waiter Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I replaced all clearance light, 7 red and 5 Amber. These are the LED lights: http://www.superbrig...ruck_lights.htm M9-x4 LED lights - $4.95 each When I originally bought these, there was discussion on the issue that these were flat on the back and didn't have any room for wires. I decided to tackle the mounting this weekend, and I'm happy to report, these were non-issues on my Dolphin. There is plenty of room to solder the wires, and they can be stuffed back in the holes on the HM. 1) Remove the old lamp assembly, I used a dull putty knife to pop them loose, and also clean the old sealant from the MH. 2) clean off old sealant and then use brake cleaner and clean the MH mounting surface. Careful there may be sharp edges from the hole in the center. 3) Cut the wires to the old fixture, right up next to the fixture. Trim about 1/2 insulation to expose the wires. 4) If you look (tug on the wires) you may see where the old wire went to a but splice. The wires at the but splice may be Green, and White. The White wire is ground, and the Green wire is power. 5) On the new light, Connect the White wire to the old wite wire. Connect the Black wire to the old Green wire. 6) Before soldering, turn the lights on and make sure its correct. Solder the wires, and wrap with tape. 7) Use 1 inch Butyl tape, and wrap the entire base of the new light . 8) fish the excess wire into the center hole. Make it so the wires coming out of the new fixture will be at the bottom. 9) Use new #10 screws, screw the new fixture to the MH. Press on the fixture to squirt out the butyl tape. 10 Once the screws are snug, use a small knife and trim off the excess tape. 11) I also used caulking and then ran a bead of caulk around the new fixture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee & Joan Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Hey John has a nice indoor shop to work in... be right over with some beer... No really that is pretty nice to have some loose wire with a big hole to poke the connections in. When I did mine I had no hole, just short brittle wires silicone sealled into the holes and actually sticking out into the back of the light fixtures. Bet you can't wait for it to get dark so you can gaze into the glorious LED lights tonight... This time of year its almost as good as a campfire... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 That issue you mentioned, no place to push the excess wire, is what was holding me up. As we've discussed on another thread, these lights don't have enough recess on their backsides to allow for excess wire. I had taken one of the lights to work and put it in a mill, and was able to mill some material off the back surface to accommodate excess wire. I was going to mount this yesterday to see how the modified light would work out. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I didn't need to modify the lights, the standard lights would work fine on my Dolphin. The shop belongs to my neighbor up the road, he works on trucks, so if he doesn't have anything in the shop, I'm welcome to use it :-) JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acudoc Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Very nice job. But now they look so good you need to fix everything to match I replaced all clearance light, 7 red and 5 Amber. These are the LED lights: http://www.superbrig...ruck_lights.htm M9-x4 LED lights - $4.95 each When I originally bought these, there was discussion on the issue that these were flat on the back and didn't have any room for wires. I decided to tackle the mounting this weekend, and I'm happy to report, these were non-issues on my Dolphin. There is plenty of room to solder the wires, and they can be stuffed back in the holes on the HM. 1) Remove the old lamp assembly, I used a dull putty knife to pop them loose, and also clean the old sealant from the MH. 2) clean off old sealant and then use brake cleaner and clean the MH mounting surface. Careful there may be sharp edges from the hole in the center. 3) Cut the wires to the old fixture, right up next to the fixture. Trim about 1/2 insulation to expose the wires. 4) If you look (tug on the wires) you may see where the old wire went to a but splice. The wires at the but splice may be Green, and White. The White wire is ground, and the Green wire is power. 5) On the new light, Connect the White wire to the old wite wire. Connect the Black wire to the old Green wire. 6) Before soldering, turn the lights on and make sure its correct. Solder the wires, and wrap with tape. 7) Use 1 inch Butyl tape, and wrap the entire base of the new light . 8) fish the excess wire into the center hole. Make it so the wires coming out of the new fixture will be at the bottom. 9) Use new #10 screws, screw the new fixture to the MH. Press on the fixture to squirt out the butyl tape. 10 Once the screws are snug, use a small knife and trim off the excess tape. 11) I also used caulking and then ran a bead of caulk around the new fixture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 ... now they look so good you need to fix everything to match I thought he had! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 I got two little jobs underneath and I think we're ready. 1) putting rubber on the tank strap so the straps won't cut into the tanks. 2) Got a support hanger on the holding tank drain pipe that needs to get welded to the frame. 3) Still need to test all the water systems and holding tanks. