Fluorescent bulb to LED - Page 2

**BroncoHauler** · 04-02-2015, 07:47 AM

I like the tool battery idea too. I think most LEDs will comfortably run off 12-24V, so a tool battery should be perfect.

Herb

boywonder · 04-02-2015, 08:19 AM

I retrofitted the fixtures with LED strips from Superbriteleds. The center strip is a red LED for night use, the outer strips are warm white. The stock switches were replaced with double throw switches (thanks Herb!) to allow both red and white.

One of the fixtures also has a potentiometer for dimming the LEDs.

IIRC there is a thread somewhere here with lots of LED retrofit info..........

86Scotty · 04-02-2015, 08:28 AM

I'm going the extra step when I redo my penthouse paneling (soon). I plan to run an additional strip of LEDs all the way around the roof panel. It's way too dark in my van with every light on. I'll probably switch it with one of the fixture switches.

Tapatio · 04-02-2015, 09:44 AM

SMB West has ditched fluorescent fixtures in their latest builds. They now use 2" flush mounted LED's. Sorry, forgot to take pics.

gcvt · 04-02-2015, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boywonder

I retrofitted the fixtures with LED strips from Superbriteleds. The center strip is a red LED for night use, the outer strips are warm white. The stock switches were replaced with double throw switches (thanks Herb!) to allow both red and white.

One of the fixtures also has a potentiometer for dimming the LEDs.

IIRC there is a thread somewhere here with lots of LED retrofit info..........

That's a clean setup - nicely done.

4x4sporty · 04-02-2015, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boywonder

IIRC there is a thread somewhere here with lots of LED retrofit info..........

I had this one bookmarked and I think it is where you talk about the switch
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4979&start=30

Hey Viva
Thanks for the tip about the noise I was about to pull the trigger on a set.

boywonder · 04-02-2015, 01:28 PM

Yup, that's it....thanks!

Viva · 04-06-2015, 03:11 PM

Just thought I would post back to say that (with you-all's encouragement) I re-contacted Marine Beam. Since they had not gotten back to me before, I was thinking of just dropping it and going with some other bulbs. That's not my normal inclination, but I have other things on my plate, so... But this thread somewhat re-energized me, so I called back. I was referred to Jeff (I think he's the mastermind there).

He had some ideas for a typical culprit, but so far they don't seem to apply. The number one culprit is a dimmer. I don't have any dimmers. The number two culprit is an RV shore power charger, but I have not been plugged in for months. I was, however, plugged in when they first started squealing. However they have continued to squeal even when I am not plugged in, have no other DC circuits online (including after dark so solar panel is not a factor). Also, he said that if the charger does damage the bulbs, it typically makes them burn out (not squeal).

Jeff suggested I measure for "ripple" (even when not plugged in to AC) (I have no inverter). I will do that.
He also thought it would be interesting for me to plug in and see if there is any ripple then, but I'm not sure I will get a chance to do this (with the original charger) as I am about to put a new charger/system in. I may be able to "plug in" to a friend's RV that has clean inverter power - will see about that.

If my rig weren't basically a "hard tent" right now, I'd figure there might be any number of things causing interference. But I'm literally living by headlamp until I put my new system in, so things are pretty simple right now (so not too many complicated variables).

The one thing that still sort of mystifies me is that, okay, let's say my original charger did damage the bulbs (because I was plugged in last summer when I installed them). And let's say the damage was done, so even though I'm not plugged in now, they still squeal because they are damaged. But... they only squeal about 80% of the time. Maybe it's possible for there to be partial damage (?).

Marine Beam is going to send me two new bulbs. I am also going to test for "ripple" now. He advised that I set a voltmeter to a low AC voltage setting and then test my DC circuit where the bulb is (hoping to get zero, but he suspects I might have more than zero, which would not be good). If there is something wrong with my system, I don't want to damage the new bulbs. I suppose it's possible there was some flaw with the other bulbs - I would suppose these will be from a different batch at any rate. I'm going to send the squealing bulbs back and they are going to see what they can find - I like that they are curious.

The other thing is that I think many people can't hear this frequency. Not that I have super hearing (just average middle aged hearing according to tests), but the two friends I had take a listen could not hear it. But then they were both older guys who have some life induced high frequency hearing loss.

I'll keep you all posted. They are a cool company with a lot of nice products so I want to like them (and I do have many of their bulbs on my boat and they are all great - although not these particular bulbs).

sbgrimm · 04-06-2015, 03:56 PM

Here's a video on retrofitting with the adhesive backed LED strips:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAMPQrAu0aI

This was the first mod I made to my SMB, cheap, easy, and effective! (and silent as well).

Brad

boywonder · 04-06-2015, 08:07 PM

Viva: Measuring AC ripple is difficult with a typical voltmeter unless the freq is very low; you really need a scope....perhaps use the "max hold" feature.....