led interior lights replacing halogen

led interior lights replacing halogen - Printable Version

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led interior lights replacing halogen - encantotom - 10-20-2012

hi,

my coach has over 70 of the round halogen puck lights.

the 10w halogen bulb draws about .8 amps dc. (i measured one tonite) the 20w draws 1.6 amps. (hey you could calculate that easy enough as well)

darlene and i like the cool white/bright white color for lighting. so i bought a bunch of the round g4 replacement led's to experiment with and then settled on the one below for the bulk of the fixtures.

it is has 12 5050 led's. it draws 160ma. or .16am.

for the bigger round fixtures i used a 15 5050 led g4 one. this particular one is too big to use in the round puck lights. these bigger fixtures used a 20w halogen bulb. these halogen bulbs get really hot.

the led g4's get hot but nothing like the halogens.

it takes some work to convert. i did the bedroom tonite and had already done the front of the coach. i just have the two bathrooms left now.

once you take the cover off the puck lights (they rotate slightly to come off) then take the old halogen bulb out. then you have to take the reflector out. i used a small curved pick tool to pry it out over the tabs. to make these round leds fit, it has to come out to make space for them.

then the round g4 led has to be modified slightly. take the plastic piece off that is pushed over the 2 pins. it has to come off so it will push completely into the fixture. then with mine i had to trim the leads down. you can decide if you need to do that but i had to on all of mine.

then you can try them in the fixture. you have a 50/50 chance they will work. led's are polarity dependent, and halogen/typical light bulbs are not. so no one paid attention to what side positive or negative was attached to the fixture. if it doesnt work, turn the bulb upside down and you will see if towrks. then if so, you have to take the fixture out of the ceiling and reverse the wires. not hard, just takes time. the puck lights are a tight friction fit, but will come out if you are patient.

the light is as bright or brighter and a clean white light. if you dont like the cool white, you can get the bulbs in the warm light that is closer to the color temperature of the original halogen bulbs.

if i did the math right, with 70 lights replaced and 70x.8=56amps dc. and now is 70x.16=11.2a dc 20% of the original load.

they dim using the dimmers in the coach as well.

btw, i bought the led's on ebay from china. paid $1.78 shipped each.

later

tom

RE: led interior lights replacing halogen - whatsnewell - 10-21-2012

Frankly, Tom, I am more interested in that amazing quilt bed spread Darlene made... Big Grin

How about a few pictures of the entire bedroom for effect!

Seriously, though, it looks like things are coming together in the coach. Those lights came out great! How many more projects to finish?

RE: led interior lights replacing halogen - prairieschooner - 10-21-2012

That is a great looking Quilt! but how about this one?

And here is this years while at the Quilt Show

RE: led interior lights replacing halogen - encantotom - 10-21-2012

Steve those are really nice. I need to set the record straight. That handmade patchwork quilt on the bed I bought in china a few years ago for 30 bucks. It is just temporary. Darlene has designed a custom bedspread that will form fit the bed and is just getting the colors picked now. Though this China one is nice it is no match for what Darlene will make or what Patti made.

I am just getting going again on the coach now that the weather has cooled off. Only in the 90's yesterday. Practically winter.

Tom

RE: led interior lights replacing halogen - prairieschooner - 10-21-2012

I can't wait to see what Darlene comes up with........

RE: led interior lights replacing halogen - Flick - 10-21-2012

Fellas. Both of your wives will be glad to know that my sister owns and runs the quilt store in Spearfish. My sister (also a Patty) will be thrilled to hear that our mini rally includes sisters of the quilt.

RE: led interior lights replacing halogen - rheavn - 01-13-2013

Here is another source for the puck light LEDs. I have not used this source myself. Those who have were pleased.

TIP: Users said cut about 1/8" off prongs to center them in fixture

http://www.miniinthebox.com/g4-5050-smd-6-led-warm-white-60-70lm-light-bulb-ac-dc-12v-2-2-5w_p311436.html#have_

RE: led interior lights replacing halogen - encantotom - 01-13-2013

steve,

i had to do three things.

1. remove the reflector from the puck fixture. (allows a bigger diameter led with more led's to fit)
2. remove the black plastic spacer holding the two prongs apart so the led will fit flush against the fixture socket
3. cut off some of the prongs. i found different suppliers had different length prongs. i just after a few of them knew how long fit and would cut them off.

i am not set on any one supplier because these are ALL coming from china. the USA guys are just marking them up quite a bit.

interestingly enough, i went to a factory where they made led strip lights and such outside of shanghai. it was a fun visit.

we love this style lighting. the other thing i would do (and i did) was to get different ones with different numbers of led's and the two color temperatures (cool and warm) to see how much light and what color of light you like, i experimented quite a bit before i bought enough to do the whole coach. there are different size led's they use as well. (2 different ones with the 5050's being the bigger and brighter). i will post later today pictures of different ones of these as examples.

tom

tom

RE: led interior lights replacing halogen - encantotom - 01-13-2013

here are some pictures. i was trying to get as bright as i could. the one i used was the biggest one i could get to fit in the fixture without filing down the led round substrate.

so i used the one i identify below. you can see the 2 different size led's. the smaller one was not quite as bright. so you cant go just off of how many led's there are. you have to recognize the type of led.

i also replaced the halogen bulbs in the downlights that have glass reflectors in the salon area. i showed which ones i used for that as well. the trick with those is you have to silicone them in or they will not stay in because they are too heavy.

you can also see the reflector that just pops out with a little help from a small bent pick. dont need a reflector because the light is all down now and the heat is a ton less. but...the led's still do get warm.

tom