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Foiled Again · 12-29-2005, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westfalia

Here's a picture of the inside of the light with the lens off.

I'm not trying to convert to LED's, just looking for a less expensive source for the existing Halogens. Anyone find them for a good price? I just burned out the THIRD one since I got my CCD in March

Westfalia · 07-01-2006, 06:47 PM

So today, I was thinking of ordering more LED lights. Lo and behind, a new LED light is available with a G4 pin base. It looks promising, and possibly brighter.

This one is thicker, so the reflector housing may need to be removed.

Has anyone else tried the LED lights in their CCD lights? It's been a little under a year since I bought mine, and I have enjoyed them, especially when boondocking. I can easily leave them on all night with no worries on battery consumption. In their currently installed position, they leave a pleasant light that is more than bright enough once your eyes have adjusted. They are painfully bright if you turn them on in the middle of the night.

nangoff · 07-02-2006, 09:36 AM

Hi Westfalia,

I too have purchased led lights, in fact I have purchased two of the type you showed in your post. I purchased them about a year ago from a company in England, they were a cluster of (I believe) 9 or 12 bulbs, I'm away from my trailer so I can't tell.....the supplier claimed they put out the equivalent of 10 halogen watts, but they do 1/2 that (at best). I asked him multiple times for lumens output and he never responded. Also, they put out a slightly greenish hew. When I tried to post my comments on his web site he repeatedly deleted them; they were not ugly, just what I experienced as above. They are about $12 each as I recall. He threatened to sue me if I did not quit posting what he believed to be negative comments on his product. One other thing, it appears two of the led's in the cluster have become intermittant, flashing on and off. Are you sourcing these bulbs from England? I can't recall the exact company, when I get home in a week I'll tell who I purchased them from. Thanks for the post. One other thing, I replaced all of my 10 watt bulbs with 5 watt ones at a cost of about 80 cents each, hardly any significant loss of light.
Gerry Goffinet, CCD 28, 2004, Nashville Tennessee, WBCCI 6948.

TIMEMACHINE · 07-02-2006, 05:08 PM

To All,

Just came across this thread and I may be able to shed some light on changing over the halogens in the AS models. I have a Safari SE model which uses the same lamps as the CCD.

First off, I am not a vendor, I am just a guy with a bit of experience in the manufacture of LED based lamp systems. I have been involved in the development of both the LED light source as well as application engineering for industry wide adoption of LEDs. The field is evolving very fast and new products are available all the time.

As per the last couple of posts, many suppliers claim certain performance standards which one finds to be "NOT" once you receive the lamp. Most of this is due to the manufacturer not understanding the physics behind an LED or the optical system necessary to direct the light in a functional manner.

Most of us are aware of LEDs in many consumer products, most are small applications where the light projection is minimal. Most of these lamps are rated in MilliAmps or fractions of an Amp. Newer LED light sources are now multi AMP, most common being one to five Amp. The challenge now is to harness the light and direct in a useable lamp. The cluster type lamps in the previous posts can not provide the light you need in the AS housing. The higher Amp LEDs are needed to do the job.

I will check with the more progressive manufacturers and see if there has been any designs that could be utilized in our AS applications. The fact that we have a 12 volt system is a plus since most LED lamps can be made to operate on vari-voltage of 4.5 volts to 18 volts. That means that as our batteries wear down, the LED lamps will maintain the same brightness over the full range, no dimming. Most likely a different optic (lens) will be required to match the LED to get the best performance. For your energy calcs, these type lamps will probably be rated at about 2 to 3 watts at 12 volts, so you can easily see a benefit. A big plus will be much less heat which will reduce your AC or fan costs.

I will check into this after the holiday and report back any info. Since I want some for myself, I am a bit motivated.

Hope this helps a bit.

John

Westfalia · 07-02-2006, 06:36 PM

Timemachine, thanks for your information. Do enjoy the low light of my current LED. The are dim and efficient, both being good when boondocking, and work well in their role in the overhead cabinets. However, they truly are too dim for any kind of task lighting whatsoever. I look forward to hearing what products you might be able to come up with to solve this. The lens in the current housing definitely diffuse and scatter what little my LEDs do produce. I could see a plastic lens being made that could replace the glass lens.

Keep the thoughts coming! I'd really want to replace more lights with LEDs in the near future. I'm also thinking of adding foot level path lighting to make midnight bathroom runs a bit more bearable.

TIMEMACHINE · 07-02-2006, 06:52 PM

Westfalia,

I will be working on the overheads...I am pretty sure that we can find or make some LED lamps that we can retrofit into our AS that you can actually use as a task light.

As for path lighting, I worked on past programs for cruise ships and aircraft for exit lighting on or near the floor with great illumination, I will bet the same products would work for your project....I will dig up the appropriate info. There are also some slick walkway lights that were developed for theaters that were mounted to an adjacent wall or seat to light the floor, those might be more reasonable in regards to cost and a little easier to install. I check into it.

John

nangoff · 07-06-2006, 10:03 AM

This is the path for the G4 based led arrays that will fit into the G4 bases of the 10 watt halogen fixtures as found on Airstream CCD trailers (as well as others). The reflector does not need to be removed in the halogen light, simply remove the halogen bulb and insert this LED array.
http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/default.p...87684d8d5469a5

I have found these led arrays to put out (roughly) 40 to 50% of the "lumens" of a 10 watt halogen, and of the two I purchased for trial, one array has a couple of led's that are flashing intermittently.

