szewczyk_john
Well-known member
Back in March I installed a Magnum Industries 2500 watt inverter/charger along with a trimetric monitor. Everything is working great without issues. This was a great mod that I wished I did earlier. After our first trip this year to make sure everything was working properly, I purchased about $65.00 worth of LED bulbs and assemblies to switch all the light over to LED lighting. I purchased 4 different bulbs T10, G4 and 15S based bulbs. The T10 and G4 based bulbs are working without issues. The 15S based bulbs work fine as long as the Magnum is not in the charging mode. Once I start the charging process these bulbs smoke and give off a burnt plastic odor. Has anyone else experienced this? I purchased 2 different bulbs for the under cabinet and ceiling light fixtures. Both use 5050 LEDs, half are 18 SMD and the rest are 27 SMD assemblies.
12 volt lighting is supposed to withstand voltage between the 11.5 -15 volt range. When my unit is bulk charging, it is sending 14.4 volts to the battery and absorb charging is done at 13.8 as per battery manufacturing specs. I also measured the voltage to the fixtures with a multimeter to be at 14.3 volts. LEDs were smoking and hot to the touch. The incandescent lights also get hotter then normal while charging is going on but not enough for me to worry about overheating.
I also know that I bought cheaper ebay variety LED lighting. Has anyone else experienced this? Do the more expensive LED bulbs have technology that will allow them to withstand the higher voltages while charging is going on? I also know that most of my charging will be done during daylight hours but I want nothing to do with these cheaper bulbs.
The only way we discovered this was we recently went to the trailer to exercise the generator and discovered that no one had placed the battery disconnect switches to the off position. My batteries were completely drained. So we hooked up the Honda 3000 inverter to the trailer and while the batteries were charging I decided to kill time by installing the new LED lights. Why deciding if we wanted the 18 or 27 SMD lights over the galley sink, they started to smoke. As stated the G4 and T10 lights are fine but the are very small bulbs for accent lighting. This happens with both the Honda 300 suppling power as well as the on board Onan.
The ebay seller's ad states that the 18 SMD had 216 lumens and for all applications interior and exterior of a trailer. I have done a little research on the internet and some retailers are stating that LEDs are not made to exceed 13 volts and that auto/RV/boat users should only use LED lighting with voltage regulators. I hope no one finds out the hard way and I am glad I discovered this before something bad happened. I will be looking into the more expensive led lighting to see if they react the same way or not to our charging modes
12 volt lighting is supposed to withstand voltage between the 11.5 -15 volt range. When my unit is bulk charging, it is sending 14.4 volts to the battery and absorb charging is done at 13.8 as per battery manufacturing specs. I also measured the voltage to the fixtures with a multimeter to be at 14.3 volts. LEDs were smoking and hot to the touch. The incandescent lights also get hotter then normal while charging is going on but not enough for me to worry about overheating.
I also know that I bought cheaper ebay variety LED lighting. Has anyone else experienced this? Do the more expensive LED bulbs have technology that will allow them to withstand the higher voltages while charging is going on? I also know that most of my charging will be done during daylight hours but I want nothing to do with these cheaper bulbs.
The only way we discovered this was we recently went to the trailer to exercise the generator and discovered that no one had placed the battery disconnect switches to the off position. My batteries were completely drained. So we hooked up the Honda 3000 inverter to the trailer and while the batteries were charging I decided to kill time by installing the new LED lights. Why deciding if we wanted the 18 or 27 SMD lights over the galley sink, they started to smoke. As stated the G4 and T10 lights are fine but the are very small bulbs for accent lighting. This happens with both the Honda 300 suppling power as well as the on board Onan.
The ebay seller's ad states that the 18 SMD had 216 lumens and for all applications interior and exterior of a trailer. I have done a little research on the internet and some retailers are stating that LEDs are not made to exceed 13 volts and that auto/RV/boat users should only use LED lighting with voltage regulators. I hope no one finds out the hard way and I am glad I discovered this before something bad happened. I will be looking into the more expensive led lighting to see if they react the same way or not to our charging modes
