MICRON - This is basically my LED change-out story. Keep in mind this only applies to me and what I went through...
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/f...d/24818888.cfm
This is what I went through a few years back to change out my POPUP Trailer for LED lights. Everyone is different in what they want but I wanted very bright lights that duplicated the incandescent bulbs I was replacing.
I did it the hard way and ordered a whole bunch of different ones to see what would work for me in my POPUP trailer. Ended up spending at least $150 before I started listening to the experts here. I had to get something for my Ceiling Lights that was rated around 400-500 LUMENS.
All my LEDs have to be WARM WHITE types. All of my LEDs are also the WEDGE TYPE that originally uses the 921 incandescent bulb I tried several companies SUPERBRITE and a whole bunch of other "good deals" and although they all worked in my socket 99% of them was not bright enough for my application.
DO NOT ORDER a whole set of any of them until you find the one that works for you. You really have to get something in the 400 LUMENS rating if you want about the same light as you are getting off the original bulb type lights. One of the exports on here told me a 120v 50Watt Incandescent bulb types puts out around 450 lumens of light. You will also want a WARM WHITE LED to duplicate the original bulb type. The COOL WHITE LEDs that put off a BLUEISH light is very hard for me to read from.
I first ended up with COMMAND ELECTRONICs PN 170-111 which are 510 LUMEN Boards that stick up inside the DUAL and SINGLE Ceiling light fixtures - They put off excellent light. For my other sockets Porch Light- a couple of Bed Area lights I used the LEDTRAILER ROUND LEDs PN 921-380 which are 380 LUMENS. They are excellant lights as well.
All of these LED change outs will drastic reduce my Battery Drain when camping-in-the woods by 80% they tell me. All was going great for me until I did go camping way-back-in-the-woods and found that all of these regulated type of LEDs lights put off a small amount of RFI which in my case interfered with my weak radio and tv reception. With any LED light "ON" my OVER-THE-AIR HDTV reception would totally BLANK OUT. My NOAH WEATHER RADIO reception would not work as well. My Amateur Radio reception was very reduced. All of these Radio/TV units were on OUTSIDE ANTENNAS. When I turned OFF the LED light everything started working as before...
To fix this problem and with much help from CamperPaul, SMKETTNER, and KendallP on the RV NET forum along with a whole host of others I replaced half of my CEILING LED lights with a SMD BOARD 36-1210 type LED 252 LUMENS (Ebay from CHINA @ $4.99) that does not incorporate an ON-BOARD regulator that allows the board to operate between 8-30VDC using what is known as a BUCK REGULATOR circuit. I have tried a couple of these non-regulated boards and they work fine with NO RFI signals being produced. With my DC Voltage range of 13.2 to 14.4VDC they seem to work just fine but the experts tell me their life span may be reduced somewhat as their operating voltage range spec is not that high but at $4.99 each probably no big deal.
Since I have the DUAL Ceiling light fixtures that turned on both sides at same time I had to modify my old fixtures to a three way switch version models which allows me to turn on one side or the other or off. I have the American brands with regulators in one side and the China brand without regulators in the other. This way I can switch to the NON RFI type boards when camping off the power grid. Seems to work out pretty good for me doing it this way. Keep in mind all of my incandescent light bulbs are the 921 wedge type... Like said above just order ONE to try out and not get a whole a set for around $200... They might not be what you expect...
None of the 15-50 Lumen size LEDs worked for me - even in the bed room directed swivel lights... Way too dim... Changing to LEDs really worked great for us camping off the power grid and they dont get any where near as hot as the incandescent bulbs. Try grabing the old style after it has been on for 10-minutes. My old bulbs had already started burning the plastic holders and turning them brown. I also didnt get the LED diffusers with the first round of LEDs. One of those companies I listed has the replacement diffusers lens available which really make a big difference. This spreads the LEDs light beams out better then the original light assy has in them.
The RFI Issue is a very real problem with LED units that have built-in voltage regulators that allow the LED units to be operated in a wide DC Voltage range. This problem is not just something that was unique to my installation. Many others on here report the same conditions of getting interference to their HDTV when using the OTA crank-up roof mounted antennas. Still yet alot of others also rport not having any RFI problems at all... Keep in mind the manufactures of these units are in full compliance with FCC regulations on the amount of RFI signals being used that may interfere with your electronics. This issue will continue until FCC tightens their regulations. You see statements in manufacturers manuals and spec sheets all the time saying this product may interfere with things etc.... This is what we are dealing with here. You may not be bothered with this problem - I certainly was ... I still have the RFI issue big time especially when camping off the power grid and using my exterior OTA Antenna...
I am running over three years now using my EBAY/CHINA stick up boards and have only one board with a three LED segment strip that is not working.
Just some of my thoughts on LEDs
Roy Ken
Linear Mode
