LED lighting retrofit for interior lights

[G-STREAM]

What do these LEDs do when the voltage drops below 12v? I put some socket style LEDs in my vintage lights and the minute the battery goes low I get zero output, atleast with the old style they just go dim.

[Ahab]

We replaced all the incandescent bulbs in our old PU with LED's and now doing the same with our new A/S. I use the superbrightled.com products as they seem to be the most bang for the buck. They now have a warm rendition which costs more and I only ordered one to try out. We have no problem with the slight blue tint offered by the conventional 24 and 32 unit arrays. We boondock and dry camp alot so these are a must for us.

[Foiled Again]

Thanks for bringing this thread back to life.

I finally burned through the replacement bulbs I bought 2 years ago and needed to order more - so this thread comes in mighty handy. No more paying $5 per bulb at Home Depot. Thanks.!

Paula (I just love the new smiley!)

[Motoman]

Has anyone tried the new higher wattage LEDS in the six LED configuration such as the G4-WHP6 White LED bulb on the superbrightleds.com site and compared them to the 21 LED style such as the ILG4-21L12V60W on the IMTRA web site IMTRA Marine Products

[nangoff]

I have yet to find any definitive lumens output of any of these LED arrays compared to classic halogen of 5 or 10 watts. Has anybody got a definitive lumen output of the LEDs?

Additionally, in a fair comparison the halogen light as mounted in its fixture will put out more light than a straight halogen bulb, so the light as mounted in its fixture would be the benchmark for a halogen bulb.

Also, is the comparison of lumens between light sources linear or exponential? Example, is a 10 lumen light source twice as bright as a 5 lumen source or is it 4 times as bright?

Thanks, Gerry

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by nangoff

I have yet to find any definitive lumens output of any of these LED arrays compared to classic halogen of 5 or 10 watts. Has anybody got a definitive lumen output of the LEDs?
...
Also, is the comparison of lumens between light sources linear or exponential? Example, is a 10 lumen light source twice as bright as a 5 lumen source or is it 4 times as bright?

Be careful about Lumens. LEDs are not as efficient as the headlines would lead you to believe, but they seem much more efficient than incandescents because they emit their light in a fairly tight beam. I'm wondering that if a halogen and LED have the same Lumens, perhaps that means that the light on the subject is brighter for the LED because all of it is focused in that direction? On the other hand, the halogen's light is going off in all directions. Anyone know how the specs work?

Zep

[TIMEMACHINE]

Originally Posted by nangoff

Also, is the comparison of lumens between light sources linear or exponential? Example, is a 10 lumen light source twice as bright as a 5 lumen source or is it 4 times as bright?
Thanks, Gerry

Lumens are linear per instrument testing in an integrating sphere, however, the human eye has interesting characteristics that confuse perception of light sources and in many cases the perceived "intensity" of the light may in fact not be linear, usually becoming a percentage factor as opposed to a one to one ratio.

Keep in mind that visual acuity is also affected by color temperature and other optical effects in the transmission of light that also changes the perceived intensity.

Bottom line, even luminosity is not a fair value to judge the lamps you are looking at for replacement for halogens. Light manufacturers are just like truck manufacturers, sometimes they kind of fudge the numbers, usually by testing "golden samples" which are typically not the average lamp that they distribute.

[Westfalia]

Originally Posted by Motoman

Has anyone tried the new higher wattage LEDS in the six LED configuration such as the G4-WHP6 White LED bulb on the superbrightleds.com site and compared them to the 21 LED style such as the ILG4-21L12V60W on the IMTRA web site IMTRA Marine Products

Yep, that is pretty much what I am using in my galley over heads. You'll see my description of the lights if you head back a page. They are good and the light output and color is acceptable. The fit is a little tight in the stock light housing, and when assembled the lens may push the LED back and break the connection. Re-adjusting the pins usually helped.

However, I am having a progressing failure on one of the bulbs. I've lost roughly half of the array in one bulb.

[hshovic]

Greetings,

Just purchased and installed:

* Sailor Sam's G4 replacements for the halogens
(# IMT-ILG4-21LED12VW; 12 volt, G4 Style, LED Bulb, WARM WHITE)

* Superbright's 67 replacement LED's for clearance bulbs (I decided against changing the fixtures, since the existing ones look ok.)

