Club 80-90 Forums

I m wanting to add more light to the inside of the van, I have what I would call mood lighting, lights that I would use if I was chilling out with a beer and music, what I am after is a bright light for cooking etc I have seen these, http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LUMO-LED-24-STRIP ... 1109wt_905 ,

but they seem quite pricey, especially if I am going to need 2 of them?

What do you guys have ? and advice gratefully received

I used four LED strips from Ikea, junked the 12v adaptor and wired it into the leisure loom
I'll take a pic hang on...

The strips come separate and are easily joined.
As you can see I've wired them to the courtesy light, but I was going to put two over the cooker.
I used a 12v halogen spot for that instead

I have both in my Westie, the LEDS are great but give a harsh and narrow spread of light. Also you need a lot of LEDS to give the same light intensity as a traditional 8 watt tube (camper strip light)
I think it would be possible to improve on a strip but you need lots of LEDS and some sort of diffuser to spread and soften the light. These narrow strips have no reflector or diffuser and I've yet to see a LED powered camper strip and to be honest that is whats needed. Perhaps some one here has fitted LEDS in a tube unit, I'd be interested to see the results.

Martin

He wants a bright light for cooking
I think a diffuser would reduce the brightness
These lights throw the light forward..no need for reflectors..I shall show you at Bustypes Martin

I have the multi coloured version the same as Kevs, plenty of light thrown out of um and being multi coloured I can put it on a softer light for rest of the time!

How do you turn them down James?

kevtherev wrote:How do you turn them down James?

they were a specific colour changing version from ikea, there is a switch in line with um (full o computer chips) that I press and hold and it will either flash all the colours one after another or i can set it to soft fade between the colours, or the other option I can manually press through till i get the colour I want , out of white ,yellow, blue, green ,red, and a softish white

Oh
so would turning the current down affect the led ?

dunno mate, looking at mine tho there is 3 led bits per one light if that makes sense?

The one listed on Ebay looks as though it uses 24 conventional LED's and I wouldn't buy it for main lighting though it may be OK as a 'fill' for areas that could do with a bit extra. Kevs looks as though it uses Luxeon Leds (hard to tell from the piccy) and these are far better than standard LEDs in terms of brightness, spread and colour temperature (warmer white rather than a bluish cold white). The main disadvantage with 12V flourescent tubes is when you are wild camping, the tubes start to deteriorate rapidly (ends blacken) when the leisure battery falls below 12V and they draw a lot more current than a conventional LED strip and about twice as much as a single Luxeon strip (depends on how many Lux leds are fitted)

I use a conventional dual 8W 12V flourescent for my main lighting over the cooker but also have Luxeon Led strips as fillers and for 'mood' in areas of the rear when I don't want the main flouro on or need more fill. Rainbow LED lighting can be effective and these units are available in standard LED form or Luxeon and ideal for mood lighting, having the option to set on a particular colour or 'mix' is a nice addition.

Here are some pics of the LEDs that I have installed in my westy. First pic is the Galley light with original lamps - one. The PO put in three micro switches and fashioned his own LED for the first lamp. I replaced the other two lamps with Natural White 6LED bulbs, they are 42mm X 10mm.



New LEDs installed



LED flexible strip under the sink cabinet



LEDs over the sink



LED under sink lid



LED strip hidden out of site



The LEDs give off great light, you just need to get the ones that are right for your application. The thing that most impresses me about the LEDs is their power draw on my aux battery bank is so small when compared to the old incandescent bulbs. Saving my power for other things that are needed is a big plus.

2 x 24 led strips fitted into standard 8w tube light



Cost £1.25 each strip

As has been said above, it's finding the right ones for what you need. I really like the one put up by the overhead locker, in that hidden space. Also the blue light is very good if you need a light on during the night, and don't want to blind/wake up the kids.
It's knowing what these light look like in the packet that's the problem

I managed to get a strip of 120 from ebay for 99p
Postage was a fiver though
Very easy to install. Instant daylight (not good if you have a hangover)

Not sure how long they will last. Only had them in a month.
Going to get some green ones to go under the van BLING me up