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Matt Overbeck
Joined: 15 Jul 2012
Posts: 21
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 Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:55 pm Post subject: Interior trailer lighting |
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I am working on setting up my new trailer and I want to add some work / task lighting above and beyond the 12v dome lights. I was thinking of using LED light strips like these http://www.ecolightled.com/product/supreme_white_led_strip/led_strip_rs_supreme there seems to be a lot of benefits in doing this. They don't use a lot of power, have a very low profile so I won't loose any head room, easy to install.
Has anyone tried this? |
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Dan Rudd
Joined: 15 Oct 2009
Posts: 198
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| Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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I'll be monitoring this thread because I've been considering the same lighting.
I've already run my power and just waiting to choose which lights I'm going to use.
Dan |
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Chuck Parker
Joined: 04 Mar 2007
Posts: 506
Location: United States, New Jersey,
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| Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Camping world or any RV store sells two tube fluorescent DC fixtures. Might be a little cheaper than your led strips you mentioned. |
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Tim Salvino
Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 257
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| Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 6:52 pm Post subject: |
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| You should be able to find that same LED strip on Amazon for MUCH cheaper. They have some great prices on things like that. |
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Ed Watts
Joined: 29 Nov 2002
Posts: 358
Location: United States, New Jersey, Jackson
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| Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 7:19 pm Post subject: |
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I recently changed all my incandescent trailers lights to LED. Rope lights for the awning and 16 led panels inside. I can light them with a 12v battery for days.
Make sure you get the natural light. Not the blue/white. Too harsh to work under. 5050 rated LED are nice and bright.
Check Ebay prices MUCH MUCH cheaper.
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Craig Diller
Joined: 21 Sep 2006
Posts: 150
Location: United States, New York, Garden City
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| Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 7:28 am Post subject: |
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| I used LED Strips in my trailer and they work great. I put them on every other roof support and it lights the interior evenly and very bright. You just need to find a place to mount the transformer that it wont get broken, I put it behind my workbench and mounded a switch above my bench. |
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Matt Overbeck
Joined: 15 Jul 2012
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:55 am Post subject: |
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Thanks guys, I am sure I can find them cheaper, I was just using the link as an example.
Thanks Craig, thats the kind of confirmation I needed.
I am going to order some up and see how it works. The LED strips I'm going to buy are bright at 317 lumens per foot, so i will add a dimmer / dimmers. Also weatherproof, so they will be in a silicone casing. My trailer is 7x12, my plan was going to run two strips the length of the trailer on each side then one strip across the front and back of the trailer and one last strip above a work bench, under a shelf. but I am liking Craig's method of running them across the width of the trailer every couple feet, that may give better light "fill". |
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Craig Diller
Joined: 21 Sep 2006
Posts: 150
Location: United States, New York, Garden City
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| Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2013 11:01 am Post subject: |
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| And the 3M tape backing has proven to be strong enough to hold the strips up through the summer and winter with no issues so far. |
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Glen Critchett
Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 51
Location: United States, Kentucky,
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 5:35 pm Post subject: |
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Can someone please recommend a "power source" and how this works?
Starting from scratch with no power right now other than standard light powered by the stock trailer wiring coming from the harness when hooked up to tow vehicle......
what is the simplest/portable method without using a massive Generator? any ideas to get me started? |
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Doug Ring
Joined: 30 Jul 2001
Posts: 1806
Location: United States, California, San Diego
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Glen Critchett wrote: | Can someone please recommend a "power source" and how this works?
Starting from scratch with no power right now other than standard light powered by the stock trailer wiring coming from the harness when hooked up to tow vehicle......
what is the simplest/portable method without using a massive Generator? any ideas to get me started? |
Others will correct me if I'm wrong (ha, ha), but I think that's one of the core benefits of the LED lighting - it uses 12V DC power, exactly what we get through the trailer connection. The "power supplies" cited are used to convert 120V AC to 12V DC. From my admittedly limited knowledge of electricity, this seems like a very simple project. |
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Matt Overbeck
Joined: 15 Jul 2012
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 7:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Glen Critchett wrote: | Can someone please recommend a "power source" and how this works?
Starting from scratch with no power right now other than standard light powered by the stock trailer wiring coming from the harness when hooked up to tow vehicle......
what is the simplest/portable method without using a massive Generator? any ideas to get me started? |
Glen, Doug is correct they run off of 12v so you can run it directly off of your tow vehicle. LED's also draw very low amps so they can run for hours off of a 12v car battery, depending on how many LED's you use. I read where someone ran multiple led strips off of a 12v jump box and the lights went for nearly 7 hours before going dim.
