Full LED toy home

[stamar]

stamar what are you running that takes so much power? You really need to find out why you are discharging your batteries. I takes power to make power drill batteries will light your lights but you need to charge them what happens if you quit your job or they lay you off how are you going to charge them? Take them to the neighbors house so you don't have to use your own power? Going camping on a long weekend are you going to run back home and recharge the drill batteries? Relaying on another source to charge batteries is kind of defeating the whole purpose is't it? I think it is safe to say just about every RV'er knows about LED lighting some have no use for them because they only camp at camp grounds others my self included don't often do camp grounds I have never discharged a battery to the point of killing it.I don't have a big screen in my camper that runs 15 hours a day or a 1500 watt inverter to run a microwave it is a camper not a house if you want to live in one as you would your home get a 35' class A. A little tip batteries as they discharge become resistive the bigger the battery the greater the resistance adding golf cart batteries will make them even harder to recharge charge with an under powered solar system.

you know im suprised but actually once my rv stops running, meaning it gets no alternator power,

all I do is charge my cell phone 12 hours a day and use the lights for probably a half hour a day.

So just the one panel I have is roughly equivalent to using the orignal ( crappy) converter box ie plugginng it in, all day. during the summer it should outperform it right now it might underperform it.

I dont use my laptop on it ever. Its actually been months since I used the heater.

between those two over a course of weeks the deep cycle gets to below 50%. the cell phone will keep charging below 50% but the lights stop working.

I turned my 2nd deep cycle in a few months ago. when I turn this one in, Im getting two 6 volt golf cart batteries and wiring in my 2nd panel. Thats BEFORE I even have anything using electricity. I have a tablet that Im not even using it needs ac power.

I dont even have my inverter in my rv anymore its in my work truck. theres nothing else to run its just a stock toyhome.

Its POSSIBLE that there is a parasitic load in the coach. There is no parasitic load downstream in the starting battery because it starts right up after weeks.

the makita batteries are a good example of using alternator power from whatever car is running. before I was assigned a work truck I commuted with my rv but once the rv stopped moving its electricity generation here in portlands winter is quite modest.

So really the only way i can bring that wasted driving my truck does into the rv is the batteries. If I got a new laptop I could charge its battery there too.

if direct tv fires me whell then theyll want their truck back and ill be driving the rv around a little more at least.

[stamar]

that is a thought but having more capacity in the batteries would make each one discharged less.

most importantly they will be in a dangerous state less, and survive being at a lower state better longer. even if im fighting a losing battle with electricity the larger capacity will keep the batteries in a state where they aare not damaged longer.

my whole roadmap also includes a better alternator like 100 amp and potentiallly a new converter box.

although im considering ripping out the converter box completely and using that space to store the new batteries.

thanks for your thoughts maineah.

Im not arguing with you, I dont think full timing without a generator works spectacularly, in fact I dont have an example of a full time toyhomer who has just solar 200 watts in solar panels and doesnt drive a lot or plug in.

I have 115 watts live right now just to get a feel forr it

when I first installed it it was really cold and I ran the heater for a ffew hours a night. just to see if the panel kept pace.

no it doesnt.

in my mind i thought that if it were plugged in it must be able to charge its own battery and run the heater.....

but where i was wrong is that it only charges the battery because it runs the dc heater fan on ac. the actual battery charger doesnt have enough juice to run it.

[stamar]

The 3-AA battery operated lights with motion sensor (2 for $19) from Costco are very bright and warm. Motion activated sensors are very nice also. Battery seems to last. I got four of them (2 for my closets) and two for my Itasca.

I'll see if I can get the brand but they are abundace at Costco

coscto carries a coleman led light that is pretty much the perfect auxillary lightsource,

usually right by the remote controlled pucks and motion sensor lights ( neither of which is enough light to get dressed and read in)

I dont remember what it costs, but im sure its too much considering what it is.

but it is the ideal thing really. i believe it lasts 90 hours on a charge.

im ordering this

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ZOMKJ8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

next paycheck. with a 3 amp hr light.

thanks for everyones input, that had useful input. even someone like karin and derek who have nothing intelligent to add boots up my posts with my signature. Most people dont want to read about whiney weird old people mental problems they want to hear, what have you used, where do you get it.