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 I finished up the running lights - Also replaced the License plate light with an LED light.. Couple reasons for updating the lights, Reduced current drain, reduce maintenance, upgrade to current standards. 1) Having problems with tail light fixtures (bulb sockets) and would need to replace these fixtures. 2) Current draw - I added a lot of stuff to the 12 volt circuits (TV/DVD, Inverter, etc) so I wanted to reduce loads were I could. The LED lamps use about 1/10 the current the standard lamps consume. Original lamp current draw Outside Running lights (13 w/license lite) 0.3 amps x 13 >> 4 amps Tail lights (4) 0.5 amps x 4 >> 2.0 amps Turn / Stop (4) 2.1 amps x 4 >> 8.4 amps Inside coach 1141 lamps (14) 1.6 amps x 14 >> 22.4 amps Goal - driving down the road, 10 amps that used to run the lights, is now 10 amps that's charging the coach battery John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adeibold Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Looks great! Thanks for the pics. I too was following the other thread and Im glad to read you were able to install the new ones with out much hassle. More motivation to order some of my own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wistoy Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I want to thank you for your information on the running lights, I repeted what you did including your supplier. worked GREAT. What made me extra happy was that I found water getting in on 2 front lights, and 4 of the factory wire crimp together conectors missing the protctive covers, saveing me from major electrical problems and a possibe fire sorce. THANK YOU! Dale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 correct me if im wrong, the bulbs you are replacing are all white halogen bulbs under orange plastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Stamar, Yes, they were incandescent bulbs, Probably #194, I don't know if they were Halogen filled. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 ok and they were all white like the ones i linked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 I didn't see a link, My fixtures were probably original, and they used a #194 bulb. The new fixtures I installed have 5 or 6 LEDs of the correct color for the fixture, i.e. the red fixture uses RED LEDs, the amber fixture uses AMBER LEDs. These fixtures consume about 1/8th the power as the incandescent fixtures. Probably save about 2.5 amps in the conversion, and don't need to worry about intermittent light sockets or burnt out bulbs. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 ya actually light is just light. whether it comes from an led light or an incadescent light. the color from an incadescent light is normally set to a more yellow based on the metal, however they can put a red lens or even blue. they sell halogen lights with a blue color as xenon ( colored) lights even though they have nothing to do with xenon at all. They are xenon like.... so if you want to reproduce the exact color you are replacing, yellow light through a orange fixture you could get led with the yellow lens on them. if you get straight white leds the color will be different. If you get the exact same color as the fixture in led lights, it will not be any brighter. it will be slightly less bright, the only difference is color. I have reviewed your links and you are confused. all led fixtures come with a colored lens. they are all white, and any red is a colored lens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Stamar. I recommend you review the links further and perhaps do a little more research on LEDs. It would appear that we have this similar thread in two places. so I'll differ my answers to the other thread, and perhaps I can educate you on terms like Wavelength, and, in particular wavelength in the visibly light range, and how an incandescent lamp and a single color LED differ regarding emitting of light at different wavelengths John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 we have started using these guys. Easy install, very bright, http://www.tecniqinc.com/pages/products_s340.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajadulce Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 nice shop! Neighbors are great. Installation looks good John. Ppl should be sleeping in RVs at night, not driving! Can't say am crazy about the size of the hole in the aluminum in such a vulneralble spot as the overhead cab (and on a currogation as well! Looks like there was "clean" space just an inch below), but that's out of your control and pretty typical of RV construction. Is there any kind of shielding around that hole to prevent those wires from getting cut (road vibrations etc)? Maybe the light's plastic housing protudes a bit into that hole @ the feeds? I've had all sorts of problems in RV's with innocent things rubbing on one another. brake lines, wires etc. Tho do tend to drive a lot of washboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 No, no protection.your right, climb around underneath and a lot of stuff is just flopping around. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajadulce Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Hey John. Just saw the numbers buried in the 7th post. Wow, 10 amp savings is a nice bonus for your charging system. Not having to deal w/ loose grounds and burnt out bulbs is a huge gain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 10 amps when you need it the most; Night (all the lights), hot (running the A/C full blast), raining cats and dogs.(wipers) John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.