How toConvert to led lights

Kbwitt · 06-30-2020, 12:45 PM

Hi I have a 2003 Winnebago Journey 36Dl. It has 3 fluorescent ceiling lights and one in bedroom. Plus the little spot lights around the unit. And bedroom ceiling light. Is there fluorescent style LED bulbs you can just change out. Or is there a replacement fixture I need to change to.
Thanks Ken

Morich · 06-30-2020, 01:19 PM

The answers vary with each fixture. The fluorescent may be the harder as they often have a ballast, electronic black box. which will generally need to be wired around to convert to LED. On that I would lean toward changing the fixture. The little spotlights may be halogen and the choice on swap bulbs or change fixture may get down to what swap/type bulb holder it involves. If they are incandescent, there is a good chance you can find a simple plug and play LED bulb to swap out, real easy. The ceiling light is quite likely to be a bulb swap!
But that doesn't necessarily make it simple for a for personal choices reasons. One big factor is that they are almost certain to all be 12 VDC lights and there are direct swaps for 12 VDC LED. Where hte problem may come in is the shape and number of LED chips on each bulb we call an LED does vary and the size and number of chips factors into how much light we get as well as the design of those chips changes the frequency or color of the light.
So it takes finding the right shape of bulb to match the bulbholder PLUS decisions on how much light we want at what color. Easy to find LED rated for 60 watt equivelant for home use but much less easy to find info to match up what we currently have in RV light to find a matching level in LED on the small bulbs.
Then the color choice gets iffy as some like a redder while others like a bluer. On that we can at least get some specs at times. Kelvin is the rating system for color. The lower Kelvin (K) rating the more red/less blue the light will be. The 3200K is closer to old light bulb color, while 6500 K is almost hospital room bright blue/white light.
Simple answers are not easy to find if we get into making that sort of decisions. I look at what the physical requirements need and then go E-bay shopping for the best assortment that seems to work---after checking with the wife, we sometimes change the K and amount of light needed! Auto shops often have them but way high prices for bulbs I may not want.
Good luck with the shopping! Works easy, shopping hard?

Winterbagoal · 06-30-2020, 01:52 PM

I had a 2002 Roadtrek and swapped out just about every 12V incandescent bulb for the corresponding LED. Plug and play. I did not replace the one fluorescent bulb over the bed, but I'm sure it could be done.

Check this site
www.superbrightleds.com
They have all sorts of LEDs and some cross reference charts so you can figure out what you need to order (or buy elsewhere). All you need is the bulb number from the incandescent, and look it up on their website.

As far as brightness goes, LEDs tend to be directional, the light shines brightest in the direction the diodes face.
There's also a factor called SMD, which stands for "surface mounted diodes" and if the number is higher on one LED from another, it means it's probably brighter.
The Super Bright LED guys can answer most of these types of questions for you.

Morich · 06-30-2020, 04:39 PM

SMD does mean a lot. It refers to the diodes mounted on an array and the more of them we get, the more light we get, os a LED array with nine SMD will be brighter than one with fewer SMD. Where we get into confusion is partly when we think of an LED as a big light source when an LED is a pretty small item that makes a big light if we put enough of them together.
This is an example of one type of LED but it is not a SMD as it is not surface mounted:
https://www.newark.com/cree/c512a-wn...onics-Displays
This is what we often call an LED but if we look it is a whole bunch of LED SMD that together make a bright light:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...hoCxWEQAvD_BwE
Not a big deal of any sort as it is just a matter of how we speak but it does make a big difference when it comes to knowing what we are buying. This specific item with 21 LED will give lots more light than one with 15 LED and it does put out light in only one direction. That can be different on different styles of LED array like cob lights which are used for things like tail or brake light. Part of the decision is finding one that puts the light out in the direction or way that we want as well as fits the space.
When we go shopping we need to be a bit prepared for making the decisions as there is a constantly changing market full of LED lights and knowing what you want is step one to getting what you need.
These are some of the LED that I use for different things that I build. I'm into planted fish tanks where lighting is always a big subject, so having a wide range of options for building lighting is always handy.
A couple points to know is that the individual LED will often be referred to ask a four digit number which is made op of the length and width in metric, so if you want more light from a given LED, go for a 50050 LED over a 5035. Note the different sizes on these. The big fat cob type puts out lots of light but in all directions, while the flat panel one has smaller LED but all the light goes in one direction.

Kbwitt · 07-02-2020, 12:13 AM

Thank you for the help. Especially the site to cross reference and order bulbs from.
Kenn

Morich · 07-02-2020, 08:50 AM

You may get lucky and the first choice from the cross reference is what you want, but I might also point out that the way we see light varies and that makes what the book shows as correct open to personal choice and you may not like the amount of light you get from the recommended one. Older eyes tend to see more clearly with a brighter light having higher Kelvin ratings but it does get back to what we each want, so keep an open mind. After that I find shopping for value is a big part of LED shopping as prices are set by what they think we will pay!

