LED Lighting

[hutch309.2]

I have a 1986 34 Limited Airstream and looking to up grade all the interior lighting with LED. My question is...there a led bulb that would fit into the existing socket? I don't relish the thought of rewiring all the interior lights.
I would also like to upgrade the backup lighting, stop and signal as well.
Would appreciate your input so as not to get into a major project.

[cwf]

Yes.

I have done on my 1999 34' Excella

http://tinypic.com/m/idw4xx/3

[lewster]

Contact Dan at LED4RV.com

He knows his products!

[Mrucr]

Ditto on LED4RV.com
Dan just set me up with LED's all around for my 2010 sport. Good company to do business with.

[GeocamperAS]

A third for LED4RV.com
Dan will even return phone calls if you have any questions.

[HowieE]

If you can solider you can do the complete trailer for the cost of one bulb.
I did my 34 for $20.00.

Remove the fixture, drill out the bulb socket and add the LEDs as desired. The LEDs come in a 16 ft. long tape and can be cut every 4 ins. The strips are wired in parallel. On the larger fixtures I wire some on the low switch and all on the high switch. 1 fixtures including the florescent valance light in the bathroom.

The LEDs I used are a higher kelvin level that the normal warm light of a bulb resulting in a bluer light. The LEDs can be purchased in warm white if desired.

[hutch309.2]

Thanks Howie, I have no problem with soldering as I had my own appliance business and soldering in those days was routine. I was looking for replacement LED bulbs that would replace the old style bulbs. Going this way would be more expensive???.
Will there be a merchant at Int'l that will be selling LED lighting? Thanks for the help.

[HowieE]

You may find vendors selling LED bulbs at the different rallies but I doubt they will be selling the tapes of LEDs. I bought mine on E Bay.

[eubank]

Not entirely sure it's relevant here, but our 67 rig used 1142 bulbs in the high-intensity lights. I ordered LED replacements for those as well as for the 1141 bulbs for the overhead lights. The 1141 replacements all worked great; the 1142 replacements wouldn't work at all.

It was quite a mystery, but here's strange result. The replacement bulbs look kind of like this:



Looks like a straightforward replacement, right? The two contacts on the bottom would be positive low and high intensity, and the base of the bulb is negative. Not! On these dumb bulbs, the base is not connected at all electrically; the two contacts on the bottom are positive and negative, the whole bulb having only a high intensity feel to it. This is, in other words, not a replacement for the 1142 bulb.

Duh! Cruddy manufacturing. Rather than return them, though, I cheated. Lowered one of the two contacts on the bottom and ran a flat copper wire from it to the base. Raised the other bottom contact. In this way, I routed positive to the one contact and negative from the bulb base.

Ok, it only has high intensity, but that's really ok since that's all we ever really used anyway. And I didn't alter anything on the Airstream itself so that, at the next go-around on this ... assuming I last that long!!


Lynn

[hutch309.2]

Hi Eubank:

I just went out to our trailer and took one of the light bulb out of the over head bank of 6 bulbs and the number on this bulb was 1157 which has two contact. The light over the sink bulb has " looks like " 1141 has only one contact. The LED picture you show has 2 contacts which would fit out trailer. It seems like an expensive project to replace, as there are 3 of these, one in living room, kitchen and bedroom.

[eubank]

Yep, the 1141s that I replaced with LEDs had only one contact at the bottom, and the LED replacements, also with a single contact on the bottom, all worked well. They are kind of like these:



It was the replacements for the 1142 bulbs (two contacts on bottom; base as negative) that were goofy.


Lynn

[shepherd57]

Where did you get the 1141 and what was the cost of them

[Phoenix]

Last year, we replaced all of the incandescent bulbs in our 2005 19' Bambi and had good luck with LED bulbs from this vendor:

1141/1156: http://www.eversale.com/catalog2_1/p...ail-5050-p-181

Same LED bulb as above, except with wedge base, instead of bayonet: http://www.eversale.com/catalog2_1/p...ulb-2825-p-232

1142/1158: http://www.eversale.com/catalog2_1/p...ail-5050-p-231

1157: http://www.eversale.com/catalog2_1/p...ail-5050-p-209

Notes:

1. Link to 1157 is provided for reference only. Our Bambi does NOT use this bulb in any lighting fixtures.

2. All of these bulbs are "warm white" and are the same brightness and color as incandescent bulbs.

3. I have no affiliation with EverSale.com, except as a satisfied customer.

[eubank]

I used ebay, just searching for "led replacement" and bulb number.

Lynn

[Alphonse]

Pay close attention to color, light output, and quality. In my trials, I confirmed once again that you get what you pay for and it is beneficial to have a vendor who can help you through the tangle. That's why lots of folks like Dan at LED4RV.com. I bought from him as well as Amazon. I did some tests and trials to get the color and outputs I wanted for various fixtures and then mixed and matched to get what I wanted. I changed all mine to LED including overheads, reading, closets, stove, shower, outside, . . . .

[GeocamperAS]

Originally Posted by Alphonse

......... In my trials, I confirmed once again that you get what you pay for and it is beneficial to have a vendor who can help you through the tangle. That's why lots of folks like Dan at LED4RV.com. . . .

I understand the shop around to get the lowest price thing. I'm as cheep as the next guy. However there is nothing like customer service vs customer no-service (to quote Clark Howard).
I ordered from LED4RV. I had one light fail in the first couple days. Then another one. I called Dan. He asked all the right questions and walked me through testing my system. Talk about GREAT customer service. As it turned out, my 1974 univolt was putting out to much voltage. After I replaced it with a new progressive I have not had a light go yet and that was 4 years ago.
I don't know if his prices are higher but I'm willing to pay a bit more for good customer service.

[Antique Pedaler]

I replaced essentially all bulbs with LEDs in both trailers. Got the first 4 bulbs from LED4RV but the rest off ebay averaging $1.50 ea. No lamp changes required. Most ebay sellers indicate which replacement LEDs to use for existing bulbs.

I did have to correct the polarity on 2 Bambi 2 lamps that were reverse wired.

[dougandlori]

I would as stated above, call Dan at LED4RV! His customer service is second to none. I order a pair of ceiling lights in bright white. They were to bright for my taste. Called to order replacement bulbs and they just sent me the new and I returned the old. Dan would be my first call.

[Msmoto]

As Dan is a friend (LED4RV.com) , so I may be biased. LEDs on the market have huge variations in quality and to have to send them back and hope for a replacement (some companies require you pay for all postage) is a big hassle. I have converted one Airstream (2009 27FB Int) and one Tiffin Allegro Bus (2010 43 QGP). Thus about $1500 on LED conversion experience.

Ninety percent came from Dan after I had several other suppliers give me LEDs which quickly failed or were very dim. Dan tests his before shipping them out and if there is a failure, quite rare, he will replace these with no hassle.

IMO, it is worth the money to purchase the best one can, having purchased a lot of stuff on the internet with some very disappointing suppliers in years past.

[carver 1]

I am a big supporter of Dan @ LED4RV. I recently went to LEDs on my AS and he was very helpful in guiding me appropriately.

>>ron<<