Interior incandescent LED Replacement Bulbs

[LJ-TJ]

I'm going to get shot for this for sure. BUT! Because of all the trouble I'm having with my batteries. I'm thinking of changing all my lights to L.E.D. I really don't like the bright Blue or White type lights. Are there any plug in lights that have the same softness that the old incandescent lights had? Hm?

[carl2015]

I had gotten some from Amazon that were pretty close, but they don't have that one anymore. They were made by Hotsystem. Warm white was the color.

[Rickf1985]

You need to look for a color temp around 3500 or lower. Warm white is the best description I believe.

[LJ-TJ]

I know I mess up a fair bit. I try. I just don't get it sometimes. Are these the lights we're talking about. Will they just twist in the old sockets. Thanks.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/10PCS-Warm-White-LED-Replacement-Bulb-For-RV-Camper-SUV-MPV-Car-Turn-Tail-Brake-/112565583635?hash=item1a356e7f13:g:nSQAAOSw8OJZvIaE&vxp=mtr

[carl2015]

Those look like the ones I bought, description says warm white. They should fit without a problem.

[LJ-TJ]

Thanks mate.

[CapnDirk]

I know I mess up a fair bit. I try. I just don't get it sometimes. Are these the lights we're talking about. Will they just twist in the old sockets. Thanks.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/10PCS-Warm-White-LED-Replacement-Bulb-For-RV-Camper-SUV-MPV-Car-Turn-Tail-Brake-/112565583635?hash=item1a356e7f13:g:nSQAAOSw8OJZvIaE&vxp=mtr

Those are what I got and I'm disappointed with the overall light output.  Can't tell if I would like the "temperature" or not.  I know the incandescents were a warm to hot temperature because the plastic lenses had holes in them right where the bulb was (melt down)    I would prefer to see where I'm going as opposed to the ambiance.

Wait for it...

[HandyDan]

I replaced all my interior lights with those same LEDs.  Actually, I ordered the "blue" white first and I just did not like the "cold" look of the lights.  I then got the warm white and I can hardly tell the difference from the original incandescent lights, except they put out a lot less heat.  I have discovered that occasionally an LED will flicker a bit.  I had to replace two of mine because of that.  Otherwise I am very happy with them. 
Dan

[Oz]

Searched related topics for additional info and options.  Found this:

Interior LED Lighting changeover

LED lighting homemade lights.

[Rickf1985]

I have not done it yet but I know there are good LED's and then there are the "others". The super cheap ones are the others and in that case I am pretty sure you are never sure what color or lumen output you are going to get. And also keep in mind that color and lumens are two different things. Color is the shade, or the way the light makes everything around it look, lumens is how much actual light it puts out and how much area is lit up. You have good, brand name LED's usually made in America or Japan and then you have the Chinese ones. I don't think I have to tell which are the better ones.

[postman]

Ok, figured out the BBcode

Rickf1985 was very close. Here is an example of Kelvin as applied to compact CFL which are rapidly disappearing.

https://www.lumens.com/how-tos-and-advice/kelvin-color-temperature.html

here is a source for consideration
http://www.kichler.com/products/category/ceiling_lights.aspx

[Rickf1985]

Being in charge of maintenance at a community college you can be sure I had to visit the lighting issue just a time or two, or three............................. hundred. W% D:oH!  Thankfully LED room lighting was not in full use by the time I retired. We did two tiered lecture halls with remote controlled dimmable lighting at a cost of 26,000.00! What people do not realize is that there is more to it than just changing bulbs in the case of a bigger venue.

[LJ-TJ]

So being the chicken shoot that I am. What is a good make of LED light? I'm only going to buy one for now if I can find one at a reasonable price. I'm looking for soft lighting like the old incandescent ones and that just plugs into the old receptacle. If somebodies got a make and model I'd apprecate that. Thanks

[tmsnyder]

I just went to ebay and bought 2 20 packs of the cheapest 1156 replacement bulbs I could find from a vendor with good reviews, in the color setting I wanted which was the lower temperature color.  I didn't want blue white light.  They were described as "20 X Warm White 1156 RV Camper Trailer 13 SMD LED 1141 1003 Interior Light Bulbs"  The color is approximately the same to my eye, as a incandescent bulb.   They put out ~1/2 as much light in my estimation, which is fine b/c that's still plenty of light, in fact its usually too much light when getting up in the night.  And I can turn every light on in the RV, about 30, and it draws only ~ the same power as 1 SINGLE old bulb.   And that's based on actually measuring the average amperage drawn on several of the bulbs, vs the average amperage I measured on several of the old bulbs.... that's with an ammeter.  40 bulbs was $30 to my door a year ago, they're probably cheaper now.   


