Hi all! Right, I know a lot of new vans have LED set ups rather than halogen. Is anyone aware if anyone is selling/manufacturing the halogen shaped bulbs but with LED banks. If not, wouldnt that be a good idea to quickly convert?
The consumption if I remember the posts is around a 100th of 12V halogen. Id like to convert mine if I ever get stranded without EHU.
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I would try one bulb first. I bought one and when I tried it in the van I was not impressed at all. I took it back to the shop and they gave me a refund. Some led s might be better than others. The power saving might be useful if you go to rallies or certified sites without hook-up.
One advantage is that leds run cooler which is less of a fire hazard.
A white led needs a voltage of 3.3v and current 0f 35mA to 70mA. This means you cant connect direct to a 12v supply.
How To:-
Plus 12v onto a 470Ohm resistor connected to the anode of the LED. The cathode goes to minus or earth (chassis).
You can get LED's in 3mm - 5mm - 7mm, 5mm are the ones you want. They are sold mostly with the resistor over ebay. It is easy to see that these very bright little lamps in camping are just the thing. Ten of these things take less current than a 10Watt car bulb. If you use 'Heat Shrink Sleeving' and some very flexible cable.
If all this is as clear as mud to you, then I couls make a picture of a LED circuit, and post it here for all to review.
yes you do,. the ones pictured in the link above already have the resistors embedded in the base . you just replace the halagen ones direct with led ones
We use led lights of the type mentioned in the reading lamps above out bed as the origonal ran so hot. The ones we have don't have enough output to replace the halogen - looking at the specs of the "ultra LEDS" ones they might.
I think I explained that badly. The reflector type LED bulbs, the one shown in Sean's link being 4 flat-pack LED's with 120° flood, onto a G4 glass base are indeed 12 v. But, they use an 33mA-42mA 'CLD', see my circuit. This 'Current Limiting Diode' would drive up to 30-40 LEDS. You can get up to 60 LEDS in one glass housing, but to put 60 resistors would not fit in. The reason for the CLD is very simple. The LED is not a bulb with a filament, but a 'Semiconductor'. This means that what you are seeing is chip, glowing when current flows. The amount of current is determine by the chip and is quite fine. Between running and its off state, is something like 2mA to 6mA. And between running and destruction is again very fine, something like 10mA. This all means, that 25mA, no light and 40mA destruction.
I was refering to leds in cupboards, in bed lockers etc. For anti germ in the water I have 6 Infra red diods (10 000MCD), and this does work. I hope all helps
Big Mike is really impressive - however I have not got a clue what this means. The bulbs say 12v - so does that not mean they run off a 12v feed. I like the idea of cooler lamps, and power consumption, even on EHU is environmentally friendly eh?
I know a lot of new vans have them now, so I just want to keep mine up to date. The ones we have in now are too bright, so lower warmer lights may be just the trick. I dont read or anything and we've got 'big light' for take a break and stuff!! hehe
Yes they are, Sean. Most have a G4 or GU10 base, and as a camper I would choose the bayonett type GU10 base. Apart from the base and the wattage, two things to remember.
1. Angle, we use 60°
2. colour. above 6000k is bright-white, and 3000k warmwhite.
Have a look at the web site, it will give you some idea.
Have had the reading lights above the bed converted to those, as my oh reads a lot in bed. the normal ones kept me awake, the leds do not. A friend of mine got them from ebay (I think) hope this helps
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Old led bulbs worked on 12 volts, caravans electrics are about 13 .8 volts & you needed a separate rectifier so that it didn't blow the leds.
Over the last few years led bulbs have come with the rectifier included in the bulb, so its a case of remove the halogen or filament bulb & fit the led bulb.
If you don't fancy the blue light that conventional leds give off ask for a warm light led bulb
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Topic: LED lights
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