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Topic: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards? (Read 387 times) previous topic - next topic
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Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Greetings everyone! I just purchased a beautiful 2000 26 RB. Red, my favorite!

So, when buying from the previous owner on, inspection we found that three of the four florescent fixtures would not work. Owner told me that her now deceased husband had tried to install LED bulbs in them and that's when they quit. She was led to believe that he had destroyed the voltage converter.

We bought it anyway, brought it home, gave her a nice bath and set in to solve the problem. I know a little about solving electrical issues. What I found was that the converter was fine, and that the circuit boards or some associated component within them on three of the lights are bad. I am presuming that they did not like the LED replacement bulbs in them and that is what caused the failure.

Question: Can I purchase replacement fixtures that will match the originals in size (so far my internet searches haven't been fruitful), or can I buy the circuit boards somewhere to repair these...?

Thank You!
2000 Lazy Daze 26RB
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #1 –
Hi Dawn, and welcome to the FOLD (Fellowship Of Lazy Daze owners).  A  2000  RB is one of the most popular floorplans, along with the MidBath.
   About those ceiling lights.  It could be that the transition to LED bulbs was done incorrectly.  The ballast is an electronic inverter in each fixture to allow use of 110VAC florescent tubes off of 12 VDC (battery power).  Led's can't handle that high voltage, unless designed to, as in residential fixtures.  Ones intended for RV's,  use 12volts, so the inverters sometimes referred to as ballasts (they aren't really) need to be removed.  If you want to use florescent tubes (a big step backwards) I have the ballasts and tubes that I have removed from my rig.  The M4 LED products LED Replacement for 18" T8 Tube Lights   are what I used and they look like regular cool white florescents, but the upward facing part of the tube is aluminum heatsink, and only the bottom half (plastic, not glass) radiates light. These tubes still use the sockets, but those sockets have to be rewired for 12 volts. This is really easy to do.
    So the light that does work...old style florescent, or LED?  The ones that don't work....LED that didn't work right? or florescent that were put back in after an improper conversion? Any other type of LED light can complicate the aesthetics by leaving holes in the ceiling or cabinets.  You need two of theses tubes per fixture, and they look so similar they are hard to tell. They use less power, last almost forever and come on right away even in cold weather).
         Welcome to the Forum. Most of us with older rigs have been through this already.   RonB
RonB (Bostick) living in San Diego
Original owner of "Bluebelle" a '99 TKB
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #2 –
Quote from: RonB  - 
 
The M4 LED products

LED Replacement for 18" T8 Tube Lights   are what I used and they look like regular cool white fluorescents, but the upward-facing part of the tube is an aluminum heatsink, and only the bottom half (plastic, not glass) radiates light.
These tubes still use the sockets, but those sockets have to be rewired for 12 volts.
This is really easy to do.

M4 has been around for a long time and is my go-to LED supplier for years.
As Ron said, rewiring the sockets shouldn't be a huge project. Many here had done the conversion, it's well worth the effort in power savings.
Make sure to pick the light color most pleasing to yourself, you have choices.

Larry
Larry
2003 23.5' Front Lounge, since new.  Previously 1983 22' Front Lounge.
Tow vehicles  2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2001 Jeep Cherokee
Photo Collection: Lazy Daze
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #3 –
"M4 has been around for a long time and is my go-to LED supplier for years."

Back when (?) I rewired my fixtures for LED lights M4 provided diagrams and instructions on how to do the job. Is that still the case?  ::)
Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Cedar
2004 30'IB (Island Bed)
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery
Live for the day!
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #4 –
RonB, Thank you!
1. The light that does work is still original florescent type.
2. The ones that don't work had improper LED conversion and now the florescent tubes will not work.
3. I would really like to go LED on all of them
4. So, if I'm reading the schematic right (on the M4 site), as you said to rewire the pin sockets WOW, that's really easy!

