LED's

Andymon · 03-27-2014, 03:06 PM

Yay! got all my led's for the trailer today. Off ebay and from China. good reviews from the seller. Cost of about $50 total and all were free shipping. Can't wait to install them this weekend!

AlanAnn · 03-27-2014, 04:44 PM

That sounds like a good price did you buy lamps for the interior and exterior and who was the vendor on e-bay

Andymon · 03-28-2014, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlanAnn

That sounds like a good price did you buy lamps for the interior and exterior and who was the vendor on e-bay

These:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170674549926...84.m1439.l2649

and these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/390649049280...84.m1439.l2649

Bought for the interior but somehow I ended up getting 4 of the 1076 led bulbs so am going to look and see what bulb goes in the scare light.

audio1der · 03-28-2014, 10:03 AM

Nice!
I'm sure our scare light was a 1156 base also (same as the light over the dump valves).
Upgrading to LED was one of the best mods we've done.

JAL · 03-28-2014, 11:52 AM

Let us know what you think after you get them put in. I have heard both ways on the ones off of e-bay, some say not enough light and others say they love them. I want to convert our Raptor also but have not pulled the trigger yet.

**JRTJH** · 03-28-2014, 12:34 PM

LED assemblies are a lot like light bulbs. You have 25 watt ones, 40, 60, 75, 100 watt ones. You have "day-gro" UV lights, flood lights, spot light (that look like flood lights) in 60, 75, 90 and 100 watts. You have CFL's in "cool white", "day-glow", "warm white" and then you have incandescent lights in blue, red, green, yellow, now don't forget the black light bulbs (that used to make the black velvet paintings glow),,,

Why am I saying this and where am I going with these comments???????

LED assemblies come in a variety of different types, colors, intensities, shapes and sizes. Each has its own "specialty" and unfortunately, for the "uninformed buyer" EBay is not a good place to "learn" about LED's.

If you go to any RV dealership, you will find 3 or 4 different choices for bulbs. BUT ONLY ONE 921 TYPE.... AND ONLY ONE 1156 TYPE.... AND ONLY ONE BAYONETTE TYPE..... There is no choice, so you "MUST BUY" the "right one" (or at least one that's suitable for your RV).

On EBay, there are literally thousands of LED assemblies that are 12 VDC powered. Most of them are NOT suitable for RV use. They are too "white" or too "bluish" or too "dim" or too "dark" or too "yellow" or "they don't last" or "they flicker" or "???????" Pick your complaint....But unfortunately, they all are 921 bases, so they will fit your RV fixture..... You'd never put a 15 watt incandescent bulb in a home reading lamp (it's too dim) but if you "just order what fits" you may well be trying to use a "too dim" LED in a place where you need "lots of light"..... You bought the wrong ones !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I submit to you that none of these complaints are valid if you had "researched" and "bought the correct LED"...... But, too many people get on EBay, find an offering for a package of 10 LED's with a 921 base that are marked 12VDC so they plunk down their money. 2 weeks later they get some bluish/white LED's that sort of fit the fixture, but hum and flicker after they've been on for a bit. They are too dim, but the light is almost purple and hurts the wife's eyes and she complains that she can't read with them, take it out and put back my "real bulbs" so I can use the RV without getting a headache..... Then, they order two "trial" LED's from SuperBrite or another internet company and they "work just like we'd hoped they would".... So, all of a sudden the "cheap Chinese LED's are no good, but these from SuperBrite are wonderful and they come from America. They were only $20 each so we are saving our money to buy American LED's instead of all that Chinese junk.....

Sound familiar?????? I've heard it on this forum more than I've heard the comment: "I took your advice and bought the same ones you had from the same EBay dealer and they are fantastic"......

If you don't know what you're looking for, if you don't know what you want the LED's to do for you, if you just get on EBay and buy something that looks like the one in that picture on the forum, you're probably going to be disappointed.... Not because Chinese LED's are inferior.... THEY ALL COME FROM MALAYSIA OR CHINA.... SuperBrite does NOT manufacture their LED"s they order them from a Chinese manufacturer. The exact ones are available on EBay if you know where to look, and unfortunately, EBay is a "temporary sales listing service" so what's there today will not be what's offered on the same link 3 months from now. You have to know what you're looking for, how you want the LED to perform and where to look on EBay for the specifications for the LED performance that you need.....

