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Foretravel Owners' Forum

Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Tech Talk => Topic started by: Jimmy Freytag on January 31, 2011, 02:28:23 pm

Title: PORCH LIGHT
Post by: Jimmy Freytag on January 31, 2011, 02:28:23 pm
Gary B,  Thanks for your post on the porch light switch, saved me a lot of work.

Quote
The porch light on my 95 U280 failed at the SC rally. After I determined that the sensor for the touch bar was OK I Checked for voltage at the switch, It was OK, I then replaced Tubes, still no light.
Pulled light off coach and tested switch, It was bad.  Don't need switch at light anyway as touch bar and switch inside door control light.  Wired around switch and reinstalled. Moral,  Don't buy a new light til all possibilities are exhausted.  New light was $80, rewire was two butt connectors and 30 minutes time.

Gary B  95 U280
Title: Re: PORCH LIGHT
Post by: Tom Lang on January 31, 2011, 03:13:53 pm
I've had the ballast fail on my porch light twice.  Both times, I had voltage at the fixture. 

The first time, I replaced the ballast.  It stayed fixed for almost a year. 

The second time, I disconnected the ballast, threw out the tubes, and installed LED panels.  This SHOULD be the last fix.
Title: Re: PORCH LIGHT
Post by: George Stoltz on January 31, 2011, 04:46:59 pm
Tom,
This would have been a great topic to use photos of the step by step. Did you do that for us?
Title: Re: PORCH LIGHT
Post by: Bill & Deanne Brown on January 31, 2011, 11:44:02 pm
Tom.
I need to repair my '03 porch light and would like to go with LED as well as this is our third failure.  Would appreciate learning what LED you went with and where you bought them.  Actually any details would be appreciated.  Did the fixture have to come down or was it modified in place?.... Bill
Title: Re: PORCH LIGHT
Post by: Tom Lang on February 01, 2011, 03:05:25 am
I used two of these from eBay:

SMD 1210 6 X 8 48 LED Interior Light White T10/T11/Dome - eBay (item (http://cgi.ebay.com/SMD-1210-6-X-8-48-LED-Interior-Light-White-T10-T11-Dome-/170582849042?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b787b612#ht_2451wt_1141)

The body stayed in place, but the insides came down. I removed the end caps, took out the lens, the tubes, and the aluminum panel that holds the tube sockets on the front and the ballast on the back.  I cut the wires to the ballast, used RTV to hold the LED arrays in place, and spliced in the wires.

They look different, with two rectangular lit-up panels, but the light is very effective.  Probably brighter than the tubes, using less current.
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