Thats all I wanted to know when I started the thread and was llooking for leds. Somewhere between psycho babble about needing red leds or whatever i found the right source.

Even though my signature is out of date it should at least lead people of average iq to the correct source or ebay store to buy them. Weve all used them now.

It should be stickied on top actually I actually cant think of anything as useful as this information and it will be constantly asked again and again.

boot this thread up and youll see way fewer where do I buy led lights threads, and more importantly fewer strange and totally incorrect answers. sticky it and this section has something useful in it.

[stamar]

To avoid the complications of running wires and potential shorts later, I'm probably going to install tap to turn on and off battery powered lights too. Any downside to them over hard wired lights?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Light-Dimmer-Modulator-Brightness-Adjustable-Control-12V-24V-8A-IT1K-/360613997836?pt=US_Lighting_Parts_and_Accessories&hash=item53f644ed0c

im going to order this thing soon. because its in china itll take a few weeks to get here.

theres nothing at all that says that a standard one not labeled led will not work actually.

im way too busy to be doing rv projects right now but theres nothing wrong with ordering the parts and I know thats on the agenda. I want to be able to turn off all my lights from where im sleeping.

[Derek up North]

if direct tv fires me ...

We wouldn't want that to happen, would we?

[stamar]

Its a very difficult job so there would be tears of joy and sadness.

but it finances all these electrical toyhome projects I put on hold so it would be better later as opposed to sooner.

[stamar]

you know as usual derrick I have to ask, which are you working on, led lights for your toyhome, or solar panels?

you sure are taking a lot of time to get that rolling.

[Derek up North]

I'm waiting for delivery of $25 worth of 99 cent LEDs from China and then I'll be just like you!

[snail powered]

I'm waiting for delivery of $25 worth of 99 cent LEDs from China and then I'll be just like you!

Wow Derek you mean you are actually going to buy those cheap Chinese white LEDs that have barely any coating of phosphor on them and last maybe all of 6 months at full brightness if you are lucky?

[Derek up North]

I'll just take them back to Costco.

[snail powered]

I'll just take them back to Costco.

Ah good plan, might as well take advantage of their lifetime warranty loophole.

[stamar]

All leds are made in china. Not 99 percent. All.

The ons you buy here for 20 bucks are the ones that were for sale in china last year or two years ago. So if you want top quality you buy it straight from china.

The leds I have are not for sale in the us for any price. The closest you can get is just a reseller selling last years leds on amazon or something.

If you are trying to avoid chinese made leds you are even more ignorant than you thought.

[stamar]

So neither of you are ever going to have led lights or solar panels. But you posted 40 times in this thread because.......?

[Totem]

All leds are made in china. Not 99 percent. All.

The ons you buy here for 20 bucks are the ones that were for sale in china last year or two years ago. So if you want top quality you buy it straight from china.

The leds I have are not for sale in the us for any price. The closest you can get is just a reseller selling last years leds on amazon or something.

If you are trying to avoid chinese made leds you are even more ignorant than you thought.

I must agree with this statement. When i go to Autozone or Advanced their LED technology hasn't even evolved to SMD yet; they are still using the old Radio shack LEDs.

Karin's comments on the LEDs not lasting actually apply more to the American soil sold old tech than the new tech. I have two years now on my second set of SMD LEDS; all were from China direct. The first set I bought from US retailers and were burned out within mere hours of use and far more pricey.

[snail powered]

I must agree with this statement. When i go to Autozone or Advanced their LED technology hasn't even evolved to SMD yet; they are still using the old Radio shack LEDs.

Karin's comments on the LEDs not lasting actually apply more to the American soil sold old tech than the new tech. I have two years now on my second set of SMD LEDS; all were from China direct. The first set I bought from US retailers and were burned out within mere hours of use and far more pricey.

