This may seem stupid question BUT for the first time I have a blown bulb in the light above the sink in our 2004 Jayco Freedom pop-top. How do I rectify this? Do I need to remove the two tiny screws fixing the light assembly to the ceiling? If I do this, is the bulb replacement a simple matter of removing a two prong connector and removing the bulb? Or should I be able to screw out the bulb? I know. I am clueless.
I too have a 2004 Freedom! The original sink light was a halogen - the same type as in house down lights. Those type of lights generate a lot of heat and have caused house fires. In addition both the over bed reading lights were the same type. When I checked I found that the heat had scorched the bottom housing of one of the reading lights to the point that it must have been close to catching fire.
So all three of those lights were replaced.
For over the sink I bought a 300mm long LED bar which was then connected to an ordinary house type light switch ($2.95 if I remember right). The only minor difficulty was to solder two short wires onto the light bar leads to connect up to the switch and the positive wire.
DON'T FORGET THAT THE CARAVAN PLUS (+) POWER SUPPLY WIRE IS BLACK - THAT IS CONNECTED TO ONE TERMINAL OF THE SWITCH. THEN THE RED WIRE FROM THE LED BAR GOES TO THE OTHER TERMINAL. THE BLACK WIRE FROM THE LED BAR GOES DIRECT TO THE WHITE WIRE.
Of course, you could simply solder black and white wires to the LED bar and connect up white to white and black to black. For some reason I didn't think of that when I did mine!
Mounting the LED bar is simple - just use the two clips provided.
If your lights are the same as this one,remove the bottom plastic flange with your finger nails the glass drops out remove the bulb and fit LED and replace.
Those 'eyeball' type lights are the ones I had. The original bulbs were halogen which gave off a lot of heat scorching the bottom of the fittings, one burnt right through so was close to catching fire. Mine are long gone so I am unable to provide a photo.
I can see that you have LED lights installed - easier to do than the LED bar I have. Still, I think that the LED bar provides more light over the sink and work bench.
Thank you Long weekend; olley46 and Lance C. I will work on it and call for more help when required. I knew this was the forum to ask on. Cannot be sure the light is exectly the same as shown in Olley 46's photo but it is something like that. will go look soon. Thank you all again. Kev P
I have added a LED strip for the wife to read buy I don't use the little ones anymore,plus the switch is easier to get at,I also have fitted a LED strip over the sink and also under the glass cabinet on the adj side.
Lance C
-- Edited by Olley46 on Sunday 6th of September 2015 05:23:39 PM
Thank you Long weekend; olley46 and Lance C. I will work on it and call for more help when required. I knew this was the forum to ask on. Cannot be sure the light is exectly the same as shown in Olley 46's photo but it is something like that. will go look soon. Thank you all again. Kev P
Kev, the easiest way is to upload a pic of your light fitting and we'll be able to tell you how to get the old bulb out and what's the best LED to go into it. The 12 spot LED that Lance posted up are about the equivilant of a 10 watt halogen bulb in terms of light output but only using 2.25 watts power. There are many options going both lighter and brighter just depends on how much light you want.
Steve.
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Steve, Di & Ziggy We named our Motorhome "Roadworx" because on the road works "On The Road Again" Ford Transit with 302 Windsor V8 conversion, C4 Auto, 9 Inch Ford Diff All Lighting L.E.D., 260 Amp/h AGM, 530 Watt Solar + Kipor Backup Gen.
The LED strip certainly gives out more light than the eyeballs.
Apart from the heat from the halogen bulbs the eyeballs had very cheap and flimsy toggle switches - one fell apart. So rather than mess about putting new switches in I simply replaced the whole light with another type having LED panels.
I also replaced the two halogen bulbs over the stove with LED ones. I wasn't aware that the bulbs came in two different lengths and the first ones I bought protruded below the cover. The next ones were the right length and are held in place by the cover as per the originals.
By the way, I removed that ruffled trim strip on our van. I kept banging my head on it when reading in bed! The trip strip is stored away so that I can replace it if we decide to sell the van - it does look nice if not practicable!
I too have a 2004 Freedom! The original sink light was a halogen - the same type as in house down lights. Those type of lights generate a lot of heat and have caused house fires.
