Replacing Old Camper Lighting with LED Bulbs

[Midnite]

I'm picking up a 1970 Alaskan 8' non-cabover camper in a couple days, and I'm interested in replacing all the interior and exterior 12v lighting with LED replacements.



I've seen a couple of websites that carry different types of LED marker lights, but I'm wondering what I should do for the interior lighting. There are four lamps that take bulbs with a screw type base, and I've not seen any LED bulbs with a screw base.



Has anyone here done anything like this before who might have some pointers for me?



Thanks,

Mike

 

[DennyDay]

LEDs

You are probably going to have to change fixtures for your project. This won't be a problem for the exterior lights, I'm planning the same swap for my '98 HI-Lo. The interior will be a challenge. You are probably going to have to make some custom fixtures or adaptors. "Think outside the box", how about some broken bulb bases and solder the LED assemblies in? Saw some tubing lights in Camping World last week, but they were not LED but the concept might work with LEDs. Please keep us posted about your progress.



Denny

 

[Midnite]

Thanks for the reply Denny!



I've stumbled onto two websites that look interesting:



http://www.theledlight.com/catalog.html

http://www.ledtronics.com/



theledlight.com has LED fixtures for RV use which look like they might do the trick. They also have some LED strips that might work well under the cabinets.



ledtronics.com has an insanely huge line of LED replacement bulbs, automotive and otherwise.



It looks like the real problem with interior LED lighting is going to be that LEDs cast a pretty narrow, directional light beam. Some of the bulbs that ledtronics.com show on their website look like they deal with that by not orienting all the LEDs the same way.



I think I'm going to call ledtronics.com and talk to someone there. At the very least I'm going to order 5 LED bulbs to replace the 194-style bulbs in my cab marker lights, but I'm hoping they can give me some recommendations for camper marker lights and interior lighting.



If anyone else has done anything with LEDs on their camper/RV, I'd really appreciate hearing about it.



Thanks,

Mike

 

[Boldt's Wagon]

You can get 7 watt and 11 watt 12 volt fluorescent bulbs with a screw base at:



http://www.backwoodssolar.com

 

[Midnite]

Is that the same type of base as a normal household bulb? The fixtures in this camper appear to take a smaller diameter screw-type base than a household bulb. Ledtronics.com seems to have some bulbs with a base they call "candlabra base". I think that's a 15mm diameter, and it looks more like what the camper fixtures take (I'd just go measure, but I haven't picked up the camper yet. )



Mike

 

[Boldt's Wagon]

Do not know on the base diameter, email backwoodssolar and ask them.

 

[JWhitcomb]

I seem to recall in the latest Summit Truck catalog they had direct replacement LED bulbs for the automotive base bulbs. I will try to find the catalog to check. My camper has two florescent fixtures in it and they give really good light and keep the amp useage down.

 

[Midnite]

Well, I just ordered two of the following:



http://www.netdisty.net/ds/WF321/



They're a six LED bulb and are supposed to be a direct replacement for incandescent 194 bulbs. I got one amber (for my cab marker lights) and one green (to try out in my autometer gauges). I wanted to hold off on getting anything for the camper's interior light fixtures until I have a better handle on what type of base they need.



I'll post an update and let you all know how they work in a couple days.



Mike

 

[Midnite]

Well they came in today, and I got to try them out--VERY cool! I did screw up on the amber bulb though, and ordered one that was a very low intensity. It looked pretty dim next to the regular cab marker lights, so I'm going to send it back for the right type. The green looks *REALLY* good though in my Autometer gauges, and works nicely with the dimmer switch. The dash pod is also noticeably cooler to the touch (those 194 incandescent bulbs make lots of heat).



I just ordered all of the replacement marker lights for the camper from www.partssystems.com (some Maxxima 2" round and 1"x4" units), so I'm anxious to see how those turn out.



Interior bulbs will come after that, but will be dependant on my financial mood--the bulbs will be $42 each!



Mike

 

[The patriot]

Are they brighter than the standard 194's?

I cant see my pyrometer at night.

Eric

 

[Midnite]

Yeah, the green one seems like maybe 75% to 100% brighter than stock 194.



They're not all uniform intensity though--each color seems unique. The green one I got is just under 10 times brighter than the the yellow one (I wasn't paying close enough attention to the intensity column when I was ordering them). They use "mcd" units to gauge LED intensity, and the green was 1200 mcd (the brightest of the 194 replacements), and the yellow was 192 mcd.



Mike

 

[The patriot]

Thanks!!

Eric

 

[Mschevey]

LEDTRONIC's seem to have a lot of interesiting light options. The only thing is you have to purchase $750 total and $250 of any individual item. Or you have to go through a distributor, and they don't have as much understanding of the products.



Talk to the factory and then have them reconend a dist.



Mike Schevey

 

[Midnite]

Mschevey, those requirements are only for wholesale purchases--nothing says you have to order 50 bulbs when you only want three. Ledtronics' retail sales are handled through NetDisty (which Ledtronics owns), so when you call Ledtronics and order two LED bulbs, they'll just have their retail sales arm (NetDisty) handle it. They do have other distributors who sell retail, but NetDisty has worked just fine for me so far.



Technical questions about their LED products are certainly best handled by talking directly to Ledtronics--no surprise there.



Mike

 

[RedRamer]

Midnite;

I'm late to this party but thought I'd mention something.

I started fitting in these 12v halogen bulbs for inside use, especially for reading. Great light and brighter than regular bulbs and use about 1/3 of the amps.

Problem is you have to fit them into flexible type sockets.

 

[ronco]

Hey Goober (chuckling), don't the Halogens produce some heat also? I would be leary of adding heat inside a plastic light housing for fear of deforming the light shield or melting the socket and loosing contact internally.



Ronco

 

[RedRamer]

Yep, but it's not that much. Draw is still minimal.

I use the ceramic base to plug it in (got that in parts at Home Depot) and bought a 3 head light fixture (Got that at Ikea) made of metal and jimmied the base into the fixutre all pluged into a cigar lighter adapter. Only use 2 for reading and watching TV.

I figure total cost about $35.