It's not as simple as asking, "Where'd you get those you bought last July?" You won't find that link any longer and you probably won't find that product with any search feature on the sales searches. You've simply got to do your research, then know what you want and go looking for that specific product...

Buying a "24 LED 12 VDC 921 base pancake assembly" could (will) get you one of probably 1500 different items on EBay. I'd guess that 10 of them are really suitable for RV use, the rest for automotive, farm, outdoor lighting or a multitude of other uses. The other 1490 LED's sold on EBay with a 921 base will cause you to "cuss like a sailor" because you wasted your money....

You can buy 24 LED pancake assemblies with a 921 base that emit 70 lumens and you can buy 24 LED pancake assemblies that look EXACTLY the same that emit 380 lumens. And ironically, they not only look the same, they cost the same..... If you're confused by now, then I've made my point. You can't take someone's year old post and go find something that looks the same and have, with any certainty, that you'll get the same thing they bought last year.....

DO YOUR RESEARCH FOR WHAT YOU WANT and then go find that item. If you buy some LED's that look just like the ones I saw at Camping World, or that look "almost the same" as the ones in the picture on the Keystone Forum.... Chances are you're going to be disappointed.

denverpilot · 03-28-2014, 02:02 PM

Good warning, long write-up but covers the problems associated with buying bulk LEDs.

EBay can be a pain. But... The flip side is that LEDs on there are often cheap enough that you can order a few kinds and play with them, figuring out what you like.

Watch for sellers with lots of volume and consistent naming of their products, with good descriptions, order a couple and try 'em.

If the seller isn't a fly by night, and you like 'em, order up some more and finish the job. Don't like 'em, throw them in the spares/junk box.

**JRTJH** · 03-28-2014, 02:28 PM

My concern is that many people order without understanding what an LED is and have no "real concept" of what they are getting. For many, the order is more of a "pig in a poke" than it is an "intelligent order". When they get the wrong thing or an item that won't work, suddenly, it's "Chinese junk"......

LED's come in many different functional units from 1 LED in each subassembly to 3LED's in each subassembly, to one "superLED in each subassembly or even 3 (or more) superLED's in one subassembly. When these units are combined into an component, they become a "light bulb" that we can plug into our overhead fixture... If we've bought from Camping World or another source like that, we've paid about 8 to 10 times the EBay price for the same item. The "glitch" comes from not knowing WHAT to order from EBay. Camping World only sells one 921 base LED. It is "warm white" at 3100Kelvin (color) and emits 220 lumens (brightness) of light. It is "as close to an incandescent 921 bulb" as one can build an LED. They are available on Ebay, but they are only a very small part of the offering on EBay. If you were to "close your eyes and point to what to order" you'd probably be able to get a closer fit than by searching and trying to "find one that looks the same"..... or to order based on lumens of output, or on "color range".... each is only a part of what must be considered. Unfortunately, when someone orders and gets the wrong thing, it becomes "Chinese junk".....

Unfortunately, many people order the wrong thing, and when they get it, all of a sudden they post on here, "Those damn Chinese LED's are junk" when in actuality they ordered the wrong ones and yet find a way to "blame EBay or China" for their lack of knowledge.....

It's ironic, but there are at least 10 posts on this forum in the past 18 months from members who "expound" the greatness of SuperBrite LED's and claim that the Chinese junk is inferior... The irony comes from the knowledge that the SuperBrite LED's are made in China and come from the same factory where my EBay assemblies were made. SuperBrite's @ $20. EBay @ 10 for $15.99. The difference, absolutely nothing. Yet some members still honestly believe that SuperBrite has a factory in a warehouse in Loma Linda, CA that produces "superior LED's".....

My reason for taking so much time and effort to post all of this is to hopefully get the members who are looking for LED replacements and that don't know much about LED's to do some research before ordering. It's not a simple process of just opening EBay and searching for "12 volt LED" (I just got 202,325 returns) or even searching for "921 base LED" (I just got 228 returns)

Of all those returns, only a very small percentage are actually usable in an RV environment. The rest would be referred to as "Chinese junk"......

theasphaltrv'er · 03-31-2014, 10:11 AM

I've replaced all interior lights with LED's except the fridge festoon bulb. It has no markings on it other than 12v. A local RV dealer order one we thought was it, but it was the wrong size. Best I can figure it is a it's 1 1/2 inches long and 7/16 dia. I'm very hesitant to order one online and not have it fit and have to return it.

