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Old 12-06-2015, 06:33 PM   #1
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Bright LED lights

We just bought a White Hawk 28BH and love it. The LED lights are great and use less battery. My question is I want to dim the light under the cabinet in the bedroom. Obviously I can put a bulb with less wattage but as it stands, it's like glaring into the sun at night. Are there covers that have tinted lenses or any other suggestions, thx
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Old 12-06-2015, 06:48 PM   #2
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You can't change a bulb with the LED... it is what it is. If its too bright you can put some type of filter on the lens to decrease output.
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Old 12-06-2015, 06:51 PM   #3
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I agree, they are bright. I haven't done it yet, but I thought about just laying a peice of tin foil inside the lense so the light reflects out the sides still but not directly into your eyes while lying in the bed..
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Old 12-06-2015, 07:33 PM   #4
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I will say, whoever decided on the locations of the lights, never spent time in a camper, and never ever slept in one.
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Old 12-06-2015, 10:24 PM   #5
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There are several LEDs in the light fixtures. This is what I found when I popped the cover off.
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Old 12-06-2015, 10:41 PM   #6
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Get a led dimmer.
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Old 12-07-2015, 06:58 AM   #7
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After trying several different materials, I settled on using a paper manila file folder as a filter. I popped the lens out of the cover and used it as a template. I put 2 layers in the ones over the head of the bed and 1 layer in the ones over the sofa. The manila color gives it a more natural, mellow light. I used paper after I realized my LED fixtures barely got warm to the touch.
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Old 12-07-2015, 07:02 AM   #8
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GOOGLE shows one of these that might work for you...

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...itch-box/1180/

I would hate to put something inside the lens area and create heat or something to burn out the LEDs...

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Old 12-07-2015, 07:40 AM   #9
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Get a led dimmer.
I agree. They make dimmers for LED's. I have LED puck lighting under my cabinets and I have a dimmer switch for them. The only thing is, the dimmer switches for LED's tend to be a little more expensive. I paid $23 just for the switch. But...you have o pay to play. Good luck!
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Old 12-07-2015, 07:42 AM   #10
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Just a added note. Not ALL LED bulbs are dimmable.
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Old 12-07-2015, 08:59 AM   #11
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Just a added note. Not ALL LED bulbs are dimmable.
Is this true?

LEDs use Pulse Width Modulation to "dim", and dimmers are wired into the power supply to the element. So in effect, the power to the light is cut off at varying rates to determine brightness. With PWM, it shouldn't matter what kind of element it is, right? I will freely admit I could be wrong, but that's the way I understood it.

Now, color is a different story; not all LEDs can change color.
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Old 12-07-2015, 09:21 AM   #12
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Is this true?

LEDs use Pulse Width Modulation to "dim", and dimmers are wired into the power supply to the element. So in effect, the power to the light is cut off at varying rates to determine brightness. With PWM, it shouldn't matter what kind of element it is, right? I will freely admit I could be wrong, but that's the way I understood it.

Now, color is a different story; not all LEDs can change color.

I think it is. When I installed LED's (using a LED dimmer switch), they didn't work. So I went back to the store and the man working there told me not ALL LED's are dimmable. He said I had to get "dimmable specific" bulbs. He showed me the symbols on the package that declare if the bulb is dimmable or not.
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Old 12-07-2015, 09:49 AM   #13
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I think it is. When I installed LED's (using a LED dimmer switch), they didn't work. So I went back to the store and the man working there told me not ALL LED's are dimmable. He said I had to get "dimmable specific" bulbs. He showed me the symbols on the package that declare if the bulb is dimmable or not.
Good to know! I knew that certain CFL types were not dimmable, but I figured that since PWM bypasses (overrides?) any electronics in the element, it would work regardless. This is something I'll have to look for if I'm installing one that needs to be dimmed.

In fact, the very same lights that the OP is talking about are on my list for an upgrade in the near future. I don't worry about them though because we use small LED table lamps from IKEA in the bedroom, so I really want all the light I can get out of all the ceiling-mounted lights since they're really only on when we're working in there packing or making the bed or whatever.
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Old 12-07-2015, 10:22 AM   #14
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WOW, am I glad that we don't have Jayco installed LED fixtures! :-)

We just replaced the standard incandescent bulbs with different color and wattage LED's, to suit each area of the coach. Seems to be a much more flexible arraignment.
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Old 12-07-2015, 11:25 AM   #15
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WOW, am I glad that we don't have Jayco installed LED fixtures! :-)

We just replaced the standard incandescent bulbs with different color and wattage LED's, to suit each area of the coach. Seems to be a much more flexible arraignment.
+1

At least this way you can choose what you want to install. With the OEM LEDs Jayco is using, you're left with no choice but to replace the entire fixture. Or add lens modifications...
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Old 12-07-2015, 11:55 AM   #16
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+1

At least this way you can choose what you want to install. With the OEM LEDs Jayco is using, you're left with no choice but to replace the entire fixture. Or add lens modifications...
Really? Wow. Glad I don't have them either! Just in my house! LOL
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Old 12-07-2015, 02:21 PM   #17
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Really? Wow. Glad I don't have them either! Just in my house! LOL
Yeah, take a look at the pic in OP's post above (New OEM fixture). If you're going to replace that diode, you're going to be splicing wires or soldering. At least with the old style incandescent fixtures, you can have your choice of replacement diodes. You just have to decide how bright, what color, and how much you want to spend. And they just pop right in in place of the old bulb.

This is my current favorite; I've replaced 3 of my fixtures so far, with plans of getting the rest of the trailer done over time (I gotta budget, I'm no Rockefeller!):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...dp_o_pd_nS_ttl

I started with one set in my main gallery lights (I have 3 main fixtures running down the middle of my trailer's main common area) and DW didn't even notice I had changed the one. The color match and output is an almost perfect match to the original bulbs.

Now, I would say these are too bright to be putting right above the bed in a reading area, but they're great everywhere else IMO. And like I said, I have table-top lamps in that area:

LAMPAN Table lamp - IKEA

I picked up a chandelier-base LED that fits in this lamp at IKEA as well (they cost 7.99, you'll note the lamp only costs 4.99, but it is what it is), and they're the perfect bedside lamps for us. They put out a nice, soft light, plenty to read by, they don't heat up, and they don't glare in your eyes. Granted, they plug in to the 110VAC plugs (not 12V), but we so rarely boondock anyway that doesn't matter to us...

Anyway, that's how we do it, YMMV.
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Old 12-11-2015, 09:54 AM   #18
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So here is my solution. I decided to remove the cover and spray paint the inside with a high heat white paint. This has definitely muted the light output and is much more comfortable for reading in bed. Time will tell if this is a viable solution.
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Old 12-14-2015, 09:07 AM   #19
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So here is my solution. I decided to remove the cover and spray paint the inside with a high heat white paint. This has definitely muted the light output and is much more comfortable for reading in bed. Time will tell if this is a viable solution.
Definitely going to keep that one in the back pocket. I will likely run into a similar problem with my bunk lights. The LEDs I want will probably be just a bit too bright for that particular application. But I like them so much, I'm going to use them anyway and figure out if they're too bright how to mute that later.
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Old 12-16-2015, 05:04 PM   #20
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I had the same problem and posted my solution on an earlier post. I bought a couple of older style dual bulb incandescent fixtures from Amazon. They cost around $12 each. It was easy to remove the led fixture and replace it with these new ones. I bought warm white led bulbs to replace the incandescent bulbs included with the fixture. The replacement fixture allows me to chose between 1 or 2 bulbs and they are not as bright as the factory led.
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