Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 09-15-2007, 06:11 PM   #1
Rivet Master
 
SteveH's Avatar
 
2005 39' Land Yacht 390 XL 396
Common Sense , Texas
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,319
LED lights

I was looking at the number of 1156 light bulbs today in my trailer, and adding it all up, it's something like 24 amps of battery drain if they are all on at the same time. So, has anyone converted to LED (Light emitting diode) lights, and if so, where did you get them, and how happy are you with them? Any information you might have would be greatly appreciated.
SteveH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2007, 06:21 PM   #2
2 Rivet Member
 
Alaska1966's Avatar
 
1966 17' Caravel
Fairbanks , Alaska
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 55
Images: 7
My husband bought all new outside LED lights. They look like the originals. He bought them at WalMart. We have talked about getting ones for the inside. We just haven't gone looking for any yet. I will keep my on your post so we can find out where to get some also.
Alaska1966 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2007, 06:27 PM   #3
Rivet Master
 
Alumatube's Avatar
 
1984 31' Airstream310
Central , Ohio
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,094
I'm with you - I would rather have less current draw (and lights that don't get hot)! I have not found any of a color I would be satisfied with for an interior yet. I like a warmer light (like from incandescent bulbs) and can't stand the bright bluish white of fluorescent for my living spaces. The LEDs I have found have been either bright white or that mercury vapor orange color (think of any LED landscape lighting you may have seen and you will know the two colors I am talking about). I am sure they will be available soon, as technology advances, but I don't think it's there just yet.

If someone *does* have a source for warm LED lighting, PLEASE let me know!

Susan
__________________
"Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how popular it remains?"

1984 310 Limited Motor Home "The Rockin' A"
Alumatube is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2007, 06:27 PM   #4
Rivet Master
 
Excella CM's Avatar
 
1978 31' Excella 500
Venice , California
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,067
Many of us are building led zeppelins. Music to our eyes.
__________________
"Not all who are laundering are washed" say Bill & Heidi

'78 Excella 500,"The Silver Pullit". vacuum over hydraulic disc brakes, center bath, rear twin. '67 Travelall 1200 B 4X4 WBCCI 3737
Excella CM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2007, 06:52 PM   #5
Rivet Master
 
HowieE's Avatar
 
1991 34' Excella
Princeton , New Jersey
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 7,070
Images: 12
There are several post on this subject. Search on LED and you will find them. This is one of the more complete discussions.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f311...hts-23544.html
__________________
WBCCI 12156 AIR 3144 WACHUNG TAC NJ6
2004 Excursion 4x4
1991 34 ft. Excella +220,000 miles, new laminated flooring, new upholstery, new 3200 lbs axles

HowieE is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2007, 07:01 PM   #6
Rivet Master
 
Lumatic's Avatar
 
1971 25' Tradewind
1993 34' Excella
Currently Looking...
Estancia , New Mexico
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,742
Images: 16
Blog Entries: 1
LED marker lights

Replaced all 10 of my clearance marker lights with double bulls eye LEDs I got from Vintage Trailer supply. A few bucks more than the bulb type. Nice and bright. Don't know about the difference in draw. The new ones have a factory plug and mount flush. I had to cut off the plug and make a gasket out of 1/8 rubber to get the clearance for the wires. So far so good.
__________________
Sail on silver girl. Sail on by. Your time has come to shine.
Lumatic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2007, 07:06 PM   #7
More than one rivet loose
 
thecatsandi's Avatar

 
Currently Looking...
Los Alamos , New Mexico
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 3,756
I replaced all my running lights with equivlent LEDs from SUPER BRIGHT LEDS home
They shipped what I ordered promptly. price was about $3-5 per bulb.
__________________
Michelle TAC MT-0
Sarah, Snowball

Looking for a 1962 Flying Cloud

thecatsandi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2007, 07:57 PM   #8
Rivet Master
 
ScottW's Avatar
 
2007 30' Classic
Hernando , Mississippi
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 759
Images: 2
Michelle,
did you replace them all with white LEDs or did you dub amber for amber and red for red? 2Air mentioned on another thread not to put color LEDs behind colored lenses. Your experience, please. Thanks
__________________
Rgds,
Scott
Air 16426

Fully retired now!
Remember:
Never start anything before noon and always plan on being finished by 5.
I will never HAVE to be anywhere ever again!
ScottW is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2007, 07:58 PM   #9
Rivet Master
 
davidz71's Avatar
 
1986 25' Sovereign
Southern Middle , Tennessee
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,319
Images: 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveH
I was looking at the number of 1156 light bulbs today in my trailer, and adding it all up, it's something like 24 amps of battery drain if they are all on at the same time. So, has anyone converted to LED (Light emitting diode) lights, and if so, where did you get them, and how happy are you with them? Any information you might have would be greatly appreciated.
Check out this site for right angle 1156 and 1157: Super Bright LEDs - Tail Brake/Turn Bulbs

