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Old 10-27-2018, 05:18 PM   #1
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LED dome lights

Two of our 6 large dome lights have failed since delivery in April. ETI is offering to replace them under warranty. They now use a light that has replaceable bulbs vs the ones I have that require the whole light to be changed. My thought is I don't want lights that fail so quickly and after warranty I will be paying the bill. If the old ones are not good enough for new trailers they are not good enough for me!
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Old 10-27-2018, 05:27 PM   #2
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two of mine flicker or don't have a complete "bar" of light. i guess i'll give a call and schedule replacement in May.
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Old 10-27-2018, 06:36 PM   #3
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I'm glad to hear this, I did not like the idea of non replaceable bulb, so the switch back is good to hear. It can give you a variety of choices for replacement as the bulbs are numerous that will fit.
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Old 10-27-2018, 08:55 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by kfsmith View Post
Two of our 6 large dome lights have failed since delivery in April. ETI is offering to replace them under warranty. They now use a light that has replaceable bulbs vs the ones I have that require the whole light to be changed. My thought is I don't want lights that fail so quickly and after warranty I will be paying the bill. If the old ones are not good enough for new trailers they are not good enough for me!
Would you happen to know the make / model # of the one Escape is using now?
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Old 10-28-2018, 12:28 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by kfsmith View Post
Two of our 6 large dome lights have failed since delivery in April. ETI is offering to replace them under warranty. They now use a light that has replaceable bulbs vs the ones I have that require the whole light to be changed. My thought is I don't want lights that fail so quickly and after warranty I will be paying the bill. If the old ones are not good enough for new trailers they are not good enough for me!
We experienced a failure in one of the dome lights in our old 17, which was also replaced under warranty back in May, so it’s good to hear that for our new 21 there will be a newer light fitting.

I know that from a discussion we had with Reace, he finds extreme frustration with suppliers whose products fail much more often than expected. I know from reading pages of the forum that workmanship failiure by ETI is relatively rare.More often it’s failiure of purchased components that causes bigger issues to ETI and their customers.
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Old 10-28-2018, 08:01 AM   #6
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So this morning a third (3 of 6) dome lights have failed.
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Old 10-28-2018, 08:08 AM   #7
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So this morning a third (3 of 6) dome lights have failed.
Why don’t you contact Reace at ETI and ask him to mail you a new light fixture (s) with instructions on how to change them? I’m sure that they are not that tricky to replace.
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Old 10-28-2018, 08:23 AM   #8
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Please read my first post. It outlines my issues.
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Old 10-28-2018, 08:33 AM   #9
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Please read my first post. It outlines my issues.
But you state if the old ones do not work you are not interested but on the other hand Escape is not using the old ones anymore, but a new style with replaceable bulbs, that is an improvement vs replacing the entire light assembly. Not sure what else you want. You can always replace the lights with your own style, what ever that may be, at your own expense. But Escape is replacing any defective light with a new style light...as you mention.
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Old 10-28-2018, 09:34 AM   #10
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We had a ceiling light fixture in our 2018 fail . I called ETI and they asked me to send a picture of the defective light fixture so they could send me a matching fixture.
The fixture they sent me was the exact same fixture as I had . I replaced the fixture and it worked . Now we have another fixture that is doing the same thing ( Blinking/ flickering)
If the original style of fixtures are defective it doesn’t make a lot of sense to keep installing defective fixtures until your out of warranty. . Are the new style fixtures the same physical size and shape as the defective ones ? If they are different will the new ones have matching mounting holes ? Will they cover the old holes in the head liner ?
If ETI sends you the new style fixtures as replacements then you could end up with mismatched fixtures in a relatively new trailer so you would have to replace all the fixtures to have them match
ETI needs to come up with an answer that satisfies the OP and others who are encountering this problem . ETI’s supplier is really the source of this issue IMHO and hopefully ETI can work out a solution with them .
I can understand the OP’s frustration .
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Old 10-28-2018, 11:31 AM   #11
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The problem with most of the LED lights failing is they don't usually do burn in test anymore... and they probably don't do QA on components either, so a defective component might take a while to "fail" especially if you don't use the light frequently... if you have the opportunity to run it for extended period of time you should eliminate those quickly, and the rest should have a decent success rate down the road.



