Club 80-90 Forums

Is it practical/doable to convert the interior lights in the back of a Westfalia to LEDs? They're currently flouro tubes, just wondering if a strip of LEDs sat in the housing - like the LED numberplate light mod in the wiki - would be a good idea in terms of being brighter and less power consumption.. though I'm not sure what power the flouro tube would use compared to about 20 LEDs....

anyone done it?

I converted my single tube light to LED.
I put 30 white 10mm LEDs & resistors on a piece of plain vero board.
It's bright enough (I need to find a better diffuser as it is a bit harsh )and doesn't use much power.

great - if you have a pic of it would be good to see... not sure about my electronics, do you just need one resistor at the start then all the leds are chain off it?

No - in parallel although if you look on ebay you can buy prewired 12v LEDS (resistor already in) in packs of 50 or 100. With ingenuity you can drill tiny holes in cupboards and fittings and have lights just about anywhere you need them.

I have ten rows of three LEDs and each row has the required resistor.
I can't do a picture at this moment.

This should explain the calculations a bit more although as I say, you can buy them prewired which makes assembly less fiddly:

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htm

The biggest problem I had was getting them to fit in the pitch of the vero board hole.
I ended up having to file off the base lip so that they could sit closer together - a real PITA that was!

I would recommend that you use Luxeon LED's. These are available on ebay at very modest prices and you can buy them as single items or in strips. The advantage of using Luxeon Leds are that they have a wider angle of light distribution, much warmer light spectrum, far superior brightness. Two banks of three will outperform a standard 12V twin flourescent unit and current will be approx 0.6A. If you want more details then happy to supply......the leds are fitted using super glue and you only need to solder them to each other using the surface connections provided.

AngeloEvs wrote:I would recommend that you use Luxeon LED's. These are available on ebay at very modest prices and you can buy them as single items or in strips. The advantage of using Luxeon Leds are that they have a wider angle of light distribution, much warmer light spectrum, far superior brightness. Two banks of three will outperform a standard 12V twin flourescent unit and current will be approx 0.6A. If you want more details then happy to supply......the leds are fitted using super glue and you only need to solder them to each other using the surface connections provided.

I'd be interested, been thinking of doing this for a while. Ebay link would be cool
Want to change the bulbs in this type of light


Sorry for the thread hijack

Ermie571 posted a great Ebay Link for the strips already assembled so might be worth a PM to her. Meanwhile I will look to see which Ebay seller I got mine off but these come in strips that you have to wire yourself. There are 1W Luxeons and 3W versions, quite frankly the 3W will be a bit over the top but haven't tried those as mine are 1W. As for your unit, just take the innards out and glue the luxeons into place and connect to the exiosting switch. I made my oiwn strip lights using 20mm x15mm right angle alluminim from B&Q and cut it down to make four strip lights but a picture would probably explain better.

page 72, you'll have to scroll dow a bit
cak tanks

erm...that link ...I see an exploded view of an engine.....

great - i'll look at those luxeons, sound ideal if they're a bit warmer in colour, that was my one worry...I have one of those led torches/lights and the light off it while bright is a bit bluey and harsh. I'd like to get them into the original light housing

DiscoDave wrote:page 72, you'll have to scroll dow a bit
cak tanks

is this what you mean?

price list - takes a bit of time to download