You have to look closely to see if you have correct indexing by looking at the diagram and comparing it with the bulbs in your trailer. These could be used for interior lights or the light over your door if you have enough lens space inside the light or you could go to the different size panels. Do a forum search on LED tailights and LED interior lighting which should help you. I have ordered clearance light from www.LEDS-R-US.com as well as Led Truck Lights, Led stop lights, Led clearance lights, led Marker lights, Led trailer lights, truck lights, led strobe lights and were pleased with both. The vehiclelights clearance light uses 2 wires as connections while the LEDS-R-US uses one and grounds on the screw going to the body. I just used a ring terminal, wire and cut a channel in the back of the plastic with a dremel tool for the wire clearance to the ground/negative.
__________________
Craig

AIR #0078
'01 2500hd ext. cab, 8.1 litre gas, 5 sp. Allison auto
3.73 rear end
Mag-Hytec rear diff cover
Amsoil Dual by-pass oil filtration system
Amsoil synthetics all around
265 watt AM Solar, Inc. system
davidz71 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2007, 08:49 PM   #10
Rivet Master
 
SteveH's Avatar
 
2005 39' Land Yacht 390 XL 396
Common Sense , Texas
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,319
I have been misunderstood...I was inquiring about LED lights for the interior lights. That's where the high current drain is an issue. All of the incadecants will kill the battery in the trailer rather quickly.

The power drain of the marker lights and tail lights is not a problem in my way of thinking because when you are running and using those lights, the alternator is handling the load, although the LEDs do not burn out like incandecants.
SteveH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2007, 09:52 PM   #11
More than one rivet loose
 
thecatsandi's Avatar

 
Currently Looking...
Los Alamos , New Mexico
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 3,756
Thier website says. Put the same color LED as the lens. Red behind the red and amber behind the amber. I have a white one as a universal spare.
The brightness seems to be just fine.
__________________
Michelle TAC MT-0
Sarah, Snowball

Looking for a 1962 Flying Cloud

thecatsandi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2007, 10:05 PM   #12
Rivet Master
 
ROBERTSUNRUS's Avatar

 
2005 25' Safari
Salem , Oregon
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 8,369
Images: 18
Blog Entries: 55
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveH
I have been misunderstood...I was inquiring about LED lights for the interior lights. That's where the high current drain is an issue. All of the incadecants will kill the battery in the trailer rather quickly.

The power drain of the marker lights and tail lights is not a problem in my way of thinking because when you are running and using those lights, the alternator is handling the load, although the LEDs do not burn out like incandecants.
Hi, that's what I thought you meant. But, other than useing the bathroom or kitchen, we usually only turn on two double overhead lights at a time. With one double light turned on with the inside door switch, and one other double light turned on near the rear bedroom it's plenty bright inside of our trailer. That's only four bulbs burning. Yes these type bulbs get pretty hot and draw a lot more than LEDs, but we don't run them all night and rarely boondock. It's nice to have all these interior lights so we can choose which ones we want on at any given time, but I would never have a reason to turn them all on at once. [well unless I was a doctor and performing surgery inside of my trailer]
__________________
Bob 2005 Safari 25-B
"Le Petit Chateau Argent" Small Silver Castle
2000 Navigator / 2014 F-150 Eco-Boost / Equal-i-zer / P-3
YAMAHA 2400 / AIR #12144
ROBERTSUNRUS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2007, 02:07 AM   #13
JDL
3 Rivet Member
 
JDL's Avatar
 
2005 19' International CCD
T , Oregon
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 203
I have converted to mostly LED lights.

After 3 days of boondocking I still had a full battery...

See post:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f447...ens-17392.html
JDL is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2007, 07:25 AM   #14
Rivet Master
 
87MH's Avatar
 
1978 31' Sovereign
Texas Airstream Harbor , Zavalla, in the Deep East Texas Piney Woods on Lake Sam Rayburn
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,435
Images: 292
1156's or 1141's?

Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveH
I was looking at the number of 1156 light bulbs today in my trailer, and adding it all up, it's something like 24 amps of battery drain if they are all on at the same time. .....
SteveH:

I don't think there should be ANY 1156's in the interior of your trailer....I'm pretty sure the interior lights should be 1141's (1.6 amp) - check your owner's manual.

I converted all of the exterior lights on the '78 sovereign to LED's except the inner brake lights and the flood light. I left the inner brake lights with 1156's due to the infrequent useage and cost of replacement. The door (step) light was replaced with a white LED - a very cold and weak amount of light, but ample for the requirements. I tried several LED's in the flood light, all unsatisfactory, but did not spend more than $30 per bulb. I tried a 55 watt halogen in the flood, but there was a terrific amount of heat - so much so I was sure it would damage the lens if I left it in, so I went back to the 1156 that is supposed to be in there.

I did find that the 90 degree stop/tail light combination LED replacement bulb for the 1157 is 180 degrees out of phase. On my unit the bulb base is pressed into the 4" X 4" bulb bowl, and could not be rotated without damage, so I went the direction of most other's here and replaced the turn/running light 1157 with a modified (cut down) LED module.

I have replaced some of the interior lights with LED "square" bulb base modules - the LED white light is very "cold" - not to my liking at all.