Andymon · 03-31-2014, 11:17 AM

We put in several LED's yesterday and are quite please with them.

wowchad · 04-09-2014, 04:21 AM

JRTJH we sell Truck-Lite, Grohe & Betts truck lighting, but when it comes to these offshore replacement LED 'bulbs' I have stayed away simply because I don't know enough about them.
That being said where can I find legitimate information about them online?
Or what questions specifically should I be asking as I'm looking at them on eBay?
Is it common for Chinese sellers to actually list color temperature and lumen output?

I'm guessing the 921 base LEDs are for the interior lights, has anybody replaced the 1157 / 3157 dual filament bulbs in the rear stop, tail - turn lights? Or are you guys only worried about interior lights because that's what you're using when you're dry camping drawing off the battery??
I have a hard time believing that 24 super LED pancake assemblies even draw much less than an incandescent bulb

wowchad · 04-09-2014, 04:53 AM

OK, well I just read the sticky 'RV LED Lights & Lighting' thread by Festus2 and while it answers a lot of questions I'm still wondering how I'd know which 921 bulbs on eBay are the same as the 'superbrightled' and appropriate to use in an RV application. Ironically if you search "921 RV warm" there are also hundreds of hits. Is your point in the quote below specifically about lumen output?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

...The exact ones are available on EBay if you know where to look, and unfortunately, EBay is a "temporary sales listing service" so what's there today will not be what's offered on the same link 3 months from now. You have to know what you're looking for, how you want the LED to perform and where to look on EBay for the specifications for the LED performance that you need......

unyalli · 04-09-2014, 05:10 AM

Check out these videos from RVGeeks

Best LED's for your RV

Best LED's for your RV part 2

-Jeff

vicali · 04-09-2014, 05:19 AM

Did you have any polarity issues with those pancake 921 bulbs? I've read the solution is to flip the bulb over but wouldn't that leave all of the LED pointing up??

I'm deciding between these;
Flat 'pancake'
or these;
Round.

**JRTJH** · 04-09-2014, 05:39 AM

There are a lot of sellers on EBay that have LED lighting for sale. I've purchased from a couple of different sellers and have found that 2011_led is a seller that represents his products accurately and, for my experiences, has been reliable in meeting sales and shipping. The products I bought from him in 2010 for my Springdale RV were still working well with no failures when I traded it in last July. Even before we took delivery of the Cougar I purchased the LED lighting I needed for it.

The things that are important to know (I think) are color output, type of LED chip used, voltage requirement, and type of base. Notice I didn't include lumens. The reason I didn't is because the light perception (brightness) your eye "thinks" it sees varies by the color temperature. 100 lumens of "warm white at 2700K will seem much dimmer than 100 lumens of "bright white" at 6500K.

The color output to best "imitate" incandescent light is in the 2700-3200K range. To "imitate" neon light is 3000-4000K and to imitate the "annoying blue headlights" is 6000-7500K.

Type of LED is very important. There are "single chip LED" and "3 chip LED" assemblies commonly used for lighting. They are the SMD 1210, SMD3528 and SMD5050 chips. There are a number of sites that can fully explain the differences and benefits of each type of chip. Here is one basic site that hits the basics fairly well: http://www.flexfireleds.com/pages/Co...5050-LEDs.html

The voltage requirement is supposed to be an issue but I've found it not as important as some. I'm not sure why but here's my thought. Many LED assemblies are rated 12VDC. Others are rated 12-24VDC. In theory, the converter produces up to 14.6VDC output when charging the battery. When producing over 12VDC, theoretically the converter could overpower the 12 volt rated LED and cause heat or shorten its life. After 3 years, I never had an issue with any of my LED's and so far have had none with the current ones.

All of my overhead LED's are 12VDC rated, however a few of the 1156 base assemblies are 12-24volt rated. None have failed, so I don't think it's a significant problem, but others do feel differently.

The type of base (or the application) of the assembly makes a significant difference in successful lighting. If you have a lamp or a "hang down" light that illuminates from all sides, then a 360 type LED would be best, but if you're putting the LED in an overhead light that only illuminates down at an angle, then a 360 LED would "lose" some light that is directed upward. LED's don't reflect light as well as incandescent bulbs because the light can't reflect back "through" the glass like in an incandescent bulb. LED's are solid and light doesn't pass through them. It's like putting a piece of aluminum foil on the back side of an incandescent bulb. You'd lose some of the reflected light.

