Adding 12v Lights - How Many?

[frumbawa]

Hi All,

I want to add some additional lighting to the garage area of my Cyclone, primarily under the top bunk around the table area as we like to sit back there, play games etc, and it's kinda dark when the upper bunk is down. I know on a regular 110 circuit, you can only add so much. I'm assuming there's probably a limit on a 12v circuit as well. Anyone know what that limit might be or at least how to calculate it?

Any information is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Frank

 

[alaska dodge]

It depends on the wire size and the amps you are pulling. If you are going to add one more light and tie to the one up in the roof you should fine.

 

[pegmikef]

You might want to see how many lights are already on the circuit. You should be able to do this by turning all of the lights on and then pulling the fuse or pull the fuse with the lights off and see which ones don't come on . . . but as said earlier it is unlikely that a single light will overload anything.

 

[JohnDar]

If you wire in some additional 12V fixtures to an existing circuit, consider using low wattage LED "bulbs" in them. That should not overtax the system. I just replaced 10 of the 1141 bulbs in my rig with the LED equivalent, if for no other reason, the reduced heat output when they're left on. Brightness is almost indistinguishable from the incandescent ones I replaced.

 

[rick_debbie_gallant]

John, did you locate
That many bulbs at a pretty good price or did you bite the bullet?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JohnDar]

Depends on your definition of biting the bullet, or just inhaling a lot of gun smoke. I got them from LEDTrailerLights.com, who also do business at 4x4led.com and RV-LED.com. Ten "bulbs" ran $165 with S&H. Maybe I could have saved a few pennies if I shopped around for days, but these looked pretty good to me. These were the 1141-252 RV Interior LED replacement-warm white, 252 lumens. Each has 18 LED's on it.

I replaced the ones over the kitchen island, the side counter lights, the bathroom, and the closet. Those get the most use in our rig, especially the kitchen ones. I may replace another batch at a later date.

 

[Phatkd]

Depends on your definition of biting the bullet, or just inhaling a lot of gun smoke. I got them from LEDTrailerLights.com, who also do business at 4x4led.com and RV-LED.com. Ten "bulbs" ran $165 with S&H. Maybe I could have saved a few pennies if I shopped around for days, but these looked pretty good to me. These were the 1141-252 RV Interior LED replacement-warm white, 252 lumens. Each has 18 LED's on it.

I replaced the ones over the kitchen island, the side counter lights, the bathroom, and the closet. Those get the most use in our rig, especially the kitchen ones. I may replace another batch at a later date.

Those packages of 6 battery powered LED lights with a wireless remote seem to come in handy for extra lighting. At 30 bucks per package they are cheap, throw tons of light and don't go through very many batteries. They stick with the 3M double sided tape that is provided, or you can velcro them on as well. I have used them on all sorts of projects. You can sinc up to 24 lights with 1 remote in about 2 minutes.

 

[mobilcastle]

I just replaced 30 of the 12v light bulbs in my rig. You can get them on Ebay at about $47 for 10 bulbs-they work excellent.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170721857327?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

[Lynn1130]

What mobilcastle said. I replaced all of the inside lights and the lights in the UDC and basement with those he has sited. It ran under $150 for 30 and I could not be happier with them. Besides being lower wattage and cooler I think they are brighter than the originals. The object was to reduce battery drain while dry camping.

 

[JohnDar]

Yep, after learning of that Ebay source, I did get 20 more LED's and replaced every 1141 bulb in the joint. I also ordered the double base replacement LED's for the wall sconces after we stored the rig. They'll get installed in the spring. I'm not so concerned about conserving battery power (we don't dry camp) as I am about the heat output of the bulbs in those plastic fixtures. Particularly the one in the closet that SOMEBODY has a habit of leaving on.