My Mods Blog

[Brownjm]

Hi everyone,
I plan on doing a few different mods on my Jayco X23B Hybrid over the next few weeks/months and I thought I would share what I did and how I did it along with parts list and supplier links. Some, if not most, of the mods done are from ideas that other owners have put here on the forum. I have already benefited and appreciate the info others have posted on here so I am just “paying it forward”. With most of these there will be more than one way to do them; I am just going to show how I did it.
Jeremy B.

[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.
P.S. I have no connection or relation to any vendors or links that I use on my post.

[Brownjm]

I wanted to have LED’s in my interior light because they use less amps, run cooler & last a lot longer than incandescent bulbs. The bulbs in the lights are a 921 automotive bulb. So again I went to Ebay to search out a LED replacement. I found some that weren’t too expensive and I thought I would give them a try. Well I forgot to pay attention to what the lumens were for the 921 bulb compared to the LED replacement I had found. Needless to say I was very disappointed with the low lumens I was getting from the LED’s. The 921 bulb has lumens of 263 initially but then drops to 105 once the bulb is “broke in”. So it was back to the hunt for a suitable LED replacement. I have found another LED option and hope to receive it soon. Once I have these new ones installed I will let you know what happens. Below is a comparison between the 921 and my first LED replacement.

[Tunce the traveler]

Thanks for that one I really need that one for driving in the fog or rain going down the Pacific Coast.
Keep them coming
Tunce

[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.

[PoohbearT]

Can I ask why you changed your exterior lights? I was interested in switching my interior lighting, for coolness and saving battery power when not on a site with electricity, however wasn't so concerned about the exterior lights?

[Brownjm]

Originally Posted by PoohbearT

Can I ask why you changed your exterior lights? I was interested in switching my interior lighting, for coolness and saving battery power when not on a site with electricity, however wasn't so concerned about the exterior lights?

A couple of reasons; one I don't have to worry about the bulbs burning out (happens a lot on a cargo trailer I have) and for higher visibility even though I don't plan on driving during the night, its just for those early morning departures. This is something that wouldn't be "high" on my priority list, I just did it first because it was real easy to do.
Jeremy B.

[PoohbearT]

Thank you! Unfortunately, most times I leave on a trip I arrive at night, so your exterior mod might make sense for me as well. I hadn't thought of looking at the bulbs when I purchased the trailer, and when I got it home, was surprised they weren't LED.

[SkyBound]

Do those LED panels stick onto the metal heat shield with an adhesive backing? And does the colour of the light compare to the original? It looks pretty close from the picture.

[Brownjm]

Originally Posted by SkyBound

Do those LED panels stick onto the metal heat shield with an adhesive backing? And does the colour of the light compare to the original? It looks pretty close from the picture.

They already have a 3M adhesive foam backing on them and I just stuck them to the heat shield. The color of these are a little whiter then the 921 (ie they don't have the deep yellow hue that the 921 bulb has). I would say they resemble more of a daylight color (Pure White - 3500-4000K) but not the (Cool White - 6000K) color that has the "blue" hue. Its hard to see in the photo, but it is noticeable in person.

[Brownjm]

It is really hard sometime to describe what color or temperature a white LED is. So I have posted a couple of photos that might help everyone out. As a point of reference an incandescent bulb (like the 921 automotive bulb) will be in the 2800K temp range. I hope this helps!
Jeremy B.

[SkyBound]

Thanks. I'm looking into doing this mod myself. I have been looking around and found these LEDs below, but I can't figure out what the difference is between the two products or which one I need. Any help?

http://www.amazon.com/24-3528-Bulb-S...pr_product_top

http://www.amazon.com/GRV-24-3528-Su...FZA9Z2KH3WKDQE

[Brownjm]

Originally Posted by SkyBound

Thanks. I'm looking into doing this mod myself. I have been looking around and found these LEDs below, but I can't figure out what the difference is between the two products or which one I need. Any help?

http://www.amazon.com/24-3528-Bulb-S...pr_product_top

http://www.amazon.com/GRV-24-3528-Su...FZA9Z2KH3WKDQE

Being that I have not used these I can't say if they are good or bad other than based on the information that Amazon has provided.