* Bought one Superbright 1141 for task lighting to try it out. (1156-PCB-WHP9 White LED Lamp $ 21.95 (each))

The LED's in the halogen fixtures are slightly less bright, but have a nice spectrum. See below for before and after. I replaced 8 of 11 so probably have reduced AH by 80%.

The one to replace the 1141 was not so good. Quite dim but warm white, (kind of a waste of $21.95), so I went with fluorescents from Thin Lite for the task lighting. Twice the light at 1/2 the amperage. Cool white, but meant for task lighting, not ambience lighting..

Thanks to Davidz71 for his help and advice on this.

Then got two Lifeline 6V batteries for a total of 300 AH (I had about 170 before)... and because of the new batteries I needed an upgrade of the converter (Parallax ) and an extreme battery box makeover. More on this later.

And will try them all out in March.

[87MH]

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

Be careful about Lumens. LEDs are not as efficient as the headlines would lead you to believe, but they seem much more efficient than incandescents because they emit their light in a fairly tight beam. I'm wondering that if a halogen and LED have the same Lumens, perhaps that means that the light on the subject is brighter for the LED because all of it is focused in that direction? On the other hand, the halogen's light is going off in all directions. Anyone know how the specs work?

I bookmarked this page a while ago when I was relighting the '78.

It appears as if this guy certainly knows his way around a lumen.

Don's Lighting Info Center!

I was really surprised that most fluorescents are more efficient than LED's.

[wppii]

I have not read through all of the posts for this thread but I converted to the G4-WHP6, bought from this site Super Bright LEDs - Bi-pin Base Bulbs. At the time all they had was cool white, looks like they have added warm white.They work grreat, easy to install.

[nangoff]

Yeh, but how much darkness do you have now in return? They all seem to not put out as much light as a 5 or 10 watt halogen they replaced. I'm looking for someone to say that the unit they bought puts out more light than the halogen thgey replaced it with then I'll get interested again.

Gerry Goffinet

[wppii]

To nangoff,
can't deny, the cool white seem a bit dimmer. it does however extend the battery life for us. just a choice we work with.

Bill Porter

[nangoff]

Bill,

I too have a CCD 28, 2004 vintage. Bought some G4 based multiple light led's for trial and have been disappointed. Some of the LED's have began to flicker; have you ever noticed the new traffic lights that are using LED arrays, a good number have some of the LED's burnt out. I'm skeptical of this industry yet; I ended up replacing all my 10 watt bulbs in my CCD with 5 watt. Very little visual effect and my power consumption was cut in half, literally...checked them out with an ammeter (am an electrical engineer)

Gerry

[TIMEMACHINE]

Originally Posted by nangoff

Bill,

I too have a CCD 28, 2004 vintage. Bought some G4 based multiple light led's for trial and have been disappointed. Some of the LED's have began to flicker; have you ever noticed the new traffic lights that are using LED arrays, a good number have some of the LED's burnt out. I'm skeptical of this industry yet; I ended up replacing all my 10 watt bulbs in my CCD with 5 watt. Very little visual effect and my power consumption was cut in half, literally...checked them out with an ammeter (am an electrical engineer)

Gerry

Gerry and all,

Your overall perception is not unusual, there are significant issues that come with LED technology, as you mentioned, some of the traffic signals from the early days are failing (mostly green) due to various conditions. As for small lamp replacements typical in our Airstream, some of the products are just plain junk, some are OK, but none are currently available that will perform at the lower color teperatures to be considered "exact replacements".

The road map for LED efficacy (lumens per watt) improvement has shown tremendous positive jumps, mostly in the lab and in more technical applications. Unfortunatley, the smaller white light applications have not translated into commercially available product yet, and some of the probelms you have seen (flickering) is probably due to improper heat transfer that results in premature failure. Most LED "bulbs" lack sufficient heat transfer because they do not take into account a systems approach to the application.

Most of the manufacturers in LEDs have not put much effort in halogen replacements at the 5 to 15 watt range, except the MR-11 and MR-16 lamp types, which do not fit in our AS factory fixtures. I have been waiting for the right repalcement LED lamps that are quality and will perform as lower wattage replacements for the bi-pin type halogens. Some of the manufacturers are close. I believe when they hit approximately 100 lumens at 2 to 3 watts, and a color temperature between 2800k and 3500k, with an appropriately size heat transfer, most of you will be pleased with the performance. The reality today is that our application is just not large enough to satisfy the business equation for LED manufacturers, but the time is near...just hold on a bit.

