This page will now be devoted to the best LED products requiring no DIY assembly.
The original page has been renamed DIY LEDs
LEDs have won their place in your motorhome, there seems no longer a need to justify their use, nor spend many words outlining their virtues. There is still an ever diminishing group of naysayers who believe that their fluoros or halogens are better than LEDs. Join them if you wish and read no further. If you want better lights at a fraction of the energy use and very cheap as well, read on.
But don't expect to walk down to your local store and get the good stuff. Not yet.
You will notice that the links to LED products on this page are all from DealExtreme. It was not always that way but has evolved to this. No other source comes even close for good prices and up to date products. Not all are worth buying though, so make your selections with care. Read the forum contributions at the base of each DX product listing and keep in mind that product substitutions are possible.
Please bear in mind that this page is produced over time and I edit it continuously. You will further need to consider that I, and other reviewers, cannot test all of the products in this evolving market. You may well find good LED products discussed elsewhere.
I will mark those items I consider a BEST BUY at the moment, below.
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Before you get too confused, if you are starting out, begin with something simple. Buy one of the Best Buy 30 LED bars shown lower on this page. They are wired and robust and protected with 150 ohm resistors. You can even cut off segments to make the bar shorter to fit. They are the easiest place to start, and an excellent product.
12 volts or 24 volts
Both will work. I have written most of this guide for 12 volts, as that is most common. For 24 volts you just need to use two equal lamps or lamp segments arranged in series. The equal part is important, to ensure that the voltage drop across each part is equally shared, and the nominal 12 volts.
Switches
These from Jaycar will serve your LEDs well. Should be OK up to about one amp on dc at their 6 amp ac rating.
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SK0960&CATID=28&form=CAT&SUBCATID=401The elusive search for perfection
One needs to consider the task to be performed when choosing suitable LED lighting. The same intensity to wash dishes or cook or dine is not required as might be needed for reading or fine needlework. Many are well satisfied with lighting to match the task. We do need a high intensity LED lamp for some tasks. The CREE LED which is discussed next, will serve that purpose. The rest of the best buys which follow will serve your other needs admirably.
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Alternative reading lamp testing Dec 2009
Recent offerings of a high power CREE LED has me looking at an alternative to the assembled LED boards from DX. Below is some testing and comment.
BEST BUYS
CREE LED and driver.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11022
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13557
I must say that I am impressed indeed. A rough guess would be that the CREE offers about double the lumens per watt and about double the lumens per dollar spent which includes the price of the driver, compared to the triple emitter boards below.
The CREE is also producing a warmer light which is very satisfying, and better than the quite acceptable white of the triple emitters.
Both of theses choices are wide beam. Both illuminate an area equal to my double bed, from the ceiling above.
The downside is that the assembly of the CREE and driver, along with a suitable heat sink presents a bit more of a challenge for the DIY handyman.
And, I have two DX drivers running some LEDs in two lamps.
They might interfere with TV or radio reception at times.
It is not much of an issue, as I do not need the brightest reading lamp to be on at the same time as the TV. I have plenty of resistor controlled LED lamps for that. It is the nature of LED drivers to produce interference unless well designed to eliminate it. This makes a case for still keeping some of the resistor controlled LED lamps in your setup. I do confess to using these CREE lamps rarely. There is just too much light for most tasks. I turn them on mostly to impress visitors with the capabilities of LEDs
Julian has experience with a plug and play LED lamp which uses the same driver. We really need to see that one in a side by side comparison with the lamp I just put together.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/12V-LUXEON-LED-M ... 1e599a24fe
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Extra bright for reading lamp
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15648
Think of this board as 36 LEDs as each is a triple emitter, so at eight bucks it is a very good buy.
The light output is on the warm side of white and very bright, as you would expect with 36 emitters.
Double sided circular circuit board with 12 surface mount 150 ohm resistors on the other side.
This suggests that protection from usual charging voltages will be adequate.
A measurement at my charging voltage of 13.25 volts is a current draw of 240 mA.
That is spot on at 20 mA per emitter.
Power = 13.25 volts x 0.24 amps = 3.18 watts.
That is quite a bit more than the specs shown by DX, even at 12 volts.
