LED Lighting bought from Ebay

A recent survey found that ebay is the No. 1 place for fake goods. Most fakes come from China and a lot of better quality goods are made in China.

This is the first time I have heard that LED's are voltage tolerant and frankly I do not believe it unless they have an inbuilt circuit on them.

If you think that vans have built in regulators for the 12 volt DC then try checking the voltage on yours and report back. If it were true, we could all go down to the local lighting shop and buy the domestic 12 volt LED's at a fraction of the price.
 
A recent survey found that ebay is the No. 1 place for fake goods. Most fakes come from China and a lot of better quality goods are made in China.

This is the first time I have heard that LED's are voltage tolerant and frankly I do not believe it unless they have an inbuilt circuit on them.

If you think that vans have built in regulators for the 12 volt DC then try checking the voltage on yours and report back. If it were true, we could all go down to the local lighting shop and buy the domestic 12 volt LED's at a fraction of the price.

Most fakes come from China , never said any different .Yes my van voltage is regulated .There is nothing different from the leds you use for domestic or Motorhome .Yes go down your local shop , and I can guarantee you will not get them at a fraction of the cost .
 
I think I should point out that British vans with the Sargent charging system are fitted with a voltage limiting device to prevent the voltage going to the maximum level (over 14 volts) at the 12 volt sockets and lights. This can happen for a short period due to the 'intelligent' charger in the van. It is a limiter and not a regulator. Anyone with a foreign or older van can have problems with some cheap LED's.

There are 2 things I would like to point out:

If anyone wants to fit LED's, a Google search will find hundreds of places to buy them and will give you all the information you need. You could also do a search on this (and any other forum) for loads of info. There is no need to start a new thread.

Secondly, I am sorry to say that I will never respond to another thread on LED's as it always ends up as a slanging match between those that have cheap ebay ones and those that have not.
 
I think I should point out that British vans with the Sargent charging system are fitted with a voltage limiting device to prevent the voltage going to the maximum level (over 14 volts) at the 12 volt sockets and lights. This can happen for a short period due to the 'intelligent' charger in the van. It is a limiter and not a regulator. Anyone with a foreign or older van can have problems with some cheap LED's.

There are 2 things I would like to point out:

If anyone wants to fit LED's, a Google search will find hundreds of places to buy them and will give you all the information you need. You could also do a search on this (and any other forum) for loads of info. There is no need to start a new thread.

Secondly, I am sorry to say that I will never respond to another thread on LED's as it always ends up as a slanging match between those that have cheap ebay ones and those that have not.

Not having a slanging match here . Just a disscussion , and also agree with a lot you say but not everything .My biggest gripe is the middle men in the UK overpriceing a cheap product from China as they do with everything else that is imported from these country's
 
I belive that some LEDs are not tolerant of voltages above 12v I have Hong Kong/ China LEDs and had one fail when in use while on Elec Hook up and charger on.When charging my 12v supply goes up to 14.5 -15v (1996 Hymer with electoblock 12v control unit) .So now when using LEDs I tend to switch the charger Off and switch it on in the daytime or at night after lights out.I still have 12v fluorescents which do not take too much power and can tolerate a larger voltage range and can be on while charging.I have fitted a 12v voltage regulator to the TV supply just in case the TV may be damaged by higher voltages .It also maintains 12volts if the voltage goes too low.A regulator could be fitted to the lighting circuit but may not be worth the cost.
 
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LED lighting

I can vouch for the Bedazzled outfit. Very knowledgable and helpful of the phone. Replaced 19 halogen bulbs on our narrowboat, 25w/30w mixture, and we could run all 19 for the same consumption as 3 of the others. I`m not electrically trained but LEDs have moved on from the type used in the average torch and give great light output, not cheap but worth the money.

Pete
 
LED lamps are very voltage tolerant . Some have a voltage range from 9v to 18v others I have seen from 8v to 36v . This is one reason they have been used in control instrumentation for many years . A quick search on ebay gave me a price a price of an Mr11 -12led £7.24 uk delivered ,and £2.87 delivered from Hong Kong . Both looked identical , and no mention from either of a built in regulator .Another point , any modern built Motorhome should have it's 12v D.C. output already regulated by the manufacture .




LEDs by themselves are current devices, not voltage devices so either need to have a current regulator in series to limit the current to a safe level - often about 20mA per LED - in which case the lamp can be made to tolerate a fairly wide voltage input range - the 8V to 36V referred to, OR they can have a current limiting resistor in series with each series string of three (for 12V operation) in which case they are very voltage sensitive and an increase in supply voltage of a couple of volts, may double the current flowing through each LED. Since they have very little capacity for getting rid of excess power generated, they don't last long and this has been a major sticking point to more general acceptance. With current regulation becoming the standard, voltage intolerance and short life should be a thing of the past. Trouble is, just how does one know which has a current regulator. I guess if the specifications say it does, or if they are sold with a wide voltage range, then that is a good sign, but other than that there is no way to know except by buying some and testing their current vs supply voltage characteristics. Price is NOT a good indicator.

Claimed super-long life hasn't materialised either and it is pretty easy to find trucks with tail lights having groups of three LEDs dark even though they are the wide voltage current regulated type.

Haven't heard of many motorhomes with regulated DC habitation supply. Some - older types - have voltage converters which are fixed 13.7V, but seems to me the trend is away from those battery killers and more towards decent three-stage chargers which can produce charging voltages up to 15V in equalisation mode and 14.4V normally. Blowing an occasional $3 bulb doesn't come close to wrecking $1000 worth of batteries so I prefer a three-staage charger anytime.
This is why better quality lamps have current regulators instead of series resistors.

I'm not a big fan of LED lighting - only because until fairly recently their so-called warm white was invariable more like blue daylight, but now that their warm white is a lot more to my liking - although still a bit monochromatic - I have tried a few different types with reasonable results.

To replace the fluros, I've ordered a couple of these from Deal Extreme
80310 12W 3500K 800LM Warm White LED Emitter Metal Strip (12~14V)
to see how they go.

Another problem you will stike and already alluded to is that although the surface mount device (SMD) LEDs have a beam angle of 135 degrees, normal lamps are a lot less glarey (not the extreme pinpoint source of a LED) and have a wider beam so in my opinion give a more pleasing, less contrasty atmosphere than LEDs. Better design of lighting fittings may solve the problem but not yet.
 
I'm not a big fan of led lighting - only because until fairly recently their so-called warm white was invariable more like blue daylight, but now that their warm white is a lot more to my liking - although still a bit monochromatic - I have tried a few different types with reasonable results.

Yeah I had the same thoughts but now I really like the warm white.
 

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