LED dome lights

[padlin]

Couldn't you ask ETI?

[cpaharley2008]

They are closed right now, thought a forum member could answer the question.

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

They are closed right now, thought a forum member could answer the question.

My neighbor received a new 19 one month ago, and yes, it was constructed using pancake lights with replaceable bulbs. They’re really nice, too. The larger ones have two bulbs and a 3 position switch allowing off, one, or both bulbs on.

[Eggscape]

I find that the replaceable led discs/plates run real hot as they are not attached to a heat sink. We will see how long they last. I like that you can select one or both sides.

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

My neighbor received a new 19 one month ago, and yes, it was constructed using pancake lights with replaceable bulbs. They’re really nice, too. The larger ones have two bulbs and a 3 position switch allowing off, one, or both bulbs on.

Would it be possible to post a picture of the new fixture?

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Pat: We are talking about just the newer LED lights that have the diodes hardwired in. You should be fine and can ultimately replace any bulbs if needed. The good news is that it sounds like Escape went back to lights where a bulb can be swapped. I believe this issue is only affecting trailers 2017-2018.

Thanks Dave ! Good to know .Pat

[Micheal K]

In a previous post I mentioned I was going to try an inline resistor. This would have to be installed in each fixture by unsoldering the power lead and soldering in the resistor between the power lead and the pcb. Not a great solution, but may be of interest to some on the forum.

Quick summary of the results is that a 5 ohm resistor will reduce brightness by about 10% at 12Vdc, but will also reduce power dissipation in the current limit to a value at 14 Vdc that is similar the stock value at 12Vdc.

I don't have a light meter so I used a phone app to measure lux. The absolute values won't mean much but are probably ok for comparison purposes.

[wetzk]

If anyone is interested here is how the two that were not protected by installing a DC-DC boost buck converter were done. I repaired 3 of the bad boards and added the regulator to them too.

A L7812 regulator and a 1N4007 diode were used to prevent voltage from rising above 12v. The positive lead was lifted from the board and attached to the regulator. A diode was used to protect against possible reversed voltages. If you do add the diode you could jumper the D1 diode on the board to eliminate the voltage drop since it is no longer needed. Common was soldered to the negative connection and Vout from the regulator was soldered to the positive connection on the board. The L7812 does not need a capacitor added across the positive and negative connection to prevent pulsing of the LEDs. If you use a regulator with a lower voltage drop it may need it so it is shown in the drawing. Tom from Texas used a different regulator so he has the parts needed in his post. Thermal tape was used to attach the regulator to the heatsink. ( Thanks Tom ! ) It had to be sanded and cleaned with acetone to remove whatever was on it so the tape would stick.

This is one that had 3 LEDs replaced. They were flickering so 3 good ones from another board were used to replace them. 3 boards were repaired that way. Can you tell which 3 LEDs on the board were replaced?

The removed LEDs should have been saved to test as odds are only one in each bank was actually bad. Since they were wired in series they act like Christmas tree lights used to. One failure affects the other 2.

Edit, that reflection in the heatshield was the sky. It became a toad strangler shortly afterwards.

[Eggscape]

I remembered that I did a 27 hour smoke test at 14.55 volts of my favourite LED COB bulbs that I use in most of my modified lights.

Today I did a test and found that the voltage to the COB is regulated to 9.7 volts with an input voltage ranging from 11 to 15.5.

Not bad for a $2 bulb from China.

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

I forgot about the separate fuse for the fridge control board. That would be the place to install a small voltage stabilizer if it needs one and leave the 20/30 amp circuit as it is.

edit: Ed (Eggscape) types faster than I do! That wire is definitely the place to do it.

So what size converter would be right to protect just the circuit board in the fridge, and should it be boost/buck or just buck?

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

So what size converter would be right to protect just the circuit board in the fridge, and should it be boost/buck or just buck?

I would use a boost buck - it would keep the fridge going even if the battery went a little low. A 6 amp should be plenty.

Do a search for 12v voltage stabilizer - below is an example:
https://www.ebay.com/p/8-40v-to-12v-...7200522&chn=ps

Keep in mind - we don't know if a voltage stabilizer is needed for the fridge control board. If it can handle the higher voltages from a solar charger, I would leave it alone.

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

I would use a boost buck - it would keep the fridge going even if the battery went a little low. A 6 amp should be plenty.

Do a search for 12v voltage stabilizer - below is an example:
https://www.ebay.com/p/8-40v-to-12v-...7200522&chn=ps

Keep in mind - we don't know if a voltage stabilizer is needed for the fridge control board. If it can handle the higher voltages from a solar charger, I would leave it alone.

The manual for our Dometic RM2554 fridge says voltage range is 9.5-15V. We routinely exceed 15V while charging with our solar system. I’ll be looking into voltage stabilization at 12V!

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

The manual for our Dometic RM2554 fridge says voltage range is 9.5-15V. We routinely exceed 15V while charging with our solar system. I’ll be looking into voltage stabilization at 12V!

Oh well, I guess I will need one too as my solar charger routinely goes up to 15.3v and 15.6v when equalizing. Between modifying the LED lighting, adding voltage stabilizers to the fridge and Maxxfan, what else? Oh, I have a very expensive power awning that runs on 12v. I guess that will be the next research project.

[CarinaPDX]

@tdf-texas: As I mentioned earlier, why wouldn't you just switch to gel batteries and stop using those high voltages? It seems preferable to adapting all of the 12VDC devices to an 11V-16V range. Or one might even revert to flooded batteries and turn off the DC panel when equalizing, which shouldn't be done very often in any event. It all seems more like an excuse to tinker (nothing wrong with that - I am gutting all of my compact fluorescents and installing LEDs instead). For those that aren't EEs or technicians it would certainly be better.

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

@tdf-texas: As I mentioned earlier, why wouldn't you just switch to gel batteries and stop using those high voltages? It seems preferable to adapting all of the 12VDC devices to an 11V-16V range. Or one might even revert to flooded batteries and turn off the DC panel when equalizing, which shouldn't be done very often in any event. It all seems more like an excuse to tinker (nothing wrong with that - I am gutting all of my compact fluorescents and installing LEDs instead). For those that aren't EEs or technicians it would certainly be better.

Two Interstate AGM GC2 batteries are going to cost about $360. My current batteries are only two years old and not due for replacement. Interstate recommends the absorption voltage for gel as 14.46 volts so that is still too high for the LED lighting and borderline for the Maxxfan.

Now, all the mods to the electrical will cost less than $100, let me keep my current batteries, and resolve the high voltage issue. To me, this is a no brainer.

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

Two Interstate AGM GC2 batteries are going to cost about $360. My current batteries are only two years old and not due for replacement. Interstate recommends the absorption voltage for gel as 14.46 volts so that is still too high for the LED lighting and borderline for the Maxxfan.



Now, all the mods to the electrical will cost less than $100, let me keep my current batteries, and resolve the high voltage issue. To me, this is a no brainer.

Also, a solution that involves having to shut off the DC completely every time solar goes into absorption stage is a non-starter solution.

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by tdf-texas

Would it be possible to post a picture of the new fixture?

Here you go

[cpaharley2008]

Good news, looks like Escape went back to their replaceable bulb units, maybe similar to the 2014-2016 models.

[cpaharley2008]

Perhaps we can now address the MaxxFan issue so that the deluxe model will come back. Not sure if their issue is the over voltage one like the lights or change in ownership via the Lippert/Dometic merger and quality control.

[tdf-texas]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

Here you go
Attachment 36456

Ok, I'm stumped. Who makes these? The closest I could find has two switches.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/RV-LED-12v-....c100005.m1851