US made and US retailed are not the same thing

Stamar, I put LED cabin lighting suitable for boon docking into my Sunrader the first day I owned it as I was boon docking that night and for the next week. Installing half a dozen LED cabin lights for basic tasks and for reading took less time than eating a hamburger and did not cost significantly more than a gourmet burger. The only reason I mentioned it in this topic is to say that using NiMH batteries is an easier and more affordable option than using a Lithium Ion battery from a drill motor to power LEDs for cabin lighting.

I purchased 12 volt LED strip lighting to replace the old 12 volt fluorescent tube lights on the boat about 6 years ago when that kind of strip lighting first showed up in our local Ikea store. I guess it is such a long ago event and it was such a simple thing to have done that I never bothered to mention it. I wired in my first LED as a replacement light on a coffee pot back around the year 1980. We have been using LED lights in our scale model and prototype projects for a lot of years so working with LEDs is certainly not new to me. My partner was in the electronics labs at HP back in the late 1960s when they were developing the LEDs that were bright enough to do anything with. But I can respect the excitement of your recent discoveries of the virtues of LED lighting, so welcome to the fold of happy users of them

I will say it once again we already have solar panels on my friend's little 40 foot yacht we live on and we upgraded that system this last fall.

[stamar]

Im not responding to trolls. There is no purpose. Although it does boot up the thread for people who have half a brain, the actual orignal question is just someone too dumb to teach anything to.

Im not here because Im interested in calling an idiot an idiot. It doesnt help the idiot and it doesnt help anyone learn anything by trying to attach them to reality.

the first leds I bought, at the beginning of this thread, were 14.95 from autozone. They are the lowest quality leds i bought for the toyhome, although they are still installed. they are not weatherproof and they are unseeably dim.

but I spent so much on them I feel like using them, they are in the front on my tail lights. they are orange.

for 50c apeice delivered you can get much brighter ones from ebay stores. Thats why I have them linked to my signature. there are no leds made in america.

I bought 10 marker lights that were assembled in germany. They are also from ebay, they are twice as expensive as the ones from china. the led smds are still made in china in fact the whole thing is made in china the only thing that might be an ugrade is the adhesive used to put them together ( they might last longer) I doubt it but they might. Its linked in my signature.

not too many people actually are idiots and are having trouble with ordering things online. Its a rare breed that has enough to actually type on the internet but cant figure out how to buy things duty free from china

like alibaba express, or ebay or other sources. But the main thing is, its not in my scope to be spending time eitther trying to help people with problems like that, or just telling them to shut up theyre wasting functional peoples time.

[stamar]

you know for the final time,

there is nothing even remotely illegal about returning anything to costco.

Every morning theres a line at costco of people returning things..... if by chance it were illegal you should contact the CIA immediately so they can set up a big strike and arrest those damn returners.

actually every return you do at costco you get cash. you dont have to buty the same thing you can buy a food processor. and return that and get another deep cycle battery. and return that and get a case of beef jerkey.

for the rest of your life. provided you pay the membership cost you can return anything forever. You see thats what they want, they want you to buy stuff their because youre confident you can return it.

Im about to turn in my fourth ( yes four) deep cycle 27 battery this year because it doesnt hold a charge anymore. But Im going to write on the return paper that I turned it in because I I read on a forum somewhere that golf cart batteries are more durable.

And then Im going to get two golf cart batteries.

and there is nothing at all illegal or immoral about that. You can call costco and tell them you plan on returning everything you buy and theyll say thank you sir.

I dont know if returning things to costco is illegal in canada....... but I doubt it.

The only place returning things to costco is illegal or immoral where karinkorbin dwells.... the land of early onset dementia.

And if you think its funny Im here to laugh right along you two. Too retarded for returning things to costco Ill buy you both t shirts. Its hilarious.

