Community Forums

wheat · 04-21-2021, 10:55 AM

I just purchased my new to me TT, a 2011 Outdoors Wind River 250RLSW.
The interior lights are nice a bright but they are halogen. They get hot to the touch pretty quick and I assume are pulling too much juice for this day and age.

I would like to swap out all the bulbs for LED equivalent, but the last time I did that for a similar home change the chepo LED's from amazon died \ flickered etc.

Any advice?

Kevin_D · 04-21-2021, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wheat

I just purchased my new to me TT, a 2011 Outdoors Wind River 250RLSW.
The interior lights are nice a bright but they are halogen. They get hot to the touch pretty quick and I assume are pulling too much juice for this day and age.

I would like to swap out all the bulbs for LED equivalent, but the last time I did that for a similar home change the chepo LED's from amazon died \ flickered etc.

Any advice?

Don't buy the cheapest bulbs on Amazon.
Spend a little more money and get some decent lamps. Amazon sells those, too. Be sure to check the reviews.
I've managed to get some of both. A little careful research will help you get some reliable lamps at a good price.

JFXG · 04-21-2021, 11:25 PM

First of all, Welcome to iRV2! You’ve come to the right place for folks who know their stuff (hopefully. [emoji23])
Now, your lights. To avoid the problem of cheap LED replacements, don’t buy them. It’s just that simple. Amazon sells a broad selection, and most of them are good. Tomorrow I’ll check the brands I bought. Right now it’s too damn late, don’t want to bother. LEDs will save you money and efficiency, etc, but they do it over time. The conversion itself won’t always be cheap, but it shouldn’t be a bank breaker, either.
What you buy will depend on what you’re replacing. For those little puck lights in the ceiling- round, about 3-4 inch diameter- forget about replacing bulbs, just replace the whole unit. You can buy them online quite reasonably, and they’re made as LED fixtures right from the start. They have spring mounts, so you just make the wire connection and then it just clips into the existing hole. I replaced all the halogens in my 02 coach when I bought it in 2012, about 8 units. Nine years and none have failed.
If you’re changing out fluorescents, don’t waste your time on those so-called replacement bulbs. They’re pricey as heck and just sap your efficiency. Buy a couple of rolls of LED strip lights, take down the fluoro fixture and gut the entire thing. Then stick in two or four LED strips (depending on how bright you want it), reconnect to DC, and you’re back in business.
One caution— when buying LEDs you have to talk about color temperature. They can run you in circles, but just remember warm and cool. For a work area you may want bright lighting. That’s the cool, it’ll be bright, sometimes almost a blue light. For normal living areas go with warm. It’s less bright, maybe a really pale orange cast to it, very much like a normal incandescent bulb. If you put the cool white into your living room it’ll bug you after a while.
Good luck with it, but it’s important to get rid of those halogens!!

wheat · 04-24-2021, 08:23 PM

Thanks for the tips. Color temp is something im very familiar with. I cant stand mixed lighting temps in the same eyeline. So its ALL warm for me.

I just had my first night in the TT. The previous owner "upgraded" two of the lights.. DAYLIGHT... ugh. I have to keep those off or it drives me nuts.

Im handy with a soldering iron and micro controller programming... led striplights here i come!

litzdog911 · 04-25-2021, 11:01 AM

Quality replacements and info here ....
https://m4products.com/

Ray,IN · 04-30-2021, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wheat

I just purchased my new to me TT, a 2011 Outdoors Wind River 250RLSW.
The interior lights are nice a bright but they are halogen. They get hot to the touch pretty quick and I assume are pulling too much juice for this day and age.

I would like to swap out all the bulbs for LED equivalent, but the last time I did that for a similar home change the chepo LED's from amazon died \ flickered etc.

Any advice?

I bought the cheapies from Amazon 3 years ago and replace all the lights inside and outside our MH with LED, so far they all are still working fine. Just make sure you buy 12V bulbs.

MSHappyCampers · 05-02-2021, 11:47 AM

I stripped the guts out of all our ceiling fluorescent lights and put 4 LED strips in each fixture, connected through the switch to the 12VDC source. I used the 5000K strips so the light doesn't have a blue tint.

I replaced a couple of the reading lights with LED bulbs. I haven't done anything with the puck lights, hoping the cost would go down for the good quality LED bulbs.

If you choose to replace the bulbs I would go with M4 Products!

RV-LEDs · 05-03-2021, 06:21 AM

Well here is my two cents worth. In most cases you get what you pay for. If you want LEDs that last buy the latest technology and usually that is not what is sold when you buy those “Good Deals”.Mixing colors is fine if not in the same eyeline. Example; on the ceiling use the warm white, under counter and above cooking area use cool white. The ladies appreciate the cool white in bathroom area when applying makeup. Cool white in basement area and outside. The difference between the cool and warm is the color of the light and not the Lumens. Hope this helps from the guy who knows LEDs