The brightest T10 white bulb I have is perhaps 300% brighter in open air than the red LED, but behind the red lens, is only 20% brighter than the Red LED<br><br>

<br><br><br><br>I also believe the LED 1156/7, &nbsp;194, 914 ect &nbsp;retrofit LED bulbs in incandescent housings are not safe as they might be brighter from behind but less visible from the sides. &nbsp;There are a lot of LED's designed to fire into the reflector, and some might actually work correctly in some incandescent housings, but for the price, they are not worth it IMO. &nbsp;I was wanting to do it mostly for less amp draw, and better battery charging at hot idle speed at night, but honestly that is not much of a factor. &nbsp;LED's in exterior incandescent housings might draw unwanted attention. &nbsp;I see them on ricers with fart cans around here and they look foolish.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>

 

[marshall]

Approximately two years ago I ran into 12V LED Flex Ribbon on Amazon. $12/16.4' roll. I now make all interior lighting. Comes in different colors, too. For the light below I used Ultra Bright LED. $12/roll FS. Over 100 LEDs. Lights up the van like the Vegas strip! All at .3/amp!

 

[marineprepper]

Just got these from amazon. Very happy, 1.44&nbsp;watt warm white. Tried to post pics from my phone but cant seem to get them to upload. <BR><BR>UPDATE, 13-07-24<BR>The bulbs are slightly dimmer than my T10 base 920 bulbs my a little bit.&nbsp;The light is warm white as avertised, not quite as yellow as the stock incandecents.&nbsp;Out of the 16 bulbs I ordered,&nbsp;one was cool white, no big deal. I am going to order a few more to replace the lights in my caro bays and have a couple for spares.<BR><A href="http://www.amazon.com/LEDwholesalers-Wedge-Board-Light-1415WW/dp/B002BRBBYO/ref=pd_sim_auto_1" target=_blank rel=nofollow>http://www.amazon.com/LEDwholesalers-Wedge-Board-Light-1415WW/dp/B002BRBBYO/ref=pd_sim_auto_1</A><BR><BR>I also bought one of the following:<BR><A href="http://www.amazon.com/Brightest-Rep...e-1441ww/dp/B004DDPHDU/ref=pd_bxgy_auto_img_y" target=_blank rel=nofollow>http://www.amazon.com/Brightest-Rep...e-1441ww/dp/B004DDPHDU/ref=pd_bxgy_auto_img_y</A><BR><BR>I had planed to put it above my stove but it was too big to fit past the opening in the hood. I placed it by itself in the ficture above my bed. Its nice because it doesnt blind me in the morning like two incandecents used too. <BR><BR>

 

[zemio]

I had a load of the old incandecent type bulbs all through my camper, enough to flatten a regular car batt in a couple of hours if you switched enough on&nbsp;<img src="/images/boards/smilies/rolleyes.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img"> All the more iffy for not having a sperate 'house' battery, just straight off the starter batt....that was the first thing to be sorted!<br><br>I spent a few bucks extra and got flexible voltage ones, they'll run on 8-30 volts, so the blurb says, seemed like a useful feature for a couple of extra dollars.