LED Lighting Conversion

[daveb]

Originally Posted by John & Dana

Adventurduo,

A florescent lights puts out about 90-95 lumens per watt of electricity used. Most LEDs put out between 60-70 lumens per watt. However the LED light is more focused so the usable light is very similar.

John

John each of my florescents pull 1 amp per fixture. So you're saying to get the same light that many LED's would pull the same? I figured much less.
Dave

[John and Dana]

That is my understanding from the information I found on the Web. Keep in mind that the florescent bulb radiates its light in all directions and some of that goes against the back of the fixture so the LED may put out more usable light. It didn't seem to me that there was much to be gained by swapping the florescent fixtures.

If anyone has more information on the comparison between florescent and LEDs I would love to hear it.

[jage]

John, awesome post. I ordered LEDs per your list. Since I have rewired my rear light to be 3-way I just got all HP6 boards. I also got the cigarette lighter plug in flashlight (last item in Auto) to test. It came to $136 shipped.

[daveb]

Originally Posted by John & Dana

That is my understanding from the information I found on the Web. Keep in mind that the florescent bulb radiates its light in all directions and some of that goes against the back of the fixture so the LED may put out more usable light. It didn't seem to me that there was much to be gained by swapping the florescent fixtures.

If anyone has more information on the comparison between florescent and LEDs I would love to hear it.

John can you do an amp check? I just can't believe your new LED's pull that much. I'll check my incandescent bulbs to see what they pull. Being a little headlamp can run for hours without changing the 3 AAA batteries my bet is your new setup pulls way less than the florescents. Of course the ammount of light will vary Iwould think because how florescents radiate.
Dave

[Greg In Austin]

We have been talking about updating some of our lights to LED, but have been hesitant because everything is so new.

We will be doing some non-scientific testing this weekend to see how well our batteries hold up with normal activity and use of existing setup and components.

THis post has been very helpful and will be referenced as we decide what to change.

[John and Dana]

Dave,

I took the numbers for current draw directly from the spec sheet on the www.superbrightleds.com web site. I am not sure how I would measure current draw because with the bulbs installed I have no access to the wiring or electrical connections.

John

[daveb]

I take it you don't have any kind of battery monitor then. My Xantrex shows me what I'm drawing. Scarry to think that those florescent lights pull so much. Turning on 3 of them is the same as running my endless breeze fan on high. It's easy to see why 4-D house battery can be pulled down so fast if you fall asleep and leave a couple of lights on all night.

[jage]

I think there are two issues.

1. Actual draw of the flourescent lamps: if amps to lumens is the same for the flourescent lamps and the leds, how many LED boards would it take to pull as many amps, and therefore put out as much light.

2. Fixture replacement: I don't see anything as easy as popping a few 9x dome lamp boards in, you're looking at deconstructing the current fixtures or creating something new. (Like this on Ebay) and even then I worry about them looking bad (stains and tons of extra screw holes in my van).

Still, I have left my flourescent front PH light on for an entire day- that killed my batteries almost totally.

[jage]

Nothing like having all the part numbers lined up. Here is my conversion, I pretty much copied John & Dana's, so I'll mostly cover the differences:

My switch is three way converted so I used 3 of the brighter LED bulbs.


On the outside bulb I found corrosion. I don't want to ruin the LED board, so I have to figure out where the water is getting in.


Ah, I think I found the problem- the stock bulb melted the housing AND the lens. Brilliant.


I made a hanger/clip out of 302 stainless welding wire, and a good thing too because I put the wrong board in the first time.


A little electrical tape to keep things from contacting, and we're good to go.


I also bought the cigarette lighter/flashlight ($14.95) from SUPERBRIGHTLEDS just to try it out. It glows a pretty fierce red while charging, and is only about an 1" long. It seems to work great for an emergency light, and if the red LED goes out once it's fully charge I'll be a lot happier with it.


For the inside lights I cut tabs out of one of those plastic collars that holds two gallons of apple juice together at Costco. They were trimmed a bit for each light, as the inside of the lights themselves are not evenly made.


Here are the tabs in place on the rear light. The front was done the same with the other two tabs.

John & Dana, I can't thank you enough for making this as simple as buying the (mostly) same lights as you. Thanks again for the writeup!

[Greg In Austin]

Jage,

Do you think we can get a group-buy on Costco Apple-juice so we can fabricate tabs? ... or could it be that yo umight market the tabs you made?