Fire Hazard? - Interior Lights

cjelliott81 · 05-25-2015, 04:07 AM

I have this style light in my camper (Sprinter 320BHS)

From the first time I used my camper, I was amazed by the amount of heat that these things put off, especially when you may have 5 or so of them going at one time. This concern was further raised when I had the first bulb burn out and noticed the socket it plugs in to was actually discolored and a bit deformed from the heat.

I began replacing them with LED by attrition to avoid buying nearly $200 in bulbs in one shot. However after this weekend in which I had one get so hot the switch failed and could not be turned off, i'm biting the bullet.

Has anyone had a similar experience? The fact the bulbs get so hot, to the point it is damaging the fixture, really strikes me as a safety concern.

jsmith948 · 05-25-2015, 04:48 AM

Oh yeah - these lights get HOT! Didn't/haven't had any switches or fixtures fail do to heat, but have had a couple that have become discolored. We have replaced about 1/2 of the lights with LED (the ones we use the most). Plan on replacing all of them.

B&T · 05-25-2015, 06:58 AM

Noticed this on first trip out with our camper. Hot bulbs and NO VENTILATION, stupid design!

Slide the clear plastic covers open about 1/8" to allow some airflow into the fixture.

**sourdough** · 05-25-2015, 11:05 AM

They do get hot and they do discolor. After our first trip I bought 40 leds and replaced all the lights inside the camper. I did not have melted sockets or switch failures but can see how it could easily happen.

Bob Landry · 05-25-2015, 11:18 AM

The switches and wiring feeding the overhead lights need to be checked yearly. My Outback is three years old. DW said the switch panel for the 12V lights felt hot. I pulled it and the overhead light switch and wiring was brown from the heat. That was a fire waiting to happen.
I have not replaced the fixtures with LEDs but that's on my list. Anyone have a manufacturer and part number for the replacement fixtures?

Ron · 05-25-2015, 11:32 AM

The light shown above is an Optronics RVIF32, I have had them burn the switch out on the fixture, discolor light sockets, and burn out wall switches, I have replaced a few with LED's still more to go, a fire hazard for sure

buzzcop63 · 05-25-2015, 11:35 AM

If your trailer is using the 921 Incandescent push in light bulbs here is a replacement that I have found and tried out this last week while camping. These LED run very cool and our converter did not come on the whole trip. With the incandescent lights you could hardly put your hands on the plastic covers on the lamps as they got so hot and the plug in for the base of the light turned brown on many of the light fixtures due to heat. I replaced all 20 inside lights, these bulbs come in packages of 10 each for $20.20, and I purchased two packs and got free shipping. What I ordered was 2 "GRV T10 921 194 24-3528 SMD LED Bulb Lamp Super Bright Warm White CD 12V Pack of 10 from Amazon. Also ran one light all night, still cool.

This is an old reply, just run search for LED and you will find much more information.

GMcKenzie · 05-25-2015, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjelliott81

I began replacing them with LED by attrition to avoid buying nearly $200 in bulbs in one shot.

Did all mine for around $50. Just found cheap ones on Amazon. Only had one DOA.

Bushman512000 · 05-25-2015, 04:51 PM

LED the way yes some good buys some not so good ...if they do not light try turning them around some have a + side and I found out by trial and error..price has come down a lot over the last few years...I like the panels of LEDS more money but also a better light many on e-bay and amazon...cheers

sconner · 05-27-2015, 08:58 PM

I use the same 10 pack of "warm" GRV bulbs from Amazon mentioned by buzzcop. Great deal.

**sourdough** · 05-28-2015, 08:33 AM

Just an fyi on the LEDs.

I bought 40 of the LEDs listed by buzzcop and put them inside my camper. I even posted on this forum about how cool they ran, the converter didn't come on etc. A word of warning: They seemed like the greatest thing ever until I spent an extended period in the trailer.

I posted a question on here about the LEDs flickering. JRTJH recommended buying the LEDs that had a variable input 12-28v vs the 12v only. After spending over a month in the camper the flickering got much worse and after 8 weeks here is where I am; I have had 6 LED modules completely fail and go dark. Of the 34 left (each lamp has 10 light sources) I have 3-6 diodes (vs 10) working on 90% of the lamps. The rest have 8-10 diodes that still light. They went from the greatest thing to the greatest pain.

I am going to order the variable input lamps when we get back to TX at the end of next week to see if that will correct the problem. I think the price on those at Amazon was $55.xx per 10. Until then the interior of the camper looks like it is illuminated with a Coleman lantern.

**JRTJH** · 05-28-2015, 12:11 PM

sourdough,

I'm not sure I'm following which LED's you bought. I "think" you bought the 12 VDC only type, the ones listed in this link: http://www.amazon.com/GRV-24-3528-Su...m+White+CD+12V

If those are the ones you bought, a "comparable lumen" 12-28 VDC regulated LED assembly is available for about $4 more (10 pack is 24.88) at this link: http://www.amazon.com/24-3528-Bulb-S...m+White+CD+12V

If you're an Amazon Prime member, with 2 day shipping, you should have them in hand by Monday if you order today.

