|
|
01-11-2016, 09:08 AM
|
#1
|
Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bourbon City, KY
Posts: 128
|
DC or AC/DC 12V G4 bulbs?
So I started swapping the G4 halogens in our coach for LED bulbs and the first "test" bulb had a bit of a meltdown.
The Amazon vendor says I should have used 12v AC/DC instead of 12v DC. Is this correct?
Thanks!
__________________
2006 Monaco Knight 38 PDQ HAR-VEE
2010 Ford Flex LTD
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
01-11-2016, 09:34 AM
|
#2
|
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 8,777
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bronccat
So I started swapping the G4 halogens in our coach for LED bulbs and the first "test" bulb had a bit of a meltdown.
The Amazon vendor says I should have used 12v AC/DC instead of 12v DC. Is this correct?
Thanks!
|
Methinks the correct answer is this:
If the light fixtures in your coach are powered by 12VDC you need to use 12V light bulbs in those light fixtures, (either "incandescent" or "LED").
If you have any light fixtures powered by 120VAC in your coach you need to use 120VAC bulb(s) in those fixtures , ( either "incandescent" or "LED") in those fixtures.
Mel
'96 Safari
|
|
|
01-11-2016, 09:42 AM
|
#3
|
Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bourbon City, KY
Posts: 128
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by mel s
Methinks the correct answer is this:
If the light fixtures in your coach are powered by 12VDC you need to use 12V light bulbs in those light fixtures, (either "incandescent" or "LED").
If you have any light fixtures powered by 120VAC in your coach you need to use 120VAC bulb(s) in those fixtures , (either "incandescent" or "LED") in those fixtures.
Mel
'96 Safari
|
That's exactly what I thought and why I bought the 12v DC - but it did melt and he does sell both 12vDC and 12vAC/DC
I think this is a specific LED thing and not an consideration with incandescent G4 bulbs but I am clearly a bit in the dark on the subject ( )
__________________
2006 Monaco Knight 38 PDQ HAR-VEE
2010 Ford Flex LTD
|
|
|
01-11-2016, 10:12 AM
|
#4
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Anacortes, WA (Stick & Brick)
Posts: 2,643
|
LEDs are real diodes - one-way current flow. Did it light up before it melted? If your lights are on an inverter circuit that isn't "smoothed", LEDs may have a problem.
I don't understand the nomenclature AC/DC for an LED, unless it has two diodes in a single enclosure wired in opposite polarity or maybe an electrically stronger diode that can withstand the negative half of the AC waveform.
__________________
Frank Damp -Anacortes, WA,(DW- Eileen)
ex-pat Brits (1968) and ex-RVers.
|
|
|
01-11-2016, 10:19 AM
|
#5
|
Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bourbon City, KY
Posts: 128
|
Hi Frank
One ran for 5 hours or so prior to melt down, the other made it overnight.
__________________
2006 Monaco Knight 38 PDQ HAR-VEE
2010 Ford Flex LTD
|
|
|
01-11-2016, 10:42 AM
|
#6
|
Member
Triple E Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 36
|
I've had a similar experience. Automotive bulbs are designed for voltages up to 16 volts whereas bulbs intended for household use rely on an accurate power supply - 12 volts exactly. If you use 12v bulbs in an rv you will be running them over their intended voltage. A 12v ad/dc bulb will handle a peak voltage of about 16 volts, because AC voltage is measured at its RMS value, and peak voltage is about 1.4 times that value. The better LEDs have a more substantial regulation circuit built in.
|
|
|
01-11-2016, 10:43 AM
|
#7
|
Senior Member
Holiday Rambler Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 226
|
This makes NO sense to me.
12 A/C? In a RV? A/C stands for alternating current which is not going to play well with a LED (which stands for light emitting diode). Diodes are used to permit current to flow only in one direction only and block the other.
Maybe somebody who owns a RV similar to yours can comment if they have a 12 A/C circuit in their coach.
|
|
|
01-11-2016, 10:51 AM
|
#8
|
Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bourbon City, KY
Posts: 128
|
__________________
2006 Monaco Knight 38 PDQ HAR-VEE
2010 Ford Flex LTD
|
|
|
01-11-2016, 10:54 AM
|
#9
|
Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bourbon City, KY
Posts: 128
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by wajell
This makes NO sense to me.
12 A/C? In a RV? A/C stands for alternating current which is not going to play well with a LED (which stands for light emitting diode). Diodes are used to permit current to flow only in one direction only and block the other.
Maybe somebody who owns a RV similar to yours can comment if they have a 12 A/C circuit in their coach.
|
Does this make sense?
12V AC vs 12V DC - The Garage Journal Board
__________________
2006 Monaco Knight 38 PDQ HAR-VEE
2010 Ford Flex LTD
|
|
|
01-11-2016, 11:04 AM
|
#10
|
Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bourbon City, KY
Posts: 128
|
Best I can tell one of the bulb types is surged protected for running unregulated DC (that will spike) and one isn't that requires a AC/DC transformer to control the flow.
Based on this logic however, the DC would be protected and the AC/DC wouldn't - which seems bass-ackwards from my experience.
__________________
2006 Monaco Knight 38 PDQ HAR-VEE
2010 Ford Flex LTD
|
|
|
01-11-2016, 11:12 AM
|
#11
|
Senior Member
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 242
|
Bronccat, please post how the 12 ac/dc work, if you go that route. I tried replacing my halogen with the G4-9 SMD disk. I have several that the diodes flicker on and I'm not big on the straight down direction of the light in the kitchen area. They are fine in all other areas if they don't flicker.
__________________
Tom Sawyer
2010 Ventana 4333, Spartan w/Cummins ISC 360HP
|
|
|
01-11-2016, 11:20 AM
|
#12
|
Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bourbon City, KY
Posts: 128
|
__________________
2006 Monaco Knight 38 PDQ HAR-VEE
2010 Ford Flex LTD
|
|
|
01-11-2016, 11:27 AM
|
#13
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 421
|
If your lights are powered off of the house batteries, then the current is 12 v DC and a standard LED buld should work perfectly. If You're operating off of shore power that's been converted to 12 v and not the batteries, then it's AC power and a regular LED won't work, you need one that's capable of running on AC power. AC/DC bulbs will run on either DC or AC.
|
|
|
01-11-2016, 11:36 AM
|
#14
|
Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Bourbon City, KY
Posts: 128
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by alvo
If your lights are powered off of the house batteries, then the current is 12 v DC and a standard LED buld should work perfectly. If You're operating off of shore power that's been converted to 12 v and not the batteries, then it's AC power and a regular LED won't work, you need one that's capable of running on AC power. AC/DC bulbs will run on either DC or AC.
|
So when hooked to shore power AC is converted to 12vDC - or it's stepped down to 12vAC (which is why the bulb blew)
__________________
2006 Monaco Knight 38 PDQ HAR-VEE
2010 Ford Flex LTD
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
Search this Thread |
|
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Discussions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|