I am thinking of wiring them up on a switch so that I can run them straight off of the 12v tow vehicle, but I also purchased a 12v power supply so I can run them off of 110v as well.
I orderd all the LED parts from www.hitlights.com their prices are decent, they are in the US and they were helpful when I called to ask a question. Not to mention I ordered yesterday and already have a tracking number and the parts are in route. I read on line that many of the overseas suppliers, although cheap, took forever to ship.
I ordered these LED's, 3 strips http://www.hitlights.com/ls5050-cw300-wp-234.html
These are really bright at 317 lumens per foot so I also ordered dimmers http://www.hitlights.com/ls-dimmer8a.html These bright strips draw 72w each so for 3 strips I needed almost 225w of power. I ordered this 350w power supply http://www.hitlights.com/meanwell-350w-led-power-adapter-ul-recognized.html
I will post some pictures when I get this together. Overall I spent like $250  on all the stuff I need to do this. I know fluorescent light fixtures can be had much cheaper, but I think the cost is worth the easy installation and most importantly no appreciable loss of head room. The interior heigth of the trailer is just 6'1" which is exactly how tall I am, with lights that are literally only 1/4 tall I won't have to worry about bumping my head....on the lights at least. |
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Doug Ring
Joined: 30 Jul 2001
Posts: 1806
Location: United States, California, San Diego
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 9:42 am Post subject: |
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Matt, I'm curious about something. The LED strips you selected use three colored LED's to make white - I'm familiar with this setup, we use exactly the same type of strip LED's in some of our kiosk machines. But, this means that you have four leads/contacts on the strip - ground, plus positive for red, green, and blue. Do they make white-only LED strips, utilizing only two electrical leads? Seems like, for our application, this would be preferable. |
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Doug Ring
Joined: 30 Jul 2001
Posts: 1806
Location: United States, California, San Diego
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 9:57 am Post subject: |
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| Doug Ring wrote: |
Matt, I'm curious about something. The LED strips you selected use three colored LED's to make white - I'm familiar with this setup, we use exactly the same type of strip LED's in some of our kiosk machines. But, this means that you have four leads/contacts on the strip - ground, plus positive for red, green, and blue. Do they make white-only LED strips, utilizing only two electrical leads? Seems like, for our application, this would be preferable. |
This is what I'm referring to - when you select the close-up photos, you will see that the strips have only a "+" and "-" pad, and each section has three white LED's (plus a controller IC chip).
http://www.hitlights.com/ls3528-cw600.html#
BTW - you can solder individual wires directly to the copper pads on the LED strips - that's how we wire our systems. This would probably same some $ over having to buy their specialized connector wires, and you can make them to any length. |
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Matt Overbeck
Joined: 15 Jul 2012
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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Doug, thanks. That is interesting. I did not notice that the LED's were set up that way. They are clearly described as cool white and not color changing. I will know for sure tomorrow! Honestly the picture may be incorrect, when I first saw those particular LED's they were listed as cool white but had a color temp listed of 2700. I called them to find out how they could be 317 lumen "cool white" and only 2700k, the rep assured me that was a misprint and should read 6000k. Within 30 min the web page was updated. I know 5050 sized LED's are commonly used in color applications because of their size and make up of 3 small LED's in one housing. We will see.
I knew about the ability to solider my own connections, I did not purchase any of their connectors. |
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joseph hollinger
Joined: 12 Sep 2002
Posts: 9479
Location: United States, California, san francisco
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 5:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Doug Ring wrote: |
Matt, I'm curious about something. The LED strips you selected use three colored LED's to make white - I'm familiar with this setup, we use exactly the same type of strip LED's in some of our kiosk machines. But, this means that you have four leads/contacts on the strip - ground, plus positive for red, green, and blue. Do they make white-only LED strips, utilizing only two electrical leads? Seems like, for our application, this would be preferable. |
They are driving the LEDs with a PWM signal (a series of pulses). The first pulse goes to red, the second to blue and the third to green (and then repeats). The longer the pulses, the brighter the light. At best, this type of system is 1/3 as bright as the LED strips you have used.
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A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. -- Winston Churchill. |
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