The lights that Olley pictured were not fitted originally with halogen lights, They were dichroic lights (read the link for more info.) They should not be used in vans because of their characteristic.
There are direct replacement for the MR11 size that were originally fitted - see this link. I would suggest that anyone with these MR11 dichroic globes replace them sooner rather than later with the LED types to cut down the overheating from the original ones.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
Thanks for the information. Although our bulbs were not household halogen types as I assumed they still put out a lot of heat. Anyway, all have been replaced in our van with LED types.
I hope others take note of your warning and replace those type of bulbs in their vans.
I bought my bulbs with MR11 type bases through eBay for less than the price shown on the link.
Murray
-- Edited by Long Weekend on Monday 7th of September 2015 09:23:16 AM
I too have a 2004 Freedom! The original sink light was a halogen - the same type as in house down lights. Those type of lights generate a lot of heat and have caused house fires.
The lights that Olley pictured were not fitted originally with halogen lights, They were dichroic lights (read the link for more info.) They should not be used in vans because of their characteristic.
There are direct replacement for the MR11 size that were originally fitted - see this link. I would suggest that anyone with these MR11 dichroic globes replace them sooner rather than later with the LED types to cut down the overheating from the original ones.
High Peter
The light bulb replacement that I used was different to what you explained in your link ,I have a pic of the one that I have used ,these replacement LED,S don't have any heat coming off them,the old halogen were very hot.
Thank you one and all. Sorry, I do not have the knowledge to post photos on line; but Olley46 has shown the type of light that is now in place. I still don't know how to replace the bulb because I cannot see how to get at the actual bulb. My best guess is a whole light replacement. Never mind. I am going to call the electrician we use when we need one and will replace not only the three lights in question but will probably change all the bulbs in the van to LED. If I knew how to actually change the bulb I would take on board Olley46's info re the LED G4 replacement bulb. If anyone can tell me how to actually access the blub or if that is in fact possible, I would appreciate your advice even more.
Olley46, how did you actually change the bulb???
Thank you all once again .
The bulb and glass are held in place by a ring. While the 'eyeball' looks like one piece the ring is separate and is simply pushed in place and held there by friction. Use a thin knife (or finger nail if it is strong enough!) to work the ring out.
Murray
-- Edited by Long Weekend on Monday 7th of September 2015 05:24:45 PM
Thank you one and all. Sorry, I do not have the knowledge to post photos on line;
Kev, first of all you need a copy of the picture on your computer. Secondly use your photo editing software to resize the picture so it is 800 x 600 pixels (and less than 1 MB in size) and save it in JPG format.
When you have your picture ready, open the reply panel (use a Reply or Quote tab, you cant do this in the quick reply pane.) Click on the "Attach File(s)" button at the bottom. This will take you to an explorer pane where you can search for your picture. Click on the picture's file name to select it and then click on the "Open" button. This will put a heading Attached Files at the bottom of the page with the name of the file below it. Then make sure your cursor is in the position you want your picture in the answer and click on the "Insert" link beside the name.
If all goes well then the picture will appear where you want it. If it is not then you can you can use the cut and paste features to shift the text around the picture so the reply looks nice. Give it a try here as an exercise, if things go wrong the first time we will know what is hapening.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
The light bulb replacement that I used was different to what you explained in your link ,I have a pic of the one that I have used ,these replacement LED,S don't have any heat coming off them,the old halogen were very hot.
Lance C
Hi Lance, when you posted a picture with what looked like MR11 lights I thought they were the globes in question. My mistake.
However I still urge those with incandescent MR11s to replace them with LED units to cut the heat down and save future problems.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
Thank you one and all. I have an electrician coming this afternoon (hopefully. we all know what tradesman are like at keeping appointments) and will have the three lights changed and maybe all the van's lights changed to LED. I really do appreciate all the helkp you have given. It is tremendous to belong to such a brother and sister hood. Thanks agin.
As said above, the electrician showed me how to get at bulbs and with his help and advice I obtained the correct bulbs and also changed other interior bulbs to LED. The electrician has done work for me in the past, including wiring our 8m x 7m caravan shed, and was happy to help. Did a top job in telling me what to do and use and suggested I fit them myself but if in trouble he would call in and do the job. I appreciate both his and your help. I am sure I shall need to ask something again in the future. Be assured I appreciate your help.