[Derek up North]

Hey, El Douce, I'm wondering how long it's going to take you to figure out that there's something wrong with your setup if you've ruined 4 batteries so quickly. Have you still got them wired backwards? Until you get that sorted out, hopefully there won't be too many people who are foolish enough to follow your electrical advice.

"Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results" - Basic Text of Narcotics Anonymous

[stamar]

the first one i ruined by wiring it backwards and returrned it the next three wore out from being too low for too long. Just using the heater in the winter.

if you bought the same thing from sears of walmart they would either want to test your charging system or just eventually give you a refund and refuse to let you buy another one.

what led lights did you end up using for your toyhome derrick?

Can you even find expensive low quality ones anywhere or are you an idiot like always?

[Maineah]

Dude you are going to wear your selfout carrying batteries around. wait until you have to heft the golf cart batteries that you killed! Have you ever actually thought about recharge them? By the way China is not the sole source of LED's only the cheapest and the lowest QC.world wide. For your edification, http://www.cree.com/led-components-and-modules All LED innovations come from good old North Carolina.

[stamar]

nice but which ones for your toyhome are made in the usa?

[stamar]

the golf cart batteries weigh about the same they just require two.

I installed a solar panel to recharge them. Im at the point now where I run the engine for a half hour once a week. other than wasting gas and solar or taking them to oreilly they dont get recharged my rv is off the grid.

my goal is to have them charged by solar power and probably eventually a generator. Just dont have time now to get it all put together but Ive already bought most of the necessary parts.

but for now the rv mostly sits and recharges my phone. eventuually it loses out.

I can take them to oreilly to recharge them but its too big a hassle. turn in the battery come get it the next day as opposed to take to to costco and get a new one. 10 minutes or so...

Its literally quicker to return them for a new one than it is to recharge them.

[Totem]

Dude you are going to wear yourself out carrying batteries around. wait until you have to heft the golf cart batteries that you killed! Have you ever actually thought about recharge them? By the way China is not the sole source of LED's only the cheapest and the lowest QC.world wide. For your edification, http://www.cree.com/led-components-and-modules All LED innovations come from good old North Carolina.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cree_Inc.#section_1

Looks like they are moving production to china... So much for Cree. They would make nice headlights though!

[stamar]

thats the worst part of the converter box concept the toyhome was designed with to me. you literally have to drive your 21 foot motorhome to an ac outlet to recharge your deep cycle battery. taking up parking and ac power.

What Id be more likely to use is a battery recharger. take it and the battery to a ac outlet. That would happen at least twice as often as me driving my motorhome to a an ac receptacle and leaving it for half a day.

still not too often.

[snail powered]

the golf cart batteries weigh about the same they just require two.

I installed a solar panel to recharge them. Im at the point now where I run the engine for a half hour once a week. other than wasting gas and solar or taking them to oreilly they dont get recharged my rv is off the grid.

my goal is to have them charged by solar power and probably eventually a generator. Just dont have time now to get it all put together but Ive already bought most of the necessary parts.

but for now the rv mostly sits and recharges my phone. eventuually it loses out.

I can take them to oreilly to recharge them but its too big a hassle. turn in the battery come get it the next day as opposed to take to to costco and get a new one. 10 minutes or so...

Its literally quicker to return them for a new one than it is to recharge them.

Gee its a pity....the solar panel system we put on the boat has been keeping the 4 house batteries topped up perfectly for 5 months now ----without any assistance from AC and without starting the engine to top it up. It does have a load on it as it is running the bilge pumps.

You need me to come down there to Portland and show you how to put a solar system together properly? Ah forget it....it would be a waste of my time, you never listen to what people try to tell you....

[snail powered]

Im not responding to trolls. There is no purpose. Although it does boot up the thread for people who have half a brain, the actual orignal question is just someone too dumb to teach anything to.

Im not here because Im interested in calling an idiot an idiot. It doesnt help the idiot and it doesnt help anyone learn anything by trying to attach them to reality.

But the main thing is, its not in my scope to be spending time eitther trying to help people with problems like that, or just telling them to shut up theyre wasting functional peoples time.