Our overhead light started flickering about a year after we got the trailer, we dont use the light much (this is the most frequently used one) so after replacing it we were concerned that more will fail as we use the trailer down the road.. we ended up doing a burn in test for all the lights on the trailer (left it on 3 days) and didn't find any more bad ones, I am hoping that'll be it... I also took the light apart and think it I can solder on different light module and use it, if we have to in the future..
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Old 10-28-2018, 11:43 AM   #12
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They are not using the old style in new trailers but are using the old ones for warranty. Go figure!
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Old 10-28-2018, 12:17 PM   #13
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They are not using the old style in new trailers but are using the old ones for warranty. Go figure!

I figure it's a straight swap, whereas the new ones may not be.
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Old 10-28-2018, 12:37 PM   #14
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What is causing this is the lights are apparently not designed for more than 12vDC. I replaced 2 under warranty, modified one to use another type led and emailed the manufacture in China. First time they responded back the lights are for 12v dc. So I emailed them again and asked if they could handle up to 15 v dc and was told no they are for 12v dc.
The company making them in China saw a potential item to sell so they used a standard led circuit that has no voltage protection built in and went into production. If you look the lights over they have a diode to protect against reverse voltage and resistors to limit the current. Current limiting resistor designs are voltage dependent. To high of voltage and the current exceeds the leds specs. I did not feel like finding the specs on the led they used but since I feel they are designed for 12v dc that's what I now supply them.
On mine there are 2 lighting circuits rated for 15 amps each. First I changed them to 8 amp fuses and turned all the lights on and it was fine. So I stuck one of these into the circuit on each and left the 8 amp fuses in.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-DC-Power...EuQ:rk:27f:0
I used the DC 8-40V to 12V 10 amp devices.


I was up at a rally for a week with no problems occurring at all. Fridge, heater, water heater and all other circuits worked fine and the lights are plenty bright. And when I checked at lights they have just under 12 dc supplied to them.
Hopefully that will prevent anymore from going disco on me or burning out.


Edit, I did more than simply testing with 8 amp fuses but since I do not own an DC ammeter had to figure another way to test it.
Also there are units on eBay & Amazon including one with 12 amp output. When I bought mine they were $19 each so were a good deal.
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Old 10-28-2018, 12:38 PM   #15
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They are not using the old style in new trailers but are using the old ones for warranty. Go figure!

If they replace it from warranty it has to be the same thing though? For us it will be more of an issue if they can't give us the same looking light to replace.. (new holes ... etc)
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Old 10-28-2018, 02:03 PM   #16
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Just looked at my ceiling lights. My LED's in there sure look removable and replaceable with a screwdriver. The factory install have never been replaced. Removing the plastic cover-lens thing, though, must be done with great care.

I did replace the incandescent bulb inside the porch light with an LED, and now that one's always muley, not wanting to light, until you tap on it, and/or wiggle the switch on and off a dozen times. Have read somewhere LED's are so low amp they are prone to dust masking the current.
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Old 10-28-2018, 02:10 PM   #17
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Yes, Myron, Escape first led's were bulbs in a wedge base and then these led strips held in place with a screw into a standard wedge base. Later editions however have non removable strips, soldered in place. The option of a removable bulb, in my opinion is preferable.
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Old 10-28-2018, 02:16 PM   #18
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Begs the question, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." ...or, Hell's paved over with good intentions.
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Old 10-28-2018, 03:10 PM   #19
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Begs the question, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Um, Unless they are dirt cheap and can buy them by the truck load.
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Old 11-07-2018, 02:46 PM   #20
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These LED problems are the same that those of us in the cruising (sailing) community lived with, and solved, years ago. Many cruising boats use smart regulators that drive alternator output to 14.1-14.4V, which greatly shortens the life of LEDs that are driven through current-limiting resistors, with the resistors chosen for 12V. A "buck" regulator keeps the voltage limited to 12V and greatly extends LED life. A "boost" regulator is also useful such that a sagging voltage doesn't dim the lights. Another consideration is that the regulator doesn't kick out RFI (regulators often use high frequency switching and can mess up radio reception). A proper "buck" and "boost" regulator with low RFI can cost $20 or more but if RFI is not a concern then they can be had very cheap, and are often incorporated into the LED conversion bulbs.

Bottom line: under warranty let Reese take care of it. Otherwise, if you can use conversion bulbs then confirm full "constant current" regulation is inside. For integrated fixtures either replace them with ones that have proper regulation or ones with sockets and get the good bulbs. Or, if a bit technical, do as I am doing and convert with a quality regulator module and a matching COB LED. I can help with selection if needed.

Greg
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