SMB 18 Watt Ceiling Lights

[Angel]

I use a Pezel 4 led head lamp that uses 2 AAA batteries to read in bed. The batteries last for months, no draw on the house battery and the light does not bother anyone else. Of course this is just to easy to be any fun. No installation

Angel

[LenS]

Angle,

That would be another option and an easy one for reading. As I said above I personally do not read in bed. I have tried a head set for fun a few times but have not found them to be satisfactory for me. My glasses have a bi-focal prescription so I am always leaning my head back when I get to the bottom of a page and end up lighting up the ceiling and not the print. But for the right person it would be great.

charlie56,

I think I found the "pucks" you might be using. Looked at Home Depot and they have three pucks powered by 12 volts via 120 volts ac and a step down transformer (I assume). State on the package that 12 volt operation of the lights is a safety feature. The package of three pucks costs about $33. Would be very easy to convert to van use. I think I will get a set to see if they are good for general as well as task lighting. Do you know or have an idea of the power consumed by the puck you are using??

[charlie56]

Originally Posted by LenS

charlie56,

I think I found the "pucks" you might be using. Looked at Home Depot and they have three pucks powered by 12 volts via 120 volts ac and a step down transformer (I assume). State on the package that 12 volt operation of the lights is a safety feature. The package of three pucks costs about $33. Would be very easy to convert to van use. I think I will get a set to see if they are good for general as well as task lighting. Do you know or have an idea of the power consumed by the puck you are using??

I did buy it at Home depot. It just came with a single puck. I think I paid about $21 for it, and threw away the transformer. I got a very small toggle switch at radio shack and mounted it to the fluorescent. I don't recall the exact wattage but just remember it was so small that I considered it as nothing. The only time we use the fluorescent now is to attract all the no-see-ums to one spot where we can smack them. Hardest thing was to snake the wires above the ceiling panel. There is some bubblewrap like material above the panel. If you do this, be aware of where the fold is in the backwall canvas.

[LenS]

You bring up a VERY good point about fluorescent and their ability to attract all those tinny bugs. For the same reason we dislike using them but when we have to. Always try to use the halogens. The penthouse bed is very nice for getting one close to the light and those bugs. You can lay on your back and almost kill them at the rate they are coming in. Almost but not quit. They drive Jo crazy. I close my eyes and don't see them and go to sleep....except when I inhale one. Then I to whack at them for awhile.

Thanks. Your installation looks good and clean. Why should I be concerned about a the canvas?? Are you referring to when the top comes down...that fold??

[charlie56]

Yeah, the canvas fold hits the light. So far it hasn't caused a wear problem but I am keeping an eye on it.

[Scalf77]

Len,
If you really wanted to proceed with this you would have to replace the current OIB (open inverter ballast ) a TL OIB-116 with two TL OIB-115. You could then wire your bulbs separately. The cost of these is around $19.00 a piece. Keep in mind you could replace your current TL-616 with a TL-690 which is the same thing with each bulb separately switched. You get the added bonus of red sleeve to make one bulb night vision ready. That goes around $82.00. These parts can be found at http://www.solarseller.com/thinlite_low ... hting_.htm Secondly if you are willing to spend amount that you might want to look at changing them over to LED with fLEDescent Replacements for Fluorescent. T http://www.prudentrver.com/ledfleds.html.


-greg

[LenS]

Scalf77,

Thanks for all the very good information on those florescent lights.

I did not realize they were 30 watts!! In my pre-penthouse configuration I had 8/16 watt two tube lights and ASSUMED that the new fixtures were also 16 watts.

Dang.....

That ship has sailed. I am not going to replace new fixtures (got my penthouse in March), but wish I had known (more properly THOUGHT) about the possible fixture options:

1. With the TL-690 I would of had a choice of drawing 15 watts or 30 watts of power off of my house batteries when dry camping depending on my lighting needs.

2. Think I would of had REDUNDANCY. If a single tube burned out I still would of had a good 15 watt light in the fixture. Redundancy is good.


It this point in time for me I think I will probably add an addition fixture(s) like Charlie did and use LED's. My cost will will be $34 more per two locations but the LED's would also help with the no-see-ums type bug problem by reducing the florescent light need.

I can now also save some space. I have 3-4 8 watt tubes in drawer as spares. Would have been surprised if I had burned out a 15w bulb and tried to install one of those.

Thanks again for all the info

[Scalf77]

It would have been nice if we were given the option of of the 690 vs 616. Of course it is possible I was, but didn't know better. I do like the fLEDescent approach, but can't convince myself to spend the money. One concern I would have over using puck lights that came with a AC transformer would be their longevity in a "RV 12 volt" world. You may want to think about a regulator to clean up the voltage.

-greg

[lazzboy]

I suggest a headlamp, you never have to reach very far to turn it on/off and plus its entertaining as hell when your carring on a conversation with someone and your blinding them. Its hours of entertainment. Not too mention the fact for those late night piss runs it works great you can direct your stream and know exactly where you aiming (friends tents) Also its the best reading lamp ever. Oh and did I mention women just find them plain attractive.

[charlie56]

Okay, "after further review" I have to recant my earlier post on this subject. The wife liked the LED reading light for awhile because it was less intense than the fluorescent. But it was fixed in one location, and wasn't bright enough when reading in different positions. So the LED has been replaced with a Hella Halogen adjustable reading lamp.



This is the 19-inch model. They also make an shorter model with a red lens that I have installed in the cab. Available on Amazon for about $37 +S&H.

So far "I" like it. I'll let you know if Dina feels otherwise.