As for tail lights, I don't think there are any "reasonably priced" LED assemblies to simply replace the bulb. There are some on the market, but they don't seem to be bright enough and reflect enough to compare to incandescent bulbs. The tail/brake/signal LED lights I installed on my Springdale and also installed on my Cougar are Bargman 84 series "double" lights. I opted for a separate license light as it was cheaper and fit my application better than a "combo" light would.

If I were looking for LED's and didn't know what to ask, what I needed or where to buy, I think I'd first order one of what "I think" would work, try it and if it doesn't work, order another type.

If you sell LED assemblies, you know that the commercially available options are very limited by variety. There are only one or two 921 base, a couple of 1156 base and a few tape backed pancake assemblies. All told, the "best" Starbrite LED assemblies cost about $20 each and there are 6 different choices for RV use. On EBay, there are LED's available from less than $1 each all the way up to $25+. There are literally thousands of choices available on EBay and only a few of them are suitable for RV use. Most are either not the right voltage, the wrong color range, too dim, they won't fit or they point the wrong direction, aren't weatherproof, don't have a base that works, or a multitude of other reasons why they aren't a good option. Finding the right ones on EBay can save hundreds of dollars. One member here estimated that it would cost over $500 to equip his RV with StarBrite LED's. I did my entire RV with comparable LED's from EBay for less than $100.

Any specific questions, I'll try to answer them, but it's very difficult to "teach" a LED course on a forum such as this and honestly the technology of LED use in lighting is changing daily and there are people who make LED's a full time job and they stay busy trying to "keep up" with the technology. It's not as simple as incandescent lighting.

**JRTJH** · 04-09-2014, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vicali

Did you have any polarity issues with those pancake 921 bulbs? I've read the solution is to flip the bulb over but wouldn't that leave all of the LED pointing up??

I'm deciding between these;
Flat 'pancake'
or these;
Round.

If you have an issue with polarity, don't install the LED "pointing up" pull the fixture and reverse the two wires providing power. But most LED assemblies are now "polarity neutral" and will work in either polarity.

wowchad · 04-09-2014, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

There are a lot of sellers on EBay that have LED lighting for sale. I've purchased from a couple of different sellers and have found that 2011_led is a seller that represents his products accurately and, for my experiences, has been reliable in meeting sales and shipping. The products I bought from him in 2010 for my Springdale RV were still working well with no failures when I traded it in last July. Even before we took delivery of the Cougar I purchased the LED lighting I needed for it...

Ironically even though you previously stated, "eBay is a 'temporary sales listing service' and what's there today will not be what's offered on the same link three months from now" before I read this last post I had ordered a 10 pack of T10 194 921 168 24-1210SMD LED Warm White bulbs from none other than 2011_led

It's a Small World After-all lol
Either way,

for all your insight on this issue JRTJH

vicali · 04-12-2014, 07:59 PM

(2011 Hideout 19FLB)
Ordered my 921 replacements from 2011_led,

I just pulled the bulbs from my porch and scare lights and they are;
Porch; 1003 12V 15CR
Scare; 1156 12V 32CR

I have no problem finding the 1156 LEDs but I'm not seeing the 1003 models?
Are they both 1156? The mounts look the same..

TandE · 04-13-2014, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vicali

(2011 Hideout 19FLB)
Ordered my 921 replacements from 2011_led,

I just pulled the bulbs from my porch and scare lights and they are;
Porch; 1003 12V 15CR
Scare; 1156 12V 32CR

I have no problem finding the 1156 LEDs but I'm not seeing the 1003 models?
Are they both 1156? The mounts look the same..

The mounts are the same dimensions. The difference can be the little tabs that lock into the mounts when you twist them. Look at the bulbs side by side and see if they are in the same spot.

If they are the same it most likely is that it was just a different glass bulb design so it will fit in the housing used or a different light or lumen output. On my last trailer both fit in each housing. You could swap and see if it does.

Travis

Bill & Deb · 04-14-2014, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andymon

These:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170674549926...84.m1439.l2649

and these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/390649049280...84.m1439.l2649

Bought for the interior but somehow I ended up getting 4 of the 1076 led bulbs so am going to look and see what bulb goes in the scare light.

**************

I replaced my scare light with this 12vdc 5 watt LED in warm white. Cut the wires off the 1156 leaving a few inches in case it needs to be reverted back. Includes heat sink as well.

I used metal strapping to mount and support it.

Works great !! Cost is only $15 with free shipping.

Bill

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5W-LED-Energ...item1c3ea38f03

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