[Mexray]

I am currently in the process of installing Dr LED, recessed 'spot' warm light LED units in the ceiling of our 78 Ambassador.

I'm installing them in conjunction with installing three new Fanstatic Fans from Vintage Trailer, the ones with the flat gray vent covers. It's easier to install all the wiring while the new vents are not yet installed.

I'm installing a total of 11 LED 'spots'...3 in the (mid) bedroom, 3 next to the sink/stove, and 5 forward above the gaucho. I'm installing them on 8 inch centers. They look good, and provide the AS interior with a 'modern' flair...IMHO

I tested the 'flood' version of Dr LED's recessed units, but found them to dim, and they have that blue/white harsh glare...the 'spot' version uses the 'warm' glow version LED's and the beam is more of a spot, but wide enough in a ceiling installation to provide a broad coverage at the couch level.

I'll post some pic's soon. Got the rear three mounted and they tested out great last night...I'm installing separate switches on the ceiling for each of the three 'areas' of lights.

I've also installed one of Dr LED's 'bulbs' into the outside Step light fixture. Previously I've converted all the rear tail/stop lights to LED units, and just finished replacing all the marker lights with LED units. I got my Dr LED units from West Marine...they have a good selection of LED stuff these days.

I haven't yet tackled the bedroom bunk lights, the two over the Kitchen sink, the round overhead light in the bathroom, or the two bathroom bulk head lights...those will be a challenge to change over, due to the amount of light output needed to be effective.

The Bunk reading lights can be done with new fixtures...but the other will be more challenging! Perhaps I can recess three 'spot' units to replace the large round original fixture that uses multiple bulbs...don't know yet.

Any successful conversions of these lights been down out in AS land?

[nangoff]

Time machine...what a strange handle.......past that I'm glad you straightforwardly addressed this subject....many have saidthe like the product, yup, I do too, but they don't go on to say what they don't like about the product....namely price and light output. I will hold on, until someone says eureka. Thanks, Gerry

[Wayne&Sam]

I just bought a couple of 8-LED fixtures at West Marine for $20 each. I'll install them along side the existing incancesdents and see how the work.

[lewster]

OK,

I did the full monte of my halogens to LEDs in my 19CCD......even went with red LEDs for the inner cabinet lights. They are the exact color temp (warm white) as the halogens and are about 75% (subjective evaluation) of the lumen output of the former halogens.

I like the reduced output, as I found the halogens to be very glaring. I am also getting a couple of 3 watt LED bulbs to test for reading light purposes.

On the plus side......I like the reduced output and the light 'color' is the same. I love the 'mood lighting' that the reds give me from behind the frosted doors of the upper cabinets......makes for a great nite light! And the best part....I can run my entire trailer on the amperage of just one 10 watt halogen.

On the negative..........COST.

I'll report back on the 3 watt model. I do have a 3 watt halogen flashlite, and it is superb! I'm expecting the same from the LED bulb.

BTW, I am now an authorized dealer for IMTRA Marine lighting products.

[utee94]

Originally Posted by lewster

OK,

I did the full monte of my halogens to LEDs in my 19CCD......even went with red LEDs for the inner cabinet lights. They are the exact color temp (warm white) as the halogens and are about 75% (subjective evaluation) of the lumen output of the former halogens.

I like the reduced output, as I found the halogens to be very glaring. I am also getting a couple of 3 watt LED bulbs to test for reading light purposes.

On the plus side......I like the reduced output and the light 'color' is the same. I love the 'mood lighting' that the reds give me from behind the frosted doors of the upper cabinets......makes for a great nite light! And the best part....I can run my entire trailer on the amperage of just one 10 watt halogen.

On the negative..........COST.

I'll report back on the 3 watt model. I do have a 3 watt halogen flashlite, and it is superb! I'm expecting the same from the LED bulb.

BTW, I am now an authorized dealer for IMTRA Marine lighting products.

So, how much DOES it cost for each replacement "bulb?"