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your help, and knowledge!
2000 Lazy Daze 26RB
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #5 –
Larry W, Thank you! I will keep that in mind!
2000 Lazy Daze 26RB
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #6 –
Lazy Bones, Yes, I did see that diagram on their web site. Thank you!
2000 Lazy Daze 26RB
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #7 –
I replaced my fluorescent tube fixtures with all new LED fixtures. If your fixtures are the same as the originals in my 2003 MB, I'd be happy to give my old ones to you for free (just pay shipping). I have 4 that were working and 1 that had balast problems.

I can post a picture of them later today. They would be shipped from Texas.
My wheels:
2003 MB
2012 Jeep Liberty
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #8 –

Converting the fixtures to LED is pretty straightforward and a fun project. Essentially, you:
1. Remove the fixture screws;
2. Cut the incoming 12v wires (2);
3. Gut the fixture so it's just an empty shell;
4. Solder 20 gauge wire to LED strips and lay them in the fixutre;
5. Connect your wires to the two 12 volt coach wires;
6. Screw it back in.

It sounds complicated when describing it but it is not difficult and is cheap to do. Here are a few photos and a couple of links.

If you decide to do it, check for photos and instructions here and feel free to send me a PM and I would be glad to give you a hand.
jor

LEDs
Wire


As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
09 27' MB
10  Suby Forester
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #9 –
Dawn, we did the conversion from florescent to the M4 LED tubes about three years ago.  It was simple as others have reported here.  We found that the light from the two M4 tubes was too bright for us in our Dinette so we went with one warm LED tube but wired it for both.  We also used one 5000K bright in our kitchen fixture and found that to be enough.  We removed the unit in our rear 98~MB lounge and replaced it with a drum light with LED bulbs and used a white metal plate to cover the sizable hole created by its removal.  We bought 4 tubes from M4, two warm white and two 5000K bright white.  We rewired two units and use only one tube in each thus leaving us with two tubes as extras and we use half the power for each but could add one more tube simply to each in the future.

                                Karen~Liam
                                  98 ~ MB
                                    NinA


https://www.lazydazeowners.com/MGalleryItem.php?id=4348
1998 ~ MB  WanderDaze
previously a 1984 Winnebago itaska- The Road Warrior, before that several VW Buses and before that a 1965 Chrysler Convertible Newport or our 1969 Chrysler La Barron with an ice box and a couple sleeping bags
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #10 –
"It sounds complicated when describing it but it is not difficult and is cheap to do."

Jor

I'm wondering why you chose to go with the 'strips' as opposed to the 'tubes'?? I found the tubes much easier to work with after a disaster with the strips!  >:(   ::)
Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Cedar
2004 30'IB (Island Bed)
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery
Live for the day!
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #11 –

Speaking for myself, when I converted my midbath's fluorescent lights to LED ten years ago, LED strips were a lot cheaper than LED tubes. And it looks as if they still are: right now, fourteen bucks will buy you sixteen feet of daylight or warm white LED strip. That's enough to do all the fixtures in a Lazy Daze. By contrast, M4's 18" LED tubes are twenty five bucks apiece.

The only trouble I ever had with the strips was with their adhesive starting to let go in hot weather. They still worked fine, and the fixtures' diffusers kept the strips from going anywhere. If were doing the job over, I'd carefully sand and clean the inner surfaces before adhering the strips.

LED tubes do have the advantage that you can mix and match--experiment with one or two tubes per fixture, change to different colored tubes, and so on. But you pay a considerable premium for the privilege.

As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #12 –
Quote
I'm wondering why you chose to go with the 'strips' as opposed to the 'tubes'??