If I'm not following you correctly, are the current LED's you have the 12-28 VDC regulated ones??? If they failed, I'm at a loss......

**sourdough** · 05-28-2015, 01:26 PM

John - you followed correctly (sorry I wasn't clear). Mine are the 3528 12vdc only. I was looking at replacing them with the 5050? model that ran $55.xx (from memory) on Amazon. I think they were supposed to be a bit brighter.

I am an Amazon prime member but will be leaving here Monday morning and will take 5 days to get back to TX. We'll be there for 7 days before going to our home in NM. I'll order them while in TX and see if that won't correct the problem.

**JRTJH** · 05-28-2015, 01:54 PM

I thought you had bought the 12 VDC LED's but just wasn't sure. I haven't heard of anyone having that much failure, although we do have a couple that will flicker when the converter is in the bulk charge mode (14.4VDC). They "settle down" once the converter voltage drops to below 14 volts. All of the regulated LED's have been trouble free (so far), but I've only got a few of them. Most of mine are the "old ones" that were in the Springdale and when we sold it, I moved them to the Cougar. They are going on 5 years old with no problems and they are the 12 VDC unregulated flat panel arrays with 48 LED's on each panel (about 1.5" x 2")

Have you had any issues with battery water depletion? This is a "way out there" consideration, but if you have been adding water often, it may be possible that your converter isn't dropping the voltage and you're staying in the "bulk charge" mode? Like I said, "way out there", but keep an eye on your DC voltage, you may be "frying" your batteries and the LED failures are just a by-product of a pending converter failure ???? Then again, it may just be a "bad batch" of Chinese LED's......... ????

**sourdough** · 05-28-2015, 03:21 PM

Thanks John. I used the trailer for 6 weeks last year and checked the batteries when we shut it down - they needed little to nothing. I haven't checked them this season but we are now 2 months continuous usage so I'll do that. Hadn't even thought of it. I just figured "a bad batch of Chinese LEDs

" but the magnitude of the failures astounded me. I have 2 LEDs that have all 10 diodes emitting light - that really sounds crazy to me. The original 921s didn't flicker or anything else; they just got hot and made the converter run as soon as I flipped a switch.

I'll check the batteries, order the new LEDs and install them and see what happens. I do think I'll put a meter on the lights and see what kind of fluctuations I'm getting.... That kind of failure rate sure seems to point at something other than "mass failure".

rwmurphy15 · 05-29-2015, 11:45 AM

M4 products. LEDs cost a little more but the quality is very good. Plus the lum's seem to be a lot higher.

scott24 · 05-29-2015, 05:10 PM

I found a pack of 20 on Ebay for 32.00 Xenon 6000k White. They work great and throw a lot of light compared to a standard LED

**JRTJH** · 05-29-2015, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwmurphy15

M4 products. LEDs cost a little more but the quality is very good. Plus the lum's seem to be a lot higher.

M4 products do cost "a little more" The prices on their website today range from $7.99 to $14.99 per unit. The LED's that we're talking about are $2.49 per unit (10 pack for $24.88). Given that difference in pricing, many members will "risk" the occasional defective LED. As an example, I bought mine almost 6 years ago, have had them in two different RV's and have not had a failure yet. My total investment was, at the time of purchase, about $85. I have 45 of the 921's and 3 of the 1156's. At $9.99 each, if I ordered them all from M4, they would cost $479.52 plus shipping. While they would probably be the "last LED's I'd need to buy for my Cougar, I can much better afford to "risk one or two defective units" at a cost of less than $100 for the same quantity of LED's.

buzzcop63 · 06-01-2015, 03:37 PM

Sorry the lights have not worked for you! Since changing all my internal lights, their are 20, we have been out camping a total of 11 nights and so far the lights have performed perfectly. My converter has only clicked on once and that was to top off my batteries (2) while I was setting up, had not turned on lights yet, mid afternoon. In the evening we turn on all the lights, leave bedroom ones on until around 11 to 12PM. Also have left the kitchen light in the stove vent on all night long. Also never had lights flicker. I do have one fixture of two light bulbs that quit with the 921 incandescent. On checking the voltage at this fixture it was around 8 to 9 volts. It did come back once and then went dark again. With the LED in the sockets a few of the diodes will show some light but that is all so I keep it off until I get off my *** and check the wiring. My batteries are always up to 100 to 90% charges by meter.

katiegreeniz · 01-17-2016, 12:08 PM

Thank god for extended warranty's. I have the same exact model/year camper as you and we have had 4 of these replaced because they MELTED! Of course that scared me enough to purchase the LED ones mentioned in this thread, and I'll be changing out all those bulbs this spring when I open it for the season.

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