Led lights

[Enaud-c]

I was wondering it the cheep 921 replacement bulbs are as good as the more expensive ones yoou can buy.

[TURBS]

meaning the led version of the 921 ?

LED Lights, Bulbs & Accessories - SUPER BRIGHT LEDS

[Enaud-c]

Exactly

[SaskCampers]

I tried a couple cheap ones and one of them shorted and blew the fuse for the bedroom lights.

[TURBS]

The biggest issue is the difference in the lights hue.
Leds commonly have a different (type) of light.
Some people don't like it. I like the led smd replacements I have.

[Wildcat Chris]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

The biggest issue is the difference in the lights hue.
Leds commonly have a different (type) of light.
Some people don't like it. I like the led smd replacements I have.

If you're concerned about the harsh color/brightness of LEDs, stay away from "super bright" or "bright white" designations and look for "warm white." Those will be a closer color (called temperature for lighting) to the incandescent or halogen lighting most RVers are used to...

[The_Stuff]

i made the mistake of first trial order of "super brights" which were blueish. looked good over the white christmas tree but that was it.

Ordered some "warm white" lights and those are about what was in there. only thing is they seem a bit dimmer..

[Makoto]

I have been happy with these from the seller on eBay: "scintiluna_led" The seller even replaced a bad one free of charge including shipping for me without having to return the bad one.

Wedge T10 LED 230 Lumen Warm White 3 Watt Tower Lamp Bulb 12V AC DC Boat RV Car | eBay

[Taranwanderer]

I would say there's three things to look for: first, as already mentioned, the color: look for "warm white" or if it's listed in Kelvins, something in the 3K to 4K range, higher than that starts to get bluish. Second, look for light output: a standard 921 bulb has an output around 250 lumens, so if you want something bright as the stock, shoot for something in that range. Lastly, look for a LED that emits light in all directions. Some of the cheaper 921 replacement LEDs are flat panel or "ping pong paddle" shaped, but they only throw the light "down," not "out" (in an overhead application, for instance.) Most of the overhead fixtures are designed to have light shine/reflect out to the sides, but it has to be that kind of bulb or LED. Good luck!

[Enaud-c]

Thanks got all the good info everyone.

[SinkorSwim]

Definitly figureing out that not all LEDs are created equally. I have a G4 pancake style LED replacement that I am very happy with but the 921 replacements I ordered from a different vender are horrible.

The 921's from LED4RV.COM were listed as a warm white but are actually a pretty ugly harsh white I certainly would not recommend them.

From hero-ledstore.com I got 6, 9 and 15 LED warm white G4 replacements and the color is pretty much indestiguishable from the halogens. Part no's LB-12SG46S, CA-C12SG49S, LB-12SG415S price was $5/$7/$11 per bulb. The 6's even fit in the tiny ceiling lights at the back of my 378. They are also good for the reading lights over the bed without creating too much glare for watching TV. We are still playing with the 9s vs the 15s. The 9s seem a little dimmer than the stock 20W halogens, but we think we are okay with that. The 15s(which are listed as a 35W halogen equivalent) are great for over the sink/stove. We are going to live with them for a while but I may end up subbing out the 9s over the couch with 15s. Note that these are one sided pancakes, no LEDs on the back side, but they seem to work well anyways.

Still have to solve the 921s.....Makoto did you do a a side by side color comparison with the led you listed above? Really trying to stay in the yellow hue rather than a stark white. Any1 else found a specific T10 with a good color? Trying to avoid any more $150 experiments......

[Makoto]

Originally Posted by SinkorSwim

Still have to solve the 921s.....Makoto did you do a a side by side color comparison with the led you listed above? Really trying to stay in the yellow hue rather than a stark white. Any1 else found a specific T10 with a good color? Trying to avoid any more $150 experiments......

The ones I referenced are a slightly tad whiter (about 3000 kelvin) than the incandescent 921s which are around 2500-2700 kelvin in color temp as I recall. Next time I go out to the RV I will pop an incandescent one back in and do a side by side photo. The wife says she could not tell any difference to her eyes. All 29 LED fixtures in my trailer turned on at the same time now pull barely one amp altogether.

[SinkorSwim]

Perfect. Thanks for letting me know, off to order those.

[bean]

The cheap LED lights use a simple resistor to limit the current to the LEDs.
The more expensive ones use a "constant current" circuit.

The difference is that with the resistor the LEDs brightness depends on the battery voltage. If the battery is 13.6V they will be really bright (in fact usually they have too much current and this leads to LED failure). When the battery drops 12V they are dimmer and at about 11V they are very dim.

The the constant current type, the brightness stays exactly the same from 16V down to about 9V. They use less amps when the battery voltage is high, and more amps when the battery voltage is low.

If you've ever had a LED bulb go bad well before the 50,000 hour life, I bet you it was the type with just a resistor.

Bean

[New2Rvs]

I just replaced 18, 921 bulbs with Warm White LEDs from Amazon. I ordered a few different LEDs and settled on these LEDs from LedWholesalers.com. The LEDs are whiter than the 921 bulbs they replaced but not as white as other LEDs I tried. The 921 builds look amber color compared to the LEDs. So far I'm happy with the LEDs and the reduced current (115 mA vs. 1.5 Amps) and cooler operation.

I purchased the LEDs on Amazon for $8 each (no shipping and no sales tax with Amazon Prime). The LEDs were T10 LED 104 Wedgebase, 15 SMD LED 1.44 Watt 105 Lumen Warm White.

If you have Amazon Prime, I would suggest ordering one or two of the LEDS and see if you like the results.

[jwittenberg]

I just ordered one of these eBay - Wedge T10 LED 230 Lumen Warm White

I like it and will order more.

thanks SinkorSwim and Makoto

[extremebike]

Originally Posted by Wildcat Chris

If you're concerned about the harsh color/brightness of LEDs, stay away from "super bright" or "bright white" designations and look for "warm white." Those will be a closer color (called temperature for lighting) to the incandescent or halogen lighting most RVers are used to...

Chris

Are you planning on selling the LEDs on the new trailers as a indoor/outdoor kit so us early adopters can take advantage of all the research already done by Forest River?

[alphadog99]

Originally Posted by bean

The cheap LED lights use a simple resistor to limit the current to the LEDs.
The more expensive ones use a "constant current" circuit.

The difference is that with the resistor the LEDs brightness depends on the battery voltage. If the battery is 13.6V they will be really bright (in fact usually they have too much current and this leads to LED failure). When the battery drops 12V they are dimmer and at about 11V they are very dim.

The the constant current type, the brightness stays exactly the same from 16V down to about 9V. They use less amps when the battery voltage is high, and more amps when the battery voltage is low.

If you've ever had a LED bulb go bad well before the 50,000 hour life, I bet you it was the type with just a resistor.

Bean

How much should a constant current 921 replacement cost? I've seen LED prices from $8 to $30.

[OffPavement]

Today I got a set of these and have installed and ordered another set already. Called warm white with 36 led's per "bulb", kit comes with 3 different plugs for various applications including a 921 base. At less than $4.50 each including shipping, I think they are a pretty good deal when ordered in a group of 10.

[Mad4sax]

Originally Posted by Wildcat Chris

If you're concerned about the harsh color/brightness of LEDs, stay away from "super bright" or "bright white" designations and look for "warm white." Those will be a closer color (called temperature for lighting) to the incandescent or halogen lighting most RVers are used to...

After reading all of the LED postings on this forum I must be the only one that likes the white LED. (~5000K). I think the "regular" bulbs are so yellow.
I think the white LEDs are more "sunlight" and natural looking.

But I believe no one else out there likes them like I do.