I used the tubes years ago on one rig we had. I might even have a couple of them around here somewhere. Like Andy said, those babies are expensive. With the strips you can make the light as bright as you like. Also, I like the idea of throwing all that old tech and replacing with simple strips.
jor
09 27' MB
10  Suby Forester
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #13 –
Even I was able to switch my fluorescent lights to LED bulbs years ago, using instructions from an lighting booth at the Quartzsite RV Show Big Tent... and got a deal on six tubes at what I thought was a good price. The most expensive LED bulb I ever bought was the tiny one for the range hood above the stove!
If I can do it, anybody can.
Kristin
1997 MB
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #14 –
Quote from: debinvenice  - 
I replaced my fluorescent tube fixtures with all new LED fixtures. If your fixtures are the same as the originals in my 2003 MB, I'd be happy to give my old ones to you for free (just pay shipping).

Deb, Thanks for the offer! However, I have already begun the conversion process. It's a fun little project!
2000 Lazy Daze 26RB
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #15 –

Hi Dawn;  Factors in favor of the LED tube lights is that in your year of motorhome, the florescent light fixtures were inset into the ceilings or cabinet bottoms. So changing to a different shape/size of fixture became a carpentry problem.  However the other small ceiling fixtures with incandescent bulbs, can be replaced with higher tech LED surface mount fixtures that cover up the about 1" diameter wire hole. Energy savings for these is better.  One that looks promising:  Amazon.com: XPORTION 12V-24V RV Lights, 180 LED RV Interior Lights, RV...  The night light to find the switch in darkness sounds like a good touch.
    I've already replaced my bathroom and cabover lights, so these new ones aren't necessary for me, but might work well for you.   RonB

  The Chinese attempt at English is particularly bad for these lights.

  

As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
RonB (Bostick) living in San Diego
Original owner of "Bluebelle" a '99 TKB
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #16 –
Those look like good lights, Ron--I like the features! If anybody here tries them, I hope they'll let us know how they work out.

Meanwhile, since you mentioned finding the switch in the darkness... I may have mentioned this before, but I've found this wirelessly remote controlled light bar really handy when getting up at night. I mounted the light under my bathroom cabinet, and stuck the small remote to the bedroom wall next to my bed with mounting putty. I can reach up and tap the on button before I get out of bed.

At 250 warm-white lumens, it's enough light to see by, but not so bright as to blind me. (And it's dimmable from the remote, although it doesn't remember the dimmed state.) My only criticism is that the three smooth, recessed buttons on the remote were hard to distinguish by touch... but that was easily remedied with a small foam dot on the center on/off button. (A dot of epoxy would have been just as good.)

I use this light a couple of times a night, and it's one of the best ten-dollar purchases I've made.
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #17 –
Quote from: RonB  - 
so these new ones aren't necessary for me, but might work well for you.   RonB

Thank you, Ron! I have already begun by taking your advice and am converting over to the LED tubes for the florescent fixtures. As for the smaller lights, YES, those look like something I may try!

Thank you!
2000 Lazy Daze 26RB
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #18 –
"As for the smaller lights, YES, those look like something I may try!"

With one exception I retained the original fixtures on all my small lights and only replaced the incandescent bulbs with LEDs that had a compatible base. The type of base is critical for success.  ::)
Steve S.
Lazy Bones & Cedar
2004 30'IB (Island Bed)
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery
Live for the day!
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #19 –

Here's a report on those 12 V XPORTION LED fixtures that Ron mentioned. I just installed one over my sink, and I like it a lot. It's brighter than the conventional 2-in-1 LED fixture I replaced. It's dimmable, and can be switched between warm white, natural, and cool white. All this is controlled by one large push-and-turn knob. And these fixtures are currently two for twenty bucks (!) on Amazon Prime. Highly recommended!

As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Andy Baird
2021 Ford Ranger towing 2019 Airstream 19CB
Previously: 1985 LD Twin/King "Gertie"; 2003 LD Midbath "Skylark"
Re: Replacement interior florescent fixtures, or new circuit boards?
Reply #20 –
Quote from: Andy Baird  - 
Here's a report on those 12 V XPORTION LED fixtures that Ron mentioned.

Thanks Andy and Ron! This update reminded me about these, so I just ordered a set.

Jason
As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Jason

2003 Rear Bath
"Razor Crest"
Our first RV, purchased from the original owner 01/2022