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11-14-2015, 09:01 AM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: green bay, wi
Posts: 2
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led light wiring question
I am trying to replace my inside lighting with new led lighting units & ran into a small snag. I have the old light unscrewed from the ceiling & it has 2 wires coming from it. Black & white. The new led lights also have 2 wires but they are red & black. Could someone tell me what wires would be the hot & ground? I'm guessing white to red & black to black. I also don't know if I will cause any damage if I connect it wrong. Thanks in advance.
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11-14-2015, 09:37 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: B.C
Posts: 1,399
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Tie your white to the red and black to black.
__________________
2010 Keystone Cougar 25 RL.
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11-14-2015, 11:00 AM
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#3
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Site Team
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Venice
Posts: 5,346
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With some leds, if polarity is wrong they simply will not work but no damage done ...... just reverse polarity and you are good to go. Travel safely, Hank
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Hank & Lynn
2007 Cougar 290RKS, E-Z Flex, 16" XPS RIBs ( SOLD .. Gonna miss her ... looking for new 5r)
2004.5 Dodge 2500 QC, LB, 5.9HO, WestTach gauges, Ride-Rite
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11-14-2015, 01:43 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Northville NY in the Adirondacks
Posts: 2,128
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Let's all remember that the RV world is bass ackwards from the rest of the world when it comes to wiring color coding. Unless there has been a major change in the last year or two, RV white is ground and RV black (and other colors) are hot.
I have not seen the latest generation of LED fixtures for RV's so I don't know for sure if they are color coded conventionally or follow the RV way. LED's manufactured for and marketed to the automotive market generally follow conventional coding.
I'd venture a guess that the red on the LED's is hot (positive) and the black is ground (negative.) The place to start would be red wire on the LED to black wire on the trailer, and black on the LED to white on the trailer.
Hank is right, LED's will almost always tolerate being reverse polarized without damage.
__________________
'11 Cougar 326MKS loaded with mods
'12 Ford F250 SuperCab 6.7 PowerStroke Diesel
Amateur Radio: KD2IAT (146.520) GMRS: WQPG808 (462.675 TPL 141.3)
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11-14-2015, 02:47 PM
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#5
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Site Team
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Modesto
Posts: 20,353
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I can assure you that model year '16 still use solid white for 12V ground. The LED fixtures I just worked on the red was positive.
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2012 Copper Canyon 273FWRET being towed by a 1994 Ford F350 CC,LB,Dually diesel.
Airlift 5000 bags, Prodigy brake control, 5 gauges on the pillar.Used to tow a '97 Jayco 323RKS.
Now an RVIA registered tech. Retired from Law enforcement in 2008 after 25+ yrs.
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11-14-2015, 06:02 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Saginaw Mn
Posts: 1,732
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I just changed the bulbs in mine. It took only an hour and cost less then $50
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2012 Keystone Retreat 39 FDEN
99 Dodge One Ton Diesel Dually
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11-29-2015, 08:21 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Solomons
Posts: 3,874
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Bulb change out is the easy way to go.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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Tom
2019 Alpine 3651RL
2016 F350 CC DRW
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11-30-2015, 10:05 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,090
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spicercars
I just changed the bulbs in mine. It took only an hour and cost less then $50
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This.
On our trailer the ceiling and under cabinet lights were already LED, so I just had to change the bedroom reading, dinette, vent hood, pass through, porch & step and outdoor kitchen lights to LED bulbs.
It was really easy and relatively inexpensive.
-Brian
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2014 Bullet Premier 22RBPR - let the camping commence!
2013 F150 Platinum - 5.0 - 3.55 ELD + towing package
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01-01-2016, 08:20 PM
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#9
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Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Winston, Or.
Posts: 13
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LED's
Can you just buy LED bulbs and plug them in or do you have to replace the whole fixtures?
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01-01-2016, 08:24 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Green Valley, AZ
Posts: 782
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dembones
Can you just buy LED bulbs and plug them in or do you have to replace the whole fixtures?
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You can just change the bulbs. No need to change fixtures unless you want different fixtures.
__________________
Earl
2007 33.5' Arctic Fox Fifth Wheel used for full-timing for several years--now sold
2011 Hideout 23RKSWE that we now use for poking around local parks
2007 Chevy 3/4 ton diesel with Prodigy Brake Control
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01-02-2016, 02:28 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Solomons
Posts: 3,874
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I just bought LED bulbs. They have been working well for one season. I bought them off Amazon.
__________________
Tom
2019 Alpine 3651RL
2016 F350 CC DRW
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01-02-2016, 04:08 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Box Elder
Posts: 2,910
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The replacement of conventional bulbs with LED's will definitely reduce to load on the batteries when boondocking and will make the fixtures last longer because they run so much cooler. There are different grades of LED's for sale, and some are available that have circuitry that allows them to work regardless of polarity. Bayonet style bulbs can only be installed one way, and if they don't work, you can take the fixture down and reverse the wire connections.
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Bob & Becky
2012 3402 Montana
2012 Chevy 2500HD D/A CC
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01-03-2016, 06:00 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Liberty, Texas
Posts: 5,034
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Anyone changed out taillights to LED? I changed to LED housings and bulbs on my boat trailers and like the increased visibility. Will I gain a lot by just changing the bulbs in the current housing or should I change to LED tail light housings and bulbs? Are the current housings just screwed into the fiberglass with self tapping screws?
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2018 Ram 3500 Laramie CC DRW LWB 4X4 Cummins Aisin 3.73
Reese Goosebox 20K
2018 Heartland Landmark 365 Oshkosh
2008 Bigfoot 25C9.4 LB Cabover
2023 CanAm Defender SXS
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01-03-2016, 06:09 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Solomons
Posts: 3,874
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gearhead
Anyone changed out taillights to LED? I changed to LED housings and bulbs on my boat trailers and like the increased visibility. Will I gain a lot by just changing the bulbs in the current housing or should I change to LED tail light housings and bulbs? Are the current housings just screwed into the fiberglass with self tapping screws?
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For tail lights I'd change out the fixtures. Some of the replacement LEDs for that type of bulb aren't as bright. You could buy one and hot the lights and flashers to see how it looked.
__________________
Tom
2019 Alpine 3651RL
2016 F350 CC DRW
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