LED lights & dimmer switches

[Dale F]

Had an RV tech replace all my halogen lights in my TS Select yesterday. Amazing difference. Tech said the dimmer switches wouldn't work with the LED lights so he worked around that. We have the knob that turns for dimming. Is his statement correct? Could we have installed another type of dimmer switch that would have worked? More curious than anything else.

[The Driver]

My understanding is that whether LEDs dim or not depends on how they're built. Ones that claim to be dimmable usually cost more.

[rag_ftw]

Ditto what Doug said.
When I replaced mine I left the halogen bulbs in lights around the ceiling mirror.
I did replace the reading lights over the driver/passenger seats with LED bulbs and they still come on automatically when the door is opened. I have noticed that when they start the auto turn off cycle they do dim initially and then flicker off and on until they finally go out.
We have had LEDs for over three years now and are very happy with the performance and especially the low battery drain!

[J Birder]

Actually, all LEDs are dimmable with the right kind of dimmer. A PWM (pulse width modulation) dimmers turn the power on and off at a high enough frequency, that the blinking is undetectable. By reducing the duty cycle (percent on time), the LED is essentially dimmed. BTW, they will also work with incandescent lights.

One problem is that they tend to emit RFI (radio frequency interference) that somewhat interferes with radio and TV signals. PWM dimmers with noise suppression exist, ot they aren't cheap.

Joel

[The Driver]

Actually, I should have said LEDs aren't dimmable using our built-in TS systems unless the lights are marked dimmable. Even then, I've gotten some that dim only in large steps.

[becks]

I guess we got lucky, ours have dimmed just fine in the ceiling mirror for the last four years.

[Mr_D]

Don't know what CC used for dimming in my rig but they work just fine with the new LED's but not as much difference from high to low as the OEM halogens.

[justaroamer]

I have replaced all halogens, incandescents, fluorescents, in my coach (over 80 total). The LED's all are dimmable with the intellitec control switches as they were with the OEM bulbs. Be sure when buying LED's for the ceiling puck lights the you get ones that have a bridge rectifier for them to work properly, as the puck lights were non polarity fixtures.
I previously posted this back in 2013, hopefully this helps some... http://www.irv2.com/forums/f103/led-...ks-153065.html


The bulbs I used for the pucks are 12x 5050 SMD, which is the most one can pack on a disk that will fit the fixture. Some are selling replacements that have only 6 or 9 chips. Of course 12 = more light. The 5050 LEDs are brighter than the 3528 LEDs that many are using. Yes, they dim.
I replaced every bulb in my coach (running lights/tail aready LED). My coach has the intellitec switching system with dimmers and all the LED's dim just as the halogens did. Buying in lots of 100, the puck replacements were $2.53 ea. including shipping. Be sure you get non polarized ones. I used the vendor AprilTang on DHgate. Good people.
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FYI about LEDs.
SMD refers to Surface Mounted Device or Diode.
5050 refers to size of the diode 5.0mm x 5.0mm and respectfully,
3528 refers to 3.5mm x 2.8mm.
The 5050 emits about 3 times the light as the 3528 led.
Polarized means negative to negative and positive to positive connections required to work the light.
Non polarized means can be cross wired and will work either way.
Non polarized is accomplished by the addition of a bridge recifier usually mounted on the back of the board. Some rectifiers are larger than others and may obstruct when mounting in puck lights. The fixture can be removed and re-wired to correct polarity.
Warm white Leds are about 4500 kelvins, where bright whites are about 6500k. Natural white is in the middle, but harder to find. Watch out for the bright whites, brighter light, but bluish light and "cold". The 10w halogens like those found in many RV lights are around 3200K.
The G4 replacements for puck lights are side pins and the bulb cannot be turned around to correct polarity issues as one can with other types of bi-pin bulbs.
Bayonet base leds are polarized, but the bulb fits only one way (1157 double contact) or makes no difference in 1141 single contact.
Most LEDs are dimmable.
Hope this is of use to those converting to LEDs.
I recommend it.

[Gdawgs]

My coach has all LED's and they require a different kind of dimmer that has a leg going to ground in addition to what you see on a regular dimmer switch. Here's the one I used, $40 on eBay.