Origin of IGNORE

ignore to be ignorant of,

[snail powered]

What Id be more likely to use is a battery recharger. take it and the battery to a ac outlet. That would happen at least twice as often as me driving my motorhome to a an ac receptacle and leaving it for half a day.

I have this mental image of a guy rolling a shopping cart with 40 pounds of battery and his charger into a coffee shop or work to plug into their AC. Then he starts talking about what a high IQ he has.

I just can't image how it is easier to disconnect a battery, pull it out of its compartment, carry it to another vehicle then carry it and the charger to an AC outlet versus running an extension cord from an RV to a plug in. Then reverse the process. No matter what you are still taking that battery to an AC power source one way or another. Driving the RV there and plugging in an extension cord seems to me to be way easier than lifting a battery that weighs at least 40 pounds in and out of an RV then in and out of another vehicle. But what do I know, I am just an idiot....

[Derek up North]

Maybe just boondock in the Costco (or O'Reilly) parking lot?

[Maineah]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cree_Inc.#section_1 Looks like they are moving production to china... So much for Cree. They would make nice headlights though!

Yes they have a factory in China where they are built to Cree's standard but they are enlarging their plant in NC and will employ 500 people.

the golf cart batteries weigh about the same they just require two.

I installed a solar panel to recharge them. Im at the point now where I run the engine for a half hour once a week. other than wasting gas and solar or taking them to oreilly they dont get recharged my rv is off the grid.

my goal is to have them charged by solar power and probably eventually a generator. Just dont have time now to get it all put together but Ive already bought most of the necessary parts.

but for now the rv mostly sits and recharges my phone. eventuually it loses out.

I can take them to oreilly to recharge them but its too big a hassle. turn in the battery come get it the next day as opposed to take to to costco and get a new one. 10 minutes or so...

Its literally quicker to return them for a new one than it is to recharge them.

When was the last time you saw a 65-75# group 24 battery? Get a modern charger they charge at 45 amps. or 600 watts. worth of solar panels.

[Maineah]

nice but which ones for your toyhome are made in the usa?

The 15 SMD ones I bought for $10 each they were made in the Netherlands not China.

[snail powered]

The 15 SMD ones I bought for $10 each they were made in the Netherlands not China.

There are also factories in Germany and India as well as the USA that are producing LED chips.

[snail powered]

This is the Ikea set of LED 12 volt strip lights I bought years ago to put on the 12 volt house battery for the boat.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20119418/

Same price now as they were 6 or 7 years ago when I got them as a birthday gift for my boyfriend. They were a real find and bargain back then as there were very few LED light strips to be found in stores. My friend is an industrial designer and has lived aboard for 30 years. Using and installing LEDs are nothing new to him, he has been around them since the 1960s. Its just the ignorant folks who think this is new technology

[snail powered]

Just came across a photo with a clever lighting trick using an LED headlamp, the type you wear around your forehead. Strap it around a filled gallon plastic water jug with the LEDs shining against the side of the jug. Instant room light that spreads the light around instead of in one focused spot. Since many of us do take extra gallon jugs of water along this is quick, easy and also good for outside on a picnic table.

photo here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/listorama/2415268242/in/faves-31716342@N00/

[Maineah]

15 chip SMD G4 base LED 3700 degree K just about as bright as a 10 watt halogen. I have a real dislike for the cheap plastic fixtures so I made my own out of 1/8 aluminum and flush mounted them. Good ideal on the head lamp a lot of them now are using a single Cree SMD and are very bright.

[Nam]

Just came across a photo with a clever lighting trick using an LED headlamp, the type you wear around your forehead. Strap it around a filled gallon plastic water jug with the LEDs shining against the side of the jug. Instant room light that spreads the light around instead of in one focused spot. Since many of us do take extra gallon jugs of water along this is quick, easy and also good for outside on a picnic table.

photo here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/listorama/2415268242/in/faves-31716342@N00/

What a great, simple idea. I will have to try this next time