My Mods Blog

[Owen Stubbs]

Originally Posted by Brownjm

LED replacement in Exterior Marker Lights:

Since Jayco hasn’t starting using LED in their exterior lights, I thought this would be a great first mod. There is several different business that sell LED’s and all of them are at different prices. I always try to get what will work at the best price. So for this mod I went to Ebay to search out for LED replacements for the Marker Lights which takes a 194 automotive bulb. I was able to find a vendor who had 194 bulb equivalents (T10) in LED’s. This vendor has a 10pack of the LED’s for $7.10 with free shipping. So I tried these out and I loved them and found that these were going to work perfectly. Here is the link to the Ebay vendor: Click Here. These LED’s are a Cool White (temp color 6,000-6,500K) and are extremely bright. I don’t know what the lumens are for the LED’s but the 194 incandescent bulb is 25 lumens
When installing these or any LED replacement bulbs, you have to make sure you get the polarity correct otherwise they won’t work. You will not hurt the LED’s by putting them in backwards. If they don’t work just pull the bulb out and flip it over and reinsert.
Jeremy B.

I ordered 2 packs (20 pieces total) of these from the same vendor. I received them quickly. Of the 20, 3 worked flawlessly, 6 worked if held in "just the right spot", which is never going to be possible for a trailer bouncing down the road, and 11 didn't work at all.

I will say, of the ones that worked, the light was very bright, and the dispersion was excellent using the existing marker light lens/cap/reflector.

I'm wondering if the issue is the wires on the bulbs... they are hair thin... the plastic tab that inserts into the socket also seems a bit thinner than that on the existing incandescent bulb. Maybe I just got a bad batch. Going to contact seller and see what my options are.

[Owen Stubbs]

Correction - the ones that were not working were due to reverse polarity... they all work, but only half work without the need to hold it just right. They simply are not as snug in the socket as the glass incandescent bulb.

I also took a (blurry) photo with my phone. The center light is the LED... although the light is good, it is obvious by comparison that it is not as bright overall as the incandescent.

[RedHorse1]

I replaced all the interior bulbs in the X23B with LEDs and all the 921 and halogen bulbs in our newer 351. Like Brown says, you need to match the color and lumens to get a good replacement. I shoot for about 3000K color temperature. If you do a Google search with the bulb type you want to replace you should find some specs for both color temp and lumens (brightness). I like to get a replacement LED with a little more lumens than the original bulb since it may dim a bit after the "break in" (again, like Brown says). I've bought all the replacements from ebay and have had good luck so far. I will only buy if the seller specifies the color temp and lumens. If the add reads "warm white" or "direct replacement for a 921" it gets a miss. I also purchase spares "just in case".

[spoon059]

I just got the Bargman LED upgrade kit for mine. A little more expensive at $10 per light, but they work GREAT! I drive with lights on day or night and the LED Bargmans are superbright even in bright sun light!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/Bargman-Lights...6237644&sr=1-3

They have 2 diodes and a reflector meant specifically for the LED modules.

[Brownjm]

Originally Posted by Owen Stubbs

Correction - the ones that were not working were due to reverse polarity... they all work, but only half work without the need to hold it just right. They simply are not as snug in the socket as the glass incandescent bulb.

I also took a (blurry) photo with my phone. The center light is the LED... although the light is good, it is obvious by comparison that it is not as bright overall as the incandescent.

Attachment 14382

Owen, Sorry to hear that the LED's were dimmer than the incandescent bulb. If you still have the bulbs, what is the number on them. Now I am beginning to wonder if my bulbs were just dim to begin with so anything would have made my incandescent bulbs look dimmer.

As far as the other LED's not working, just use a flat bladed screwdriver to pry out the contacts away from the plastic piece. Then reinstall the bulb and it should work. Sometimes there isn't enough contact to keep the bulb in and make a good connection.

[Brownjm]

Originally Posted by Brownjm

Being the first LED attempt didn’t go so well, I worked on finding another LED option. I found one on Ebay and they arrived yesterday. These replacements are LED panels with three different plug-in attachments. They are a little “hotter” than a warm white LED but they are real close and they have a lumens of 280 which is real close to the same amount of light that the 921 bulb emits. So after installing these in one of my interior lights, I was extremely pleased with the amount of light and the “color/temp” of the white LED.

Jeremy B.

*********WARNING!!! DO NOT USE THESE!!!!**********

I just installed these in the rest of the lights and within 10-15min they got so hot that they started melting the solder and they started to fall apart. I'm sorry about this lead and mod. I am going to contact the ebay seller in regarding this issue.

Thanks,

Jeremy