# internal lighting upgrade



## powerplus (Oct 6, 2014)

hi i recently looked at upgrading some of the lights in my motorhome
they were allready led's but seemed a little dull

after seeing peter (lister diesel) link to his project i considered putting some more led's in the ceiling lights

i contacted peter and with his help i was able to put a additional led inside the lights

really made a bid diffrence and as the light fitting had a switch on the side i used this for the new led so that i could have the choice of bright or normal

unfortunaetly i do not know how to attach pictures but when i can i will add them

it is people like peter that make the £12.50 membership a bargain
as there is a wealth of information available from help full people
that are there to help

barry


----------



## Pilchards (Oct 29, 2009)

Totally agree with you Barry, I haven't had to use the forum a great deal but when I have I always got a good response and got the answer to my query.
Dave


----------



## cabby (May 14, 2005)

This is why MHF is the top forum for motorhomers.

cabby


----------



## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

I've just changed my £15 each LED's to lidl's €4.99 LED's. The difference is amazing!
The £15 ones were spotlights with a very narrow beam. 
The Lidls are floodlights and fill the lounge area with light. They are equivalent to 21watt mains bulbs.
Both types are rated at 3 watts each.


----------



## forthpilot (Jul 7, 2012)

*Replacing lights.*

Hi all. I am in the process of replacing the lighting.
I have 9 internal halogens at 10w each, and 2 awning halogens at 5w.
A simple replacement of these with GU4 style LED's makes sense.
However, the replacement of the fluorescents makes less sense.
There are four in total, 1 x 18 watt 600 mm, 1 X 13 watt 530 mm,
2 X 8 watt 300mm.
On opening them up, there appears to be some kind of 'inverter' system as well as a starting ballast. I appreciate that to connect LED's, I would have to bypass all of this.
To obtain the same luminosity from the LED's, it would appear that even using the latest available, I would have to double the existing length.
Also my school physics gets messy when I try to calculate the power consumption of running the fluorescents.
If the gain of changing is marginal, I will leave them alone.
Any advice is very welcome.

Regards Stewart.


----------



## powerplus (Oct 6, 2014)

hi stewart

i fitted the gu4 type lolly pops as i call them 
and they are pretty good

i assume you will use the plug in type more like a bulb

i would suggest you dont go to low in the wattage as a couple of watts make a big differance

regarding the fluorescents if they are pretty old i would strip out all the gubbins and alter them with lollypop g4 led's

look at peters website to see how he fitted the gu4 led

http://www.stationary-engine.co.uk/Mercedes/Mercedes6.htm

barry


----------



## forthpilot (Jul 7, 2012)

Hi Barry

Thanks for the post. The fluorescents are year 2000, so inverters probably not efficient. I hadn't thought about the kind of layout that Peter has done and it may well be the answer. Our 510 has a rear kitchen, and the we have an aircon unit where the roof light should be, so lighting needs to be improved.

Stewart.


----------



## powerplus (Oct 6, 2014)

hi stewart

i was pleased with the 2 led i added to what i allready have installed
those lollypop ones work well

get about 2w 12v dc they are about £1.50 each from flea bay
warm white are the ones that give decent colour
i have some white leds but they have the blue tint

here to assist if you need any help

barry


----------



## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

I changed every halogen light for direct replacement LED's, I can have every light on in the van (I've fitted extra) and use far far less than just one halogen - and there's no build up of heat in the fittings.


----------



## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

I bought a roll of LED strip lights off e bay 10 Mtrs around a fiver. Then removed the electronic gubbins from the old strip light units. Cut LED to length and fitted to 12 v supply. Simples. Also renewed 15 Halogens with LED. A pack of 20 from China was £15 inc postage about 2 years ago and they are all still working. 
I don't always believe my signature. [/quote]


----------



## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Glad to hear that the LED's worked, they aren't ideal for everything but we have got through quite a few, probably 70 or so.

Couple of things to remember:

Check the colour before you finalise the fixing, LED's come in different colour temperatures the same as flourescents.

There is some heating effect, LED's are not totally cool, so make sure there is some patch for heat to escape.

The last lot we bought will run on 12V OR 24V, currently we have the big converted luminaires in the Mercedes running off the vehicle batteries which are hooked up to one of our power supply/chargers at 27.40V and they are fine.

We standardised on the G4 bi-pin fitting so we could use one common LED for everything, including most of the spotlights.

LED strips I wasn't that impressed with.

Peter


----------



## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

*Re: Replacing lights.*



> To obtain the same luminosity from the LED's, it would appear that even using the latest available, I would have to double the existing length.
> Regards Stewart.


Not so, Stuart, we replaced single and twin flourescents for our trailer and the Mercedes, in all cases the LED''s have given more light output in the same casing.

One thing with the LED's is that they throw the light frontwards and don't lose any light round their back like flourescents, although the reflectors do help a little with that.

Peter


----------



## forthpilot (Jul 7, 2012)

Thanks Peter,

I am going with the same set up that you made with the separate LED's.

I will tap off the 12volt supply, and through a new rocker switch, feed the 

the LED's. I will leave the fluorescent in place for the moment.

Great website.

Stewart.


----------