The first one is not a good one based on the fact of the low Lumens (how bright) that one is (95-100 lumens). It is less than half as bright as a 921 bulb.

The second one they don't give a Lumens number but people are commenting that they thought it was about as bright or close to the ouput of the 921 bulb.

Personally I would stay away from any LED replacement unless they specifically give you an Lumens number. And if they do, I would get something that was 220 or higher. Then it's just a matter of which tempature of white you prefer.

[Owen Stubbs]

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.

Hmmm... I was asking about a different led replacement bulb

and in that thread, it was mentioned that a panel with 48 leds would be needed to achieve the lumen output of a 921. Are these really that close to the output of a 921 with only 20 leds?

Second question - did you replace your tail/stop/turn lights, or just the markers?

[SkyBound]

From the research I have done it is easy to obtain the same lumens as a 921 with a 20 LED bulb. In fact, the more expensive ones are brighter (>300 lumens) with 20 LEDs.

I just ordered 20 replacement LED bulbs for less than 50 dollars and they are apparently 90% as bright as the original 921s. I don't like bright lights anyway, and for the price you can't go wrong.

[Brownjm]

Originally Posted by Owen Stubbs

Hmmm... I was asking about a different led replacement bulb

and in that thread, it was mentioned that a panel with 48 leds would be needed to achieve the lumen output of a 921. Are these really that close to the output of a 921 with only 20 leds?

Second question - did you replace your tail/stop/turn lights, or just the markers?

You don't necessarily need 48 LED's to get the lumen output of a 921 bulb. It depends on the size of the LED. It's like trying to get the same light output from one mini-light bulb from a string of Christmas lights to equal the output of a 60W light bulb. Yes you can get the same output but it takes a lot of the mini-bulbs to get there. Same is true with LED's. So yes 20 LED's of (5050 size) could match the output of 48 LED's of (3528 size). If you get the one from Amazon let me know how they work. If they truly are 410 lumen each (I would ask them) that would almost be twice as bright as a 921 bulb.

No I haven't done my tail/stop/turn lights yet. I haven't found any that was comparable to the ones offered Command Electronics. I think I may need to bite the bullet and just pay the $58.00 (includes shipping and sales tax). Besides this is a safety item and I would sure hate for it not to work while I was traveling.

[Owen Stubbs]

For the price, I went ahead and pulled the trigger. If they are not what I expected, I can always return them and pay a modest restocking fee.

So there is no single bulb LED replacement for the tail/stop/turn lights?

[Threebutchers]

Thanks for the source on the clearance light LEDs. Were the lens hard to pop off?

Mine have dirt / water leaking into them and I might as well replace the bulbs when I get around to cleaning them.

[spoon059]

Originally Posted by Owen Stubbs

So there is no single bulb LED replacement for the tail/stop/turn lights?

Its pretty hard to get adequate lighting out of a replacement LED bulb. Regular light housings are designed to reflect a halogen bulb, which throws out equal lighting in a 360 degree pattern. LED's are directional and throw light in a smaller and more focused beam.

For the best light output without wasting power, you want LED's in a specifically designed housing with appropriate optics. It is more money to buy, but the output is incredible.

My father-in-law has an Avenger with the standard halogen Bargman style lights. The "reflector" is more or less a flat piece of shiny metal heat shield. One light appears much brighter than the other. On my old RV, I replaced my Bargman light with a generic trailer LED stop/turn/tail from Harbor Freight tools. The lights are VERY bright and can be seen day or night. I'm one of those guys that drives with lights on all the time. When we camp in a group and caravan together, it is very easy for people to find me because my taillights are so bright.

[Brownjm]

Originally Posted by Threebutchers

Thanks for the source on the clearance light LEDs. Were the lens hard to pop off?

Mine have dirt / water leaking into them and I might as well replace the bulbs when I get around to cleaning them.

No problem! My HTT is brand new so they weren't hard to take off. Just use a large standard screw driver on the ends (there is a small slot in the middle) to pop the lenses off. Mine were a little difficult because they got caulk in the seams and then pressed the lenses on thus almost gluing the lenses on.

BYW Threebutchers very nice mods and gear section that you have put together.