The LEDs run quite hot, so I prefer to remove the sticky backing and mount with the chance of some airflow around the board. DX has some two part acrylic glue very suitable to this purpose. See glue link below.
Pic below also courtesy of John.
I am running a pair in series at 24 volts. They are mounted in one of my dual aircon outlets like the picture further down. The light output is so high that a pair may be too much for a reading lamp.
BUY WARNING. DX are shipping an inferior product at the moment. see:
http://www.dealextreme.com/forums/Forums.dx/Forum.0~threadid.398466
DX also lists another similar which should be slightly less bright. It should also make an excellent reading lamp. 9 triple emitter LEDs on same size board.
Best Buy for a reading lamp.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15636
Brad came up with a neat way to use one of the supplied plugs
August 2010 update
Lawrie has just received these.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.41316
"received these today, well made, good soldering and very bright. yes the 2 pins are connected to the solder pads in the middle so could be relocated there if you wanted to replace an MR11 or MR15 or a straight quartz lamp with one. excellent value they are a pair for the price. now I just need to find somewhere to use them"
There is a further range of similar triple emitter LEDs on rectangular boards, if that is preferred. This one with 18 triple emitter LEDs will likely run closer to 5 watts than ths specs displayed by DX.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.21289
Warning, A report has come in about a similar rectangular board with a reduction in the number of resistors required for reliable life. These are not recommended until they have been examined.
The triple emitters come on a strip as well. at a similar price.
Lawrie initially gave the thumbs up to this one, but has had a circuit board delamination where he cut to shorten and cracks develop in the encapsulation. Might be best to hold off to see if this is a sample defect or continuing problem. The triple emitter LEDs do run hot, so this one might need a redesign.
Not recommended at this time due to reports of failures.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10293
He has shortened a pair here to 9 triple LEDs each, to make a double fluoro substitute.
And waiting for a report on this one:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16211
which also seems to use triple emitters.
30 LED Bar
Heads up, December 2009
DX have been shipping the 30 LED strips with some changes.
I am just installing six strips for a friend and noticed the changes.
The solder pads are gone except at the ends. If you do not have the other end available, you will have to scrape the paint off the rails, if you are cutting the bar in to sections.
The LEDs are different but seem to be about the same colour white.
They are still protected with 150 ohm resistors every three LEDs, so should be OK at charging voltages.
There is no reason to assume that these will be any less robust than the earlier models.
Another wait for reports to come in, like any LED product which is purchased.
Below is a pic for a bar product from Deal Extreme. Ten bucks. Another best buy. Draws a little over 200 mA at 12 volts for a rating of about 2.5 watts. These are the larger Superflux LEDs compared to the rectangular LED boards. Heaps of cool white light. Just the ticket for outside or under your cupboards to light up your bench space.
I liked my sample enough to order several more. I will use a pair in series for 24 volts. They would also be good for outside use.
John says:
"Bbb the 30 strip is a WINNER wow I am impressed trouble is i am now starting to retrofit the retrofits i am thinking of fitting the strip into the the inside of the rollout awning for extra light combined with the 56 led's in the outside light we will be easy to find."
BEST BUYhttp://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5256
Thought I had better pull one of these 30 LED bars apart to see what is inside.
Resistors are the same as in the good cutable strips.
150 ohms.
They should be fine then without the addition of the 5 ohm resistor at charging voltages. I am having some difficulty getting DX to remove my warning on the specs for this item. You can safely ignore it.
Total cost about twenty bucks. Large amount of light evenly spread over whole bus width and up the walls. Comes in at about 5 watts. I expect this lamp would compare favourably with the effective output of a double 8 watt fluoro fixture.
Below Al has used a pair of the 30 LED bars as bench top lighting. Attached under an overhead cupboard without the need of a lamp fixture.
75 LED bar
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11303
The LEDs here drawing a little too much current probably explains the unusual use of 180 or 200 ohm resistors. Lawrie has done some careful measurement and recommends a 3 ohm 1/2 watt resistor be placed in the supply wire. That should take care of the issue at high charging voltages. If you use two complete 75 LED bars in series at 24 volts, around 5 ohms should keep them bullet proof. Use a 5 watt resistor in this case. It is overkill but some float voltages might be a bit much for a one watter. Use the resistor guide at the bottom of this page for partial segment use for 12 or 24 volts.
