Converting Halogen Light Fixtures To LED's

[DJTNANG]

I am trying to swap out my old gold halogen ceiling light fixture in the bedroom of my 2004 Vectra with an LED.  I have tried two and cannot get either to work.  any suggestions?   Help...

Thanks

DJ

[CarlAda]

I replaced all of mine with LED.  Where are you getting your lights?  I would recommend looking at M4products.com or cabinbright.com  ... I know you can find them cheaper on EBay and other sites, but these two companies stand behind their products and will ensure that you're using the right products for your coach.

[wayne77590]

I got mine from miniinthebox.com. Yep, out of China, but what the hey isn't everything now-a-days.

[kaypsmith]

Try swapping the positive and negative leads that attach from the coach wiring to the led's, some of the fixtures use black and white and can be misleading. Being LED "light emitting diode", it is an electrical one way check valve, if wired backwards it will not light. Worst thing that can happen is that it won't work either way.

[moonwink]

Yep, swap the wires.  LED won't light if wired backward.

[abyrd]

Never seen halogen lights in a RV,  all halogen light that I have seen run really to HOT for surface mount to the ceiling.

 

Jim 

[jleamont]

DJ, we have 18 Halogen lights in our coach that were converted to LED this year. Kay is correct, if they do not light, flip the bulb around, if you mean you were unable to locate bulbs you need to call Joe at cabinbright. The lights from cabinbright are made in the USA and are dimmable, as with Halogens the dimmable option was great news for us. We never turned them on because they got so hot, now we use them often. My entire interior is converted to LED purchased from Joe. I recently upgraded my turn and brake lamps also and wow are they bright. I have mentioned them before on other posts, great people to work with high quality products. And no I do not work for them , when you meet fellow motorhome people, with innovative high quality products and the owner remembers you the following year at the RV show (and I hadn't made a purchase at that time) you become impressed, or I did anyway.

the link below is for the lights you are referring to;

http://www.cabinbright.com/g-4-bi-pin-base-bulbs/

 

[DJTNANG]

Ok, let me try again. Not sure if they are halogen or incandescent, it is the original fixture that came in the coach. I tried the white to white and black to black with no luck, so I swapped them and went black to white with no luck either. I had my generator running at the time. I looked at the web sites mentioned and did not see any quality light fixtures (don't mean to sound uppity) to put in the bedroom. 

The LED fixture I am try in to use is a residential from Home Depot. 

[CarlAda]

Oh, thought you were just trying to replace the bulbs, not the entire fixture.  Silly question, but is the LED light fixture a 12 volt system?

[DJTNANG]

No, I think that's my problem. The guy at Home Depot said it would not be an issue...me think him wrong ?. Just need to find a quality 12v LED fixture that Momma will like

[wolfe10]

Look on the package.  Many house LED lights and the halogen fixtures that came with halogen bulbs ARE 12 VDC and have a small converter as part of the package.

And, yes halogen bulbs/puck fixtures were common in RV's.

Here is one at Lowes (for homes, but is also 12 VDC): http://www.lowes.com/pd_409778-44513-BO-602-WH_1z0y4gl__?productId=4318662&pl=1

[jengle]

Ditto on M4Products.com.  They are great to work with, and if you mess up, exchanges are quick.  Their website has good descriptions of the lights.  IQuality is top notch, so you won't be replacing defective LED lights.  I changed out all my lights on our 2008 Journey this last month after upgrading to solar & lithium batteries for the house.  I used the Winnebago electrical charts downloaded from Winnebago website to determine the correct bulb types, but you can also match the bulbs using pictures on M4.  Also swapped out all the exterior porch, docking and marker lights.

Replaced a couple of fixture with M4 products too.

J&C

rvbuiltfortwo.com

 

Edited April 25, 2016 by jengle
Edit

[kaypsmith]

Quote

 

Many of the newer LED fixtures at Home Depot, Lowes, and other box stores are designed to be used on 120 volt AC, they have a built in converter from 120 AC to 4 or 12 volt DC, leds use approximately 4+ volts DC that's why you normally see them in clusters of three on a 12 volt circuit.

[abyrd]

I just completed the conversion from florescent to LED,   and  removed the florescent tubes, holders and printed circuit board from the fixture and purchased the 2 rolls of the LED light and connectors from Amazon.  Spent $30 to convert 10 fixtures. 

There is a tread on the forum with all of the information you need to make the conversion.

 

Jim

[jbrunson]

http://kaperii.com/adtemplate.asp?invky=286

 

Awesome commercial grade - $7 a piece - maybe  10 minutes per light to swap out the power hog halogens- more light easier on AC unit and batteries.

Did every single one in the coach a week after we got her home.

 

 

[cauffield]

On 4/25/2016 at 11:54 PM, abyrd said:

Never seen halogen lights in a RV,  all halogen light that I have seen run really to HOT for surface mount to the ceiling.

 

Jim 

I have a 2009 Gulfstream Tourmaster Constellation 45g and at least 1/2 of the lights in my coach are halogen. The Oasis lights, the under counter, the task lights and the 2 dining room lights have 4 bulbs each.I am in the process of changing the small flourescent lights to LED strips that you remove the insides and install led strips in the same fixture. They are great and you do not have all the heat that was produced. Camping World has them on internet sale. I think they were 34.00 per fixture. The F15 T8 lamps are 14.00 to 20.00 a piece. I thought it made good sense. And now I see more LEDs that fit almost anything.

Lex

[deenad]

On 4/25/2016 at 8:54 PM, abyrd said:

Never seen halogen lights in a RV,  all halogen light that I have seen run really to HOT for surface mount to the ceiling.

 

Jim 

Our Magna had over 60 of the halogen puck lights, they had a heavy metal heat sink/reflector. The bulbs themselves carry halogen numbers, the owners manual says they were halogen, the dealer said they were halogen and they even melted into what little vinyl headliner we have as well as melting the plastic bezel. The lenses had to be glass too.