I worried about getting a good quality water pump, alternator, radiator, etc under the hood.  LED's for interior lighting?  Not so much. There's still ~10 left over and they're easy to change if one is DOA.  Just imo.

[M & J]

   Well said.

[LJ-TJ]

Thanks mate, really appreciate your help. You would happen to remember who the chap was that you bought your lights from. Hm? If you were satisfied with him then I'll give him a try. Thanks again.

[tmsnyder]

The seller I used on ebay with no problem was 'groupbuy' , this looks just like what I bought:


https://www.ebay.com/itm/20-X-Warm-White-1156-RV-Camper-Trailer-13-SMD-LED-1141-1003-Interior-Light-Bulbs-/252448758718?vxp=mtr&hash=item3ac71e5bbe

[LJ-TJ]

Thanks Mate, for $15.00 I'll give it a shot. Thank again.

[CapnDirk]

Thanks Mate, for $15.00 I'll give it a shot. Thank again.

Let us know how they look when you get them installed.  I just don't think mine are putting out enough light.

[HamRad Mobile]

Good morning; 


     I changed the lighting in my motor home from the incandescent and florescent lights over to 2600 degree Kelvin (Warm White) LED lighting about two (2) years ago.   The lighting with the LED is brighter while the electrical power consumption for the lighting has dropped to around 10% of what it had been for the lighting with the original incandescent and florescent lighting.  I am sorry now that I did not take one of my light meters out to the motor home for a "before"  lighting measurement.


     The LED light conversion actually went fairly well, but I did quickly learn something about the RV 12 V DC electrical system in my motor home, when some of the LED lights started burning out in six (6) to eight (8) weeks in a continuously "on" test.  That was less than two months after I had made the conversion.  It was much less than the 25,000 to 60,000 hours I was expecting.  The problem turned out to be the old BW 6345 so called "RV 12 V DC power converter."   


     I am sorry, but it is going to take some explanation to fully describe this and the problem that was produced.  Please read to the end.  The final answer is rather simple, but it takes some understanding to get down the path to that answer. 


     As someone trained in and who worked in electronics all my life, I was really curious why they called this thing a "power converter" instead of a "power supply."   It turns out that the "RV 12 V DC power converter" is actually only the first half of a real genuine power supply.  It is a transformer putting out 12 V AC or Alternating Current, and followed by only the rectifiers necessary to flip the negative going portion of the AC sine wave around to only positive going half wave sine wave pulses.  It is the cheapest thing they could possibly get away with while still calling it a "DC power system."   


     The instructions for the BW 6345 said to "use a true RMS reading volt meter when making the measurement"  when checking the output.


     When I saw that "recommendation" in the instructions, I knew instantly that this is a "complex waveform" and not a simple straight DC voltage level.  I got out an oscilloscope to look at that "complex waveform," and saw that it was a rectified sine wave.  That "RV 12 V DC power converter" does not put out a straight and level DC voltage as we most often will infer when someone uses the letters "DC" in reference to a voltage level.  Again, they led us down a merry path. 

     Back in the past when our electrical power requirements were much more simple, you could get away with something like that.  Not now with all the modern electronics we all have in our RVs.

     When I pulled out and opened up my BW 6345 "RV 12 VDC power converter," I saw that it was indeed just a simple transformer with a center tapped secondary, and two silicon diode rectifiers to "flip" the negative going side of the sine wave over to the positive side of the circuit after the transformer plus diode rectifier section.  This is where the problem appears.  I said I would get to this. 


     The average or RMS voltage level of the "12 V DC" sine wave voltage pulses actually is about 13.8 V DC, but the peak voltage measures right at 18.0 V DC.  When you put a device rated for 9 to 16 V DC on a circuit with a peak voltage two (2) volts higher than the rated voltage for the device, you may have problems. 


     For me, it was that 18.0 V DC peak voltage that was taking out some of my LED lights.  I was paying $18.00 to $25.00 each for them at that time. 


     My cure was to install a replacement Progressive Dynamics PD-4655V  power supply with real filtering and voltage regulation  The installation required one additional short 8 AWG jumper wire to work with my fuse panel.  Since putting in mine 2.5 years ago, I have not had to add any water to the coach batteries in the motor home.  I have checked once per month when I exercise the Onan 120 V AC generator.  That 13.2 V DC "storage output level" really does work when plugged into shore power.  Now with the new PD-4655VL series, the output level is even better, and it is also possible to program it for use with Lithium-Ion batteries.    I have been asking about something that will work with Li-Ion batteries for about two years now. 


    It is nice to see continuing development in good electronics for our Recreational Vehicles. 


          Enjoy; 


          Ralph 
          Latte Land, Washington