HappiHenri · 07-08-2020, 05:48 PM

Go to M4 Products. I ordered their LED florescent replacement bulbs. Takes a little but of work to bypass the OE ballast, but good instructions included. New bulbs use far less power, are brighter and come on instantly (no flickering). Highly recommended

TTFoley · 07-08-2020, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Then the color choice gets iffy as some like a redder while others like a bluer. On that we can at least get some specs at times. Kelvin is the rating system for color. The lower Kelvin (K) rating the more red/less blue the light will be. The 3200K is closer to old light bulb color, while 6500 K is almost hospital room

Kelvin is not simply the rating system for color. Kelvin is a temperature scale like Fahrenheit and Celsius. 0° on the Kelvin scale is -273° Celsius and is called absolute 0°, the concept of temperature does not exist below this point.

All materials emit a specific color of light. Lighter-colored objects emit more light, and darker colored objects absorb more light. The more light an object absorbs, the more it heats up when it is exposed to light, which is why dark things get hot more quickly than light things if left out in the sun. So referring to a specific color as ‘degrees Kelvin’ makes a convenient way to pretty accurately describe a color. By referring to a chart such as this, you can choose the color of light that an LED emits. I apologize if this got a little boring, I just get into this ‘color’ thang.

Chmielowiec · 07-08-2020, 07:04 PM

I obtained my led tubes for the lounge and kitchen fixtures in my 2007 Journey from Amazon very reasonable price they do require gutting rewiring the fixtures but very simple process

Flash · 07-08-2020, 07:47 PM

I agree with HappiHenri! We replaced all of the lights in our 2007 Voyage with lights from M4Products. They offer a choice of colors in all of their lights from cold to natural to warm, even for the vanity, reading and fluorescent lights. Not the cheapest but clearly the best IMHO.

The overhead were the most expensive but like Happi said M4Products included easy step by step instructions on how to do it. It was fast and easy.

If the link below doesn't work just go to M4Products.com and click on the "LED RV Retrofit Bulbs" link - it is on the top of the list on the left column.

https://m4products.com/led-rv-retrof...eid=6f86ec40fe

Shaverman64 · 07-08-2020, 07:52 PM

Purchased my LED strips from campers world easy installation for my 2000 Journey, and you don't have to remove fixtures. They were in the 30-40 dollar price range for ea. and made big difference. Hope this helps

Flash · 07-08-2020, 07:54 PM

I should have also mentioned that when we decided to replace all the lights we ordered one of each of the three colors to see which one we liked best before ordering a bunch of them. I figured the colors we didn't like would go to the basement where it wouldn't matter. We ended up with mostly "natural" but my wife liked a couple of warm ones for where she sits and reads.

AFChap · 07-08-2020, 08:45 PM

Over several years, I have replaced pretty much all the bulbs in my 2003 Winnebago Ultimate Advantage with LEDs from a number of different sources, most already named. Most of the fluorescent fixtures … 12 & 18 inch tubes … were 12v and I replaced most of them with adhesive strips and I think one in the water bay with an led tube. I have one 36" fluorescent fixture that is 120v. It took awhile, but I finally found LED tubes for it too. In ALL cases with the fluorescent tubes, I removed the ballasts. You can get 120v tubes that work with the ballast, but I figured why keep a ballast burning power when my object was to reduce power consumption. The only incandescents I have left are some make-up mirror type bulbs. I haven't found any LED replacements that I like the looks of.

JBrignolo · 07-08-2020, 09:37 PM

Cabin Bright has the LED fluorescent tube replacements you need. 3 different color temperatures, and several different brightness. Lifetime warranty.
https://www.cabinbright.com/product-...-replacements/
I had a 2003 Adventurer and it really brightened the interior as well as the 12 inch fixture over the sink.

Cooperhawk · 07-09-2020, 07:26 AM

I changed one tube to LEDs and the DW hates it because it's too bright.
I like it though. So................

NormD · 07-09-2020, 10:36 PM

I replaced the tubes in my ThinLite fixture with M4 Product tubes. They seem brighter and do a fine job of lighting the area. It requires a few minutes with a wire cutter and crimping tool to make the change. I used the ON/OFF switch on the ThinLite fixture to turn off one tube to conserve power if desired.

Wyatt · 07-09-2020, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cooperhawk

I changed one tube to LEDs and the DW hates it because it's too bright.
I like it though. So................

So, maybe get some dimmers? Of course DW will control those...

DWE · 07-13-2020, 01:17 PM

I changed my 1973 Brave to LEDs and had to remove ceiling fixtures and reverse the wires then they worked good.
.

Morich · 07-13-2020, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DWE

I changed my 1973 Brave to LEDs and had to remove ceiling fixtures and reverse the wires then they worked good.
.

This is a biggie point for anybody just getting into LED wiring. Many do get the first try done and it doesn't work but will if you change the polarity over. Sometimes in the plug in variety,all it needs is turning the wedge shaped bulbs over! But it can blow your mind if it's the first shot at this thing and you do three and none of them work! You would think your odds would be better than that, wouldn't you?

Boldero · 07-28-2020, 03:09 PM

In our 2009 vista we decided to convert to led as our RV is in the UK and europe and many campsites think we are 'juicy' and try to charge us more for hooking up... we got some quotes from reputable companies for the 20 odd bulbs we needed and the price was frankly ridiculous highest was around $250 for the lot, so we decided to take a chance and order some crazy cheap led's from amazon, guess what, for about $10 we replaced them all, and all of them are still working happily 4 years later...