This bar is likely the best price per LED of all the offerings with 75 at a little over ten bucks. Lawrie is impressed and has ordered several more. The resistors are 180 ohms although the one pictured on the DX listing shows 200 ohms. Lawrie measured the current at 590 mA at 14.1 volts while charging. That looks good, at 23.6 mA per LED. The bars arriving at the moment are better than the first ones reviewed on DX with solder issues.
Mine arrived and I measured 390 mA at 12 volts, so the 180 ohm resistors have the LEDs a little underdriven for most applications.
These will be easily cut at any three LED multiple junction with good solder pads either side of the cut.
An easy product for the novice to use as is, with the wire leads already attached. Not waterproof for outside use like the 30 LED bars though.
This particular bar lends itself to a neat way to make it suitable for 24 volts. The circuit board slides out of the plastic extrusion which houses it. You will need to cut off at least the last three LEDs so that you have two equal parts. Slice through the ribbon trace at the mid point. Add a jumper wire from the -ve to the +ve rail of one to the other. Attach a wire lead to the far rail, not used for the jumper. This will replace one of the original leads. Slide the circuit board back in its housing. You now have neat 24 volt LED lamp with a positive and negative lead at the end of the housing. You could even use the recommended resistor as your jumper for extra neatness.
See Lawrie's page for pics and other detail.
Below, you can see the level of widespread illumination George achieved with these 75 LED bars. This is quite a large area in a big converted bus.
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http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1-pcs-SMD-SMT-white-LED-light-strip-bar-5060-3M-tape-/230497477946?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35aab8653a
The above is a new cutable strip from another source of reliable suppliers of good stuff. Triple emitter on this one.
66 LED cutable ribbon strip
BEST BUYhttp://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5312
These strips are well protected from charging voltages with their 150 ohm resistors.You can cut anywhere at the scissor mark. What ever piece you have from three LEDs to 66 LEDs will run fine on 12 volts. Those little square blocks you see on the strip are surface mount resistors.
The solder tabs are already marked for your wires as +ve and -ve. Either end of the strip, or strip section, or other tabs along the rails, is an identical place electrically, so choose any convenient spot for your wires.
Lawrie says:
"The 66 led is a sure winner for $18.50 its a bargain. Its the full metre long and only about 8mm wide. Got crumpled in a couple of spots in transit but didn't do any damage. Light output I would say is around that from a 15-20w Fluoro with a good 160-170 degrees spread so no wasted light upwards but easily covers the whole room. haven't measured the current draw but as its just 3 leds and a resistor off 12v for each of the 22 sections I would think that its around 440-450ma and a bit over 5 watts total. I would think in the confines of a MH it would be pretty impressive. One thing I noticed is that out of the 66 leds there seem to be probably 10% that are yellowish rather than white. Don't know whether this is deliberate or could be the reason for the low price but it doesn't lower its rating for me."
The strips are available in long lengths and may be cut in to any combination of three LED segments for your application. For 24 volts you would just put two equal cut portions in series. Thus minimum lamp size for 24 volts would be six LEDs instead of three for 12 volts.
Choose enough strip for about 30 LEDs and you would have a pretty good area lamp or reading lamp for the bed. These surface mount LEDs spread the light about 140 degrees so can be used effectively without a diffusing cover.
Two meters of these flexible cutable strips in series for 24 volts above. Light shining on the kitchen benchtop is brilliant. I laid the strips on double sided tape and attached to a couple of Venetian blind cedar slats. Tiny Robertson screws hold the slats in place.
LaWrie just tried the 66 LED strip in a fluoro fitting below. He Says:"Just done the first of 5 double fluoro's in our new wheels. Used one of DX's strips that I already had so will hang back now and see how long it lasts before i order more. May opt for the new current controlled type that BB mentions.
Results speak for themselves, at least as bright as the 2x8w tubes it replaced and clean white light not wimpy warm brown fluoro colour."
Click here for LaWrie's page for more detail and use of some Bunnings downlights
You should certainly have a look here. LaWrie has expanded his page to show the detail of use of these cutable strips and blocks and boards. It is excellent, with step by step photo illustrations and diagrams to show how to wire the assemblies for either 12 volts or 24 volts. Collyn was impressed enough with LaWrie's work, in the picture below, to publish it in his new solar book.
