# LED Question



## cekkk (Oct 15, 2011)

There's a lot being written about outfitting our rigs' ceiling lights, porch lights and so on.  But links folks give for purchase sites always seem to describe them as being for tail lights, dome lights, etc.  I just want to be sure if I buy these puppies they'll plug directly into my fixtures.  Will they, and do I always want to order white lights as opposed to the blue? :concern:


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## akjimny (Oct 16, 2011)

As a general rule, all the 12 volt lighting in you RV will use 1141 single filament bulbs.  You can buy LED replacements for these, but they are very expensive.  The only upside I see to LED's is they do not draw as much current as the standard incandescent bulbs.  They would be handy if you were doing prolonged boondock camping with no access to shore power or a generator as they should not draw down the RV's batteries as fast as the incandescents.  But if you camp like most of us, in established RV parks with hook-ups, LED's would be a needless expense.

If you do decide to get LED's, get white.  Even those advertised as white will have a blueish cast, which I am not fond of.  JMO


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## cekkk (Oct 16, 2011)

ak, thank you for your service.  We live at high altitude where ac isn't needed but often camp just an hour south in the desert, so the heat produced by the stock bulbs  sure isn't needed.  Also, our rig is pretty big but only has 30 amp service.  LEDs would let DW leave the lights on all over the place as she tends to do.  We don't like to dry camp so we only have one battery, but we've have had to occasionally.  I notice you don't camp west of NE but Alaska must have long stretches where hookup parks aren't available and you're getting tired of driving.  LEDs drawing less is attractive for that reason, as you note.  I have to admit, there's a bit of wanting the latest and greatest in there too.  But it looks like prices and reliability are both likely to shake out in a year or two, so I'm going to wait it out for a complete changeover.  Maybe I'll buy just one and stick it in the closet to get a feel for the things.


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## LEN (Oct 16, 2011)

You can add a battery for about two of the bulb replacements so that might be a better spend.
I do have a couple of the LEDs for reading in the evening while BDing and they do work with about a 1/10 of the power.

LEN


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## cekkk (Oct 16, 2011)

LEN, I've got all of 1400# tw already with 1400# bars on the 3P hitch, otherwise I'd sure get another battery and be done with it.


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## Cruzincat (Oct 17, 2011)

LEN;74806 said:
			
		

> You can add a battery for about two of the bulb replacements so that might be a better spend.
> I do have a couple of the LEDs for reading in the evening while BDing and they do work with about a 1/10 of the power.
> 
> LEN



OTOH you can add a whole lot of LEDs before you would match the weight of one battery.


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## akjimny (Oct 17, 2011)

How many LED's would you have to add to equal the COST of a second battery.  Cekkk might need to lighten up his trailer a bit.


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## cekkk (Oct 18, 2011)

cekkk is well aware of his weights.  Unfortunately, the gauge on my Sherline scale broke when it slipped out from under the tongue when I was lowering it and I haven't replaced it yet.  TW as stated by mfr. is over 1200, and I barely use my outside storage as it's all up front.  My 3P hitch is nearly 200# but that does include the shank.  Still, well over a hundred pounds I'd think.  Clothes in the 8' wide closet which is at the foreward bulkhead and clothing in the front bedroom vanity plus the television add to TW.  We try to position as many weighty items as possible in the rear while traveling.  Not much more to trim.  I'm going to try some of the $1 leds on an Ebay site, trying to find out if they'll replace original bulbs.


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## LinwoodKellon (Jun 5, 2012)

im looking to get some high density led  to replace my car's brake,blinker and parking Flexible LED Strip Lights and i see this thing called a load resistor kit which " fixes blinker problems" now my question is is this load resistor necessary or just a waste of money led strip..


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## fairlane (Jun 6, 2012)

I replaced 2 overhead fixtures in my toyhauler with led's. Wasn't happy with the dispersion of light so I put the old ones back in. I never camp in campgrounds. Only in the forrest or desert. Mem day I was out in the forrest for 5.5 days. Ran the gen about an hr in the morning doing breakfast and the same in the evening. I have an invertor for watching movies. No batt issues. I run 2 group 29 deep cycles. 12v wired in parelell (spelling ?) These batt are about 50lbs each. My pin wgt is about 2K.


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## shanealbertt (Jul 6, 2012)

cekkk is well aware of his weights. Unfortunately, the gauge on my Sherline scale broke when it slipped out from under the tongue when I was lowering it and I haven't replaced it yet. TW as stated by mfr. is over 1200, and I barely use my outside storage as it's all up front. My 3P hitch is nearly 200# but that does include the shank. Still, well over a hundred pounds I'd think. Clothes in the 8' wide closet which is at the foreward bulkhead and clothing in the front bedroom vanity plus the television add to TW. We try to position as many weighty items as possible in the rear while traveling. Not much more to trim. I'm going to try some of the $1 leds on an Ebay site, trying to find out if they'll replace original bulbs.


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## Andresawan5251 (Jul 11, 2012)

Important update!!!!!!
Installed the LED lights I ordered from overseas. I had them all installed in less than 5 minutes, and removed them all 10 minutes later! They get really hot, so muchso that the lights would fall off the mounting tape as the tape would become very soft. In some cases, there was smoke coming off the tape as it was so hot. And the lights were hot to touch.http://www.niceledlights.com ] led tubes [/url]
The previous LED lights that I purchased back in February, which are made in Canada, are just fine and are always cool to touch.
Needless to say, I will not be installing these lights again. They would be good if used outside in a ventilated area, but not in a light fixture enclosure. Too bad, I really liked the light output from them, but I don't want the risk of a potential fire hazard.
Lesson learned......buyer beware!!!!


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