I did use two 90 degree red LED's as "night lights" in the bathroom light - not a bunch of lumens, but it serves the purpose - besides, the red light adds a touch of drama to the toilet necessity.

I also tried to replace the 1156's in the brake lights with 55 watt halogen's - I ended up blowing the 10 amp fuse in the tow vehicle power amplifier module.

Please let us know if you (or anyone else) finds a suitable "warm" replacement for the interior 1141's.
__________________
Dennis

"Suck it up, spend the bucks, do it right the first time."

WBCCI # 1113
AirForums #1737

Trailer '78 31' Sovereign

Living Large at an Airstream Park on the Largest Lake Totally Contained in Texas
Texas Airstream Harbor, Inc.
87MH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2007, 02:49 PM   #15
Rivet Master
 
SteveH's Avatar
 
2005 39' Land Yacht 390 XL 396
Common Sense , Texas
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,319
Dennis,

I checked, and you are right, the bulbs are 1141's. Not as bad as I had thought, but still quite a load if you add them all up. Granted, we shouldn't be using them all at once, but still quite a load being there is 26 1141's in the trailer. That's 41 amps if they are all on at once (using your 1.6 amps/bulb)...enough to kill a good battery in a couple of hours.

I 've done several searches on google and can't seem to find better prices than at SuperBrite.

Think I'm going to try some, but not sure I know what "cold" and "warm" light is.

Thanks everyone for all the info.
Steve
SteveH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2007, 03:06 PM   #16
More than one rivet loose
 
thecatsandi's Avatar

 
Currently Looking...
Los Alamos , New Mexico
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 3,756
According to my owners manual I have JC-10 wedge based bulbs for reading lights. I want to replace those with LEDs I have been unable to find a source.
A google search brings up the airstream website pretty close to the top.

Is there a cross reference?

My Clothes closet is the only thing left for overhead lights that is not florescent. I am going to fix that this december.
__________________
Michelle TAC MT-0
Sarah, Snowball

Looking for a 1962 Flying Cloud

thecatsandi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2007, 07:45 PM   #17
Rivet Master
 
davidz71's Avatar
 
1986 25' Sovereign
Southern Middle , Tennessee
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,319
Images: 23
Steve,
What about these on ebay? They say they are for the 1141.
eBay Motors: WHITE 36 LED CB RV CAMPER BOAT BULB 1156 2056 1141 1073 (item 280141128042 end time Oct-05-07 22:51:06 PDT)
__________________
Craig

AIR #0078
'01 2500hd ext. cab, 8.1 litre gas, 5 sp. Allison auto
3.73 rear end
Mag-Hytec rear diff cover
Amsoil Dual by-pass oil filtration system
Amsoil synthetics all around
265 watt AM Solar, Inc. system
davidz71 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2007, 08:12 PM   #18
Rivet Master
 
davidz71's Avatar
 
1986 25' Sovereign
Southern Middle , Tennessee
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,319
Images: 23
Steve,
Another LED lighting idea. I have 2 of the incandescent fixtures noted here over my couch. This would be great for my application.
Luxeon LED RV Lighting
__________________
Craig

AIR #0078
'01 2500hd ext. cab, 8.1 litre gas, 5 sp. Allison auto
3.73 rear end
Mag-Hytec rear diff cover
Amsoil Dual by-pass oil filtration system
Amsoil synthetics all around
265 watt AM Solar, Inc. system
davidz71 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-16-2007, 08:24 PM   #19
Rivet Master
 
Ganglin's Avatar
 
1971 27' Overlander
Central , Ohio
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,365
Images: 13
1141F is a frosted version of the 1141. It puts out a light more like a home light bulb and is what is actually listed in our 71 owners manual for the ceiling fixtures. Found a close out RV supplier that is supposed to have them 10 bulbs for $3.50 - waiting for them to get back on how many 10 packs they have.
Ganglin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-17-2007, 05:24 AM   #20
Rivet Master
 
SteveH's Avatar
 
2005 39' Land Yacht 390 XL 396
Common Sense , Texas
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 5,319
Quote:
Originally Posted by davidz71
David,

Those look like they would work good, but there are only 5 for sale, and kind of pricey. To replace just all the overhead lights in my trailer, I need 14. With the rest, there are 12 more.
SteveH is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
dim lights dallas Electrical - Systems, Generators, Batteries & Solar 7 08-23-2006 08:25 PM
no lights kelly1 Electrical - Systems, Generators, Batteries & Solar 1 09-24-2005 09:33 PM
Running Lights/Backup Lights 85 Sovereign GRAYMAN Lights - Interior & Exterior 7 08-10-2004 08:54 AM
Upper Identification Lights aka(Clearance Lights) pap Lights - Interior & Exterior 7 04-08-2003 06:14 PM
looking for brake lights and back up lights larrylisa Lights - Interior & Exterior 6 12-07-2002 06:43 PM


Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Airstream, Inc. or any of its affiliates. Airstream is a registered trademark of Airstream Inc. All rights reserved. Airstream trademark used under license to Social Knowledge LLC.



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:58 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.