Our 16 has/uses the standard wedge base 921/194 bulbs in all the light fixtures. These really get hot and I would like to move to LED's but have been reading (on other sites) that many of the power regulated LED replacements cause radio interference. In fact some LED reviews from users, who turn on an LED equipped light fixture, describe Television or Radio signal loss. As I understand the issue it can also cause problems with WiFi or Cell phone reception.
Has anyone come across an LED bulb that works without causing all of the aforementioned problems?
As one who enjoys all the modern amenities my wife would not be happy if turning on the lights caused all these problems.
thanks
- Jeff
Hey Jeff, I think the key phrase in your question is "Power Regulated" LED Bulbs.
The LEDs used for the Scamp are simply 12 volt LED Bulbs, they are designed to use the 12 volt power without the need for "Power Regulation".
I think the issue with interference comes into play with 120 Volt LED bulbs designed for home use. These bulbs have some type of transformer or other schema to reduce the voltages down to the point that the LEDs will operate at and the transformer is what actually causes the interference.
I have been purchasing my LED bulbs direct from China via Bangood.com and Lightinthebox.com of course, Amazon is also a good source. Be sure to select the correct color temperature when you order your LED Bulbs.
As Always,
Happy Scamping !!!
Hi Jeff,
Not experienced this or heard anyone else that has and almost all the trailers at the gatherings have LED. I'd recommend a read through of our LED section on solar resource:
https://www.scampowners.com/reducing-power-consumption-led-lighting
I get LED's from Amazon mostly and have had no issues.
Our Trailers:
2015 19 Escape
Buying or Selling Molded FG Trailers:
Fiberglass-RV-4Sale
Thanks
I read the post and looked at the individual LED bulbs recommended. However, in the fine print by the manufacturer on a couple of those the bulbs are not recommended for RV use as the voltage can fluctuate above 12v. On the review side of the fence several RV owners who purchased bulbs noted that "interference" caused simple noise in their FM radio or in some instances Television reception was lost or diminished.
This may be a problem with all LED bulbs in this category.............I have no expertise with this issue and just going by what I have read thus far.
At a recent new RV show, I was surprised at all the incandescent lamps in the $60 – 70 thousand RVs. It's not just Scamp
Many 12V LED lamps have built in voltage regulation. They will often be described with a wide voltage range, ie. 10 - 30 volt example. While this makes them more reliable when used with the fluctuating voltages produced by RV converters & solar controllers, poorly designed regulators create RFI (Radio Frequency Interference). If you want the protection of the regulation, better designed lamps create less electrical noise, although they tend to be the most expensive versions sold by established companies. If you are willing to occasionally replace a burned out LED, the cheap, non regulated lamps, often available directly from China don't create RFI.
The quality of "direct from China" lamps varies greatly, and the shipping time can be weeks, it is hard to beat the prices. I've used a couple of different suppliers without problems, but there is always the chance that you will end up with junk. At a dollar or two per lamp, it may be worth a try.
My Daily Travel Blog
My Photo & RV Website
I appreciate all the helpful comments.
To that end I kept reading (and there is a lot to read out there) and I considered the non-regulated 12v LED bulbs. I finally came across a website where the author of the site (webpage or company) reports to be a full time RVer. (I found this on the "Our Story" page of the site.)
http://briteledideas.com/
I did contacted this company and asked specifically about RF interference. They claimed not to have any issues of this type. I then ordered two LED bulbs as an experiment which arrived very quickly. My results were OK. Let me qualify this as I did experience some minor interference. The bulb specs list a 11 to 30 volt operating range so I would conclude they are the regulated type.
I placed one bulb in a ceiling light which is near (about a foot) my television. The second bulb went into a ceiling light over the side dinette (about 6 feet) from my television. Using an outside over-the-air antenna I pick up the appropriate stations in my area. If I turn on the light closest to the television I experience interference on two channels. The light further away does not appear to cause any issues.
Is it the particular frequency of the television channel, the proximity of the LED bulb, weak television signal?
Since we have a two day trip planned this week I will explore the cause/effect further as we camp. I must say I like the light output and color and they run very cool to the touch. If the interference stays confined to what it is currently I will be ordering additional bulbs when I get back.
My Update:
Our recent trip is over and the two bulbs I purchased as a test worked great!
We had several good over-the-air television stations and never experienced any interference issues due to these bulbs. I am going to order the remainder to finish all the inside fixtures this week. The bulbs we ordered were the lowest lumen rating they offered in a warm white. We have reading lights that came with the trailer which were already LED and those are much brighter and serve there purpose fine.
As with any LED bulb these keep the fixtures much much cooler. I can't imagine these plastic fixtures can take to many years of heat and not show the effects from those regular incandescent bulbs. A very good upgrade.
I recently swapped out all of the interior light bulbs for these LED's.
I took the Scamp out for the first time this past weekend. I was about 30 miles from the nearest tv towers. No interference problems and was pulling in channels from much further away than 30 miles.
The question of whether or not there was anything worth watching is another matter, but I did manage some evening news and a late show.
I agree with not much to watch or worth watching. The wife says I over-think some of this and she said who wants to watch television with all these lights on anyway :)
We leave tomorrow for our second trip in ours and lights aside we plan to just enjoy the weather.
As a ham radio enthusiast who uses very low power (I am not the type to interfere with you guys) there is a huge problem with RFI due to LED bulbs - and lack of shielding etc. Some of the devices can completly wipe out reception to the ham. I am a proponent of LED - when it is done right - but when it is done wrong (and a lot of the Chinese products meet this description) there is reason to be concerned. FCC regulations state that is illegal to run devices that interfere with ham radio reception. Heavy fines can be imposed for interference. When checking for RFI issues, be sure to listen to your AM radio as well - that is where you may really hear noticeable interference. So - I want to commend JTST_Scamper for being cognizant of RFI and hope that others will take this matter serioulsy when selecting LED bulbs and appliances.
Pages