LED Ceiling lights are burning out

[RCouttolenc]

After one year of traveling in my Ventana LE, ceilings LED lights are burning out one by one; Newmar have them under warranty but they are still investigating the causes.
Has anyone experience the same issue and found any root cause that needs to be fixed?
A dealer replaced 4 while I had it for maintenance at Christmas, but now I have 4 new ones out again. They begin blinking for few days and then the get lit with a very dim light, some go totally black, others don't.

[sbleiweiss]

Happens in our Thor. Have replaced 8 of 17 so far. Easy replacement and DW found them on Ebay for $5 each. Nothing wrong except crappy lights that can't take the beating of driving.

[danleininger]

I’m thinking you have a bad batch of LEDs. I just traded my ‘13 Essex and I never replaced a single LED. Sounds like Newmar needs to replace ALL your LEDs. But I’m guessing that might be a hard sale... Good Luck

[flyboy013]

Over a year, I had about 20 burn out in my MADP. A few months ago, Newmar replace all the puck lights in the coach. Bad batch or design - not sure.

[tom chelbana]

In our 18 London Aire we had 21 ceiling lights burned out in the 1st 9 months. After a visit to Newmar under warranty we had all ceiling lights replaced and this has slowed down the problem but we still lose one a week. Getting quick at replacing them and have purchase the electrical connector to save time. Going back to Newmar in July and see what the plan is then. These LED lights are supposed to have 10K life and it appears to us the lights that are used the most seem to need to be replaced more often. Have some lights that have replaced 4 times in the front of the coach location.
Newmar Man

[LeslieGary]

Add us to the list. We replaced two several months ago and I’m working with Newmar to replace three more. It is worth looking at all lights closely as we thought we had only one bad one, but under closer scrutiny, I found two more with half the LEDs out.

[tomwalt]

I'm assuming you have the coach plugged into camp/home AC power. You can check your LED specs (12V +-) and measure your coach DC voltage when it is on 'shore power' (this could be as high as 14.5V from your AC to DC converter). The coach DC voltage might be too high for the LEDs that are used.
I was concerned about this 10 years ago when I converted to LEDs so I left some lights with higher DC ratings in.

[Renipladlo]

Hmmm, where to start, most of the LED lights we get, residential or RV are made in CHINA, QC sucks. I replaced all my halogen ones in my present RV in 2014 or so, and none of those have failed. So lots of bad ones most likely. What is one to do, work with NM and keep bugging them. I don't have a reference for a good brand, and if the DC voltage supply is too high, that could cause premature failure, so I would take some readings on the circuit, or try a higher wattage one.

[Winemaker2]

Cheap LEDs dont have the high quality control circuits that the better ones have. Charging voltages close to 15V cause the problems.
I started buying higher quality LEDs from SuperBrightLEDs.com and have not had any fail as previous cheap ones have.
When purchading look for ones rated for 10 - 30V.

[RCouttolenc]

Thanks to all, not I do not feel alone, I guess I will try to get several bulbs from Newmar and install them myself from now on...

[veraken]

I converted my fluorescent to LED strip lights. While investigating this project I found that excess DC voltage and fluctuations (greater than 12V) can negatively effect the life of the LEDs. This can occur when powering the lights when driving and the alternator is putting out 14v. I added the following: DC-DC LM2596 Step Down Adjustable Converter Power Supply Module 1.3V-35V which I purchased on Amazon (10 pcs. for $15.00). With this you can adjust to assure a constant output voltage of 12v to the LEDs even if the input voltage is 14v.

[SLS]

Does anyone on this thread use the Hughes Transformer with Surge Protection that is having this LED burnout problem?

SLS

[Canuck53]

Originally Posted by SLS

Does anyone on this thread use the Hughes Transformer with Surge Protection that is having this LED burnout problem?

SLS

Why do you ask?

The bulbs are powered by the 12v circuit.

I like the idea that the lights can not handle the higher voltage 14+v.

[Canuck53]

Originally Posted by veraken

I converted my fluorescent to LED strip lights. While investigating this project I found that excess DC voltage and fluctuations (greater than 12V) can negatively effect the life of the LEDs. This can occur when powering the lights when driving and the alternator is putting out 14v. I added the following: DC-DC LM2596 Step Down Adjustable Converter Power Supply Module 1.3V-35V which I purchased on Amazon (10 pcs. for $15.00). With this you can adjust to assure a constant output voltage of 12v to the LEDs even if the input voltage is 14v.

How do you setup this power supply in a modern RV 12 volt system?