You will see that LaWrie has retired these in favour of the 75 LED bars above. My own remain trouble free, but they are in single long strips and well cooled by not being enclosed in a fitting.
I like these strips. They are adequately protected from charging voltages with the 150 ohm resistors. Mine are often on with the ac charger floating my batteries and no sign of failures.
His lamp should be under five watts to replace the 16 watts of fluoros AND provide better illumination.
Another for the WOW! factor.
Here it is with the diffuser in place.
Again, more detail on LaWrie's site here: Also some other ideas on the Bunnings product to suit those little halogen downlight fittings.
Other LED lamps to watch
This one is quite expensive at forty bucks
It might have multi emitter LEDs for a large light output.
And a complete assembled lamp for the beginner
John reports that it is quite good. Switch housing and diffuser cover all built in.
If you prefer rectangular to round boards for the very bright lot, there is a whole range of these, also with triple emitter LEDS. ( from six up to 20) The circuits and resistor values have me a bit confused until I see an example. You should find the whole range from the example below.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12742
There are 6 sets of 3 paralleled triple emitters and one set of two. They are using the same layout they did with the 20 smd LED rectangular boards. The black chip is just a different value of resistor for the two string of LEDs.
Not only are they underprotected with 120 ohm resistors but the poor practice of paralleling emitters puts them at even greater risk of failure.
Glue
You have to watch that the double sided tape will hold it's stick over the long term. I used it to attach the strips to a wood slat base and then took a fine little paint brush and added white glue down both edges of the strip to make the bond more secure. The very similar strip from Jaycar has an adhesive backing but runs well over six times the price and needs a special order.
I like this glue.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6404
I used it to cement the various LED blocks from DX to a base for my light fittings. Again more reliable than the double sided tape supplied with them.
DX blocks with mini superflux LEDS
Read this first:
Looks like a redesign of those LED blocks from 12 LEDs to 28 LEDs
Question will be if they have resistors to cope with charging voltages.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18061
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18010
24 LED rectangular block for US$7.36
Single emitter LEDs in series of three with the good charging protection of 150 ohm resistors.
John measures 0.2 amps but he is likely charging.
Should be 0.16 amps at 12 volts for about 2 watts.
Not as wide beam as the triple emitter disk, so brightness seems greater.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18062
They are using surface mount LEDs instead of the mini superflux LEDs of the earlier blocks which were failing when charging batteries.
First to purchase will have to let us know the resistor values which must be on the back of the board.
Best practice is to have the LEDs in series of three with a 150 ohm resistor for each set.
Divide the number of LEDs by three and look for that number of resistors.
After examining quite a range of DX products, these seem to be the only ones with a problem with undersized resistors. I wrote a modification for each and DX put it in each item description. I have put my recommendation for resistor size to add, also at the bottom of this page.
12 LED block. About one square inch, wires in a jiffy and at one watt, three would make a good area light. About eight bucks. I measured current at less than 80mA.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3513
You are advised to add an external resistor in the power supply to this board.
Protection against charging voltages is insufficient with the 120 ohm resistors used in construction.
Here, I used a couple, and they are quite good. The pair are in series for 24 volts.
This board has recently become available with 28 LEDs for under ten bucks. Same source as 12 LED board above.I have just had a look to figure out how the circuit is arranged with 28 LEDs which is not a multiple of three. 24 of the LEDs are in series of three with 120 ohm resistors and the other 4 are in series pairs with 300 ohm resistors. This one had a current of about 250 mA. Other combinations are also found on the same site. A 16 LED version is drawing 120 mA.
The boards are packaged with a variety of plug in connectors to select for your application. These boards are good buys for your motorhome provided you take the precaution to prevent overdriving at charging voltages..
Here is the board now with 24LEDS. That suggests 8 sets of three in series. At nine bucks it should be a good choice.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3853You are advised to add an external resistor in the power supply to this board.
Protection against charging voltages is insufficient with the 120 ohm resistors used in construction.
The Keyring Flashlight now two for a buck.