I'd say I am 75% satisfied with the results given the cost and the light output.

Gerry Goffinet
CCD28 2004
WBCCI 6948
Franklin, Tennessee

JDL · 08-24-2006, 12:06 AM

OK,

I got the 21 LED assembly. There things are great! and are really bright!

So much so you could even use them for task lighting. I have them in both the overhead storage compartments in front. Both have 3 light sockets. So I have a total of 6. With all 6 lights turned on the entire front part of the trailer is illuminated.

nangoff · 08-28-2006, 08:04 PM

JDL,

What did you pay? As I recall I paid about $12.00 or so per "bulb".

Too much to completely retrofit the 30 or so bulbs in my CCD 28.

Thanks, Gerry

JDL · 08-28-2006, 08:12 PM

I paid 19.95 each.

I would suggest doing one or two of the large storge bins and try it.

I want to boondock so its worth it to me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nangoff

JDL,

What did you pay? As I recall I paid about $12.00 or so per "bulb".

Too much to completely retrofit the 30 or so bulbs in my CCD 28.

Thanks, Gerry

Westfalia · 10-02-2006, 10:05 AM

Just ordered four of the new larger array bulbs. I'll try them out in one of the overheads. I also ordered two of the 4-led type that I had before but with a rear pin for use in the swivel spots in the CCD. I'll let everyone know how it all works out. So far, I have really enjoyed having the LED lights. Even with the reduced lumens output, my wife and I have enjoyed them and the power savings is very noticeable when dry camping or boondocking. The bluish light kinda reminds me of moonlight and is very mellow. Combine with a few candles, and it's down right romantic.

JDL · 10-02-2006, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westfalia

Just ordered four of the new larger array bulbs. I'll try them out in one of the overheads. I also ordered two of the 4-led type that I had before but with a rear pin for use in the swivel spots in the CCD. I'll let everyone know how it all works out. So far, I have really enjoyed having the LED lights. Even with the reduced lumens output, my wife and I have enjoyed them and the power savings is very noticeable when dry camping or boondocking. The bluish light kinda reminds me of moonlight and is very mellow. Combine with a few candles, and it's down right romantic.

Real curious on how bright the swivel spots are compared to the larger led arrays.

[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/BOB1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/BOB1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/BOB1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.jpg[/IMG]

PodDweller · 01-18-2007, 08:15 PM

JDL,

Did you have to mod the light fixtures to fit the 21 LED array?

JDL · 01-18-2007, 09:36 PM

Nope. Just replace the bulb and plug them in.

Westfalia · 02-03-2007, 09:32 AM

I received four of the new LED lamps. Unfortunately, they arrived jsut in time for the cold weather, and I haven't spent any time observing them or even photographing them. Here are my initial impressions. They are much brighter than the original LED lamps. You will have not problem installing these as for use as task lighting. They also have a yellow filter. The light is a warm yellow, not too unlike the halogens and nothing like the blue I used to. I installed mine in the main gallery area, replace all four 10w halogen lights.

I'll try to get out and get some pictures today, if the wind ever stops. As it is, the trailer is practically buried in the snow.

rseagle · 02-03-2007, 10:47 AM

Westfalia,

As an update, could you provide a link to the vendor and the type/cost of these new LEDs? Look forward to hearing about your opinion on these lights.

Thanks.

Westfalia · 02-03-2007, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Westfalia

They look like the picture above and or from YachtLights.com:
LED Bulb Conversion for Halogen G4 - yachtlights.com

FWIW, they do have some interesting marine grade LED fixtures. I have enve bought anything other than the bulbs, but the LED rope light might have some merit!
LED Rope Light - yachtlights.com

Westfalia · 02-12-2007, 10:40 PM

I finally went out and spent some time under the lights. I like them! The light output is not the meager blue of the original LED lamps I originally installed. It is also 2/3 of the light output of the halogens, or at least this is my very unscientific opinion.

There is very little heat output, and what is output is very meager.

I have posted picture of these lights in my personal gallery, but here is one. Click on it to see the rest in my gallery.

rseagle · 02-13-2007, 03:40 PM

I like them! I hope to get some (6) for my ceiling lights before camping season. Other areas to follow.

MontanaArgy · 02-19-2007, 07:12 PM

Has anyone tried these "superbright" or "ultra" LED bulbs? They are 3 watt single LED bulb replacements, said to be brighter than standard filament bulbs. They also have a 130 degree light emittance angle, so they should illuminate a nice broad area. They produce 190 lumens using 65 milliamps. Superbrightled.com has them for the $25 price, LEDLight.com has them for $50. Both the wedge and bayonette base types are available. I'm looking to do similar interior bulb replacement in my old Argosy which has the bayonette base bulbs. They do have the problem that they only work in fixtures which emit the light from the end of the bulb, like spot and flood type fixtures.

I'm guessing they are relatively new and the prices may come down some.

If this link doesn't work search for Luxeon bulbs on the LED bulb sites.

3 Watt Luxeon 3156/3157 Bulb SPECIFICATIONS