The bargain of the Century
Flexible encapsulated LED strips
LaWrie now reports that 150 ohm resistors can be seen through the transparent encapsulation material. These strips should thus be fine at charging voltages just as are the cutable strips.
It has been reported that the rails may have too much resistance for effective use in the full five meter length. Some users have taken to connecting power source at both ends to eliminate less bright LEDs at the far end.
John Hunt and Ian Bond have both received the above 504 strip from DE. Ian says that cutting the strip in to sections and attaching leads would be tricky at best, getting under the encapsulating material.
Here John has used the strips to form area lights in circular fittings. He is buying the DX shorter 96 LED versions of the five meter strip.
You can view my purchases and reviews from Dealextreme. Click here
I have avoided direct bulb replacement LED lighting. While replacing a 50 watt halogen bulb with a one or three watt LED one might be a simple process, it might not be your best choice. Light colour might offer limited choice and getting an exact physical size fit might cause you problems.Another issue relates to the circuitry included to run the various LED types on 12 volts. Some are efficient, others might be wasteful. It is difficult to tell until the design has been examined and measurements taken.
You can still use your existing lamp housing with a little modification to fit other choices.The little 12 LED miniature boards using the smaller superflux LEDs above work very well.
If you want to try the direct bulb replacement types, you will find a range of on the Deal Extreme site.
or here:
http://www.besthongkong.com/index.php?cPath=9_69 ________________________________________
Extra resistors for DX boards.
It looks like these rectangular boards with the miniature superflux type LEDs have been the main problem. They come in a variety of sizes from 8 LEDs to 28 LEDs.
You will find the easy fix below and now added as my warning on the DX page for each of these products. A further recommendation is added for the new 75 LED bars.
I did some testing to recommend a solution to the failure of the DX LED boards. The problem is that 120 ohm resistors have been used to limit current and 150 ohms would have been a much better choice to protect the LEDs at charging voltages. The solution will be a relatively simple one and involve the addition of a suitable resistor as you wire in the LED block. The resistance value will be different for each size block or strip needing the addition.
Resistor values as follows where need indicated.
Just add the resistor in to the positive lead to the LED lamp.
For 12 volt systems.
75 LED bar 3 ohms
28 LED block 5 ohms
24 LED block 7.5 ohms
16 LED block 12 ohms
12 LED block 15 ohms.
8 LED block 17 ohms
For 24 volt systems.
75 LED bar pair in series 4.7 ohms
75 LED bar halves in series 9 ohms
28 LED block pairs in series 7 ohms
Two 12 blocks in series 40 ohms
Just use the next higher value above if the exact resistor value is not available.
One watt resistors are mostly sufficient but it is cheap enough to use the overkill of wire wound 5 watters. An undersize resistor will get hot and may fail. You can also do your own calculation to determine a suitable protecting resistor for charging voltages above 12 volts. Some charging voltages from alternators or solar panels can be in the 14 to 15 volt range. You will need to measure the current draw. Most LEDs are designed to operate at 20 mA. Having them draw in the range of 20 to 25 mA should be quite safe. Sensible arrangements have the individual LEDs arranged in series of three, so a 30 LED bar should draw from 200 to 250 mA to be safe, at the highest charging voltage you have.
10 x 3 = 30 LEDs thus 10 x 20 mA = 200 mA etc.
The 75 LED bar should draw from 500 to 625 mA with a similar calculation.
Just add resistance until this is so. Resistors are very cheap, so a supply of lower values can be bought for testing. If the resistor gets warm use a higher wattage one.
Some LED lamps have LED numbers which are not multiples of three, and even some which do, have odd arrangements with some LEDs in series strings of two. In such a case you need to count the strings to determine the safe current draw. Complete lamps arranged in series pairs for 24 volts will have the same current as a single lamp on 12 volts.
When you add LED lamps ( strips and bars and blocks etc. ) in parallel, good practice would have you add the suitable sized resistor to each lamp. It will work with a single higher wattage resistor, of the same value for all, but such practice is not wise for the same reason that paralleling LED circuits on a single resistor, within the board at manufacture, is poor practice, and it only saves a few cents.
Also remember, that if you are using LED lamps with triple emitter LEDs the expected current will be three times that for single emitters. Each LED package is three LEDs in one, in this case.
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