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Old 02-24-2018, 02:44 PM   #1
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LED light question? 24v?

Hello Everyone,

I am looking at LED lights for my interior. As I will have a 24volt house battery I am trying to run as many of my DC loads on 24 volts as I can.

I will have a SMALL DC-DC converter for loads that must have 12 volts..

When it comes to interior lights I want all LED. I thought that I would have to choose between 24 volt lights or install pairs of 12 volt lights in series.

As I am researching I am finding the majority of the lights that I am seeing that are 24 volt are listed as 12v/24v. The selection isn't fantastic.

That got me wondering if typical 12 volt LED lights will tolerate running on 24 volts without issue?

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

S.

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Old 02-24-2018, 02:58 PM   #2
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Unless your bus uses a 24 volt electrical system (not terribly common) then it may be easier just to use a 12 volt system for everything.
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Old 02-24-2018, 03:01 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad_SwiftFur View Post
Unless your bus uses a 24 volt electrical system (not terribly common) then it may be easier just to use a 12 volt system for everything.
Brad,

I have a 24 volt house battery. I could power them from the 12volt coach battery but I don't think that would be a good idea.

Thanks.

S.
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Old 02-24-2018, 03:38 PM   #4
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I stumbled across this: https://www.amazon.com/DC12-24V-Sing...+light+24+volt

That may take care of some of my lights.
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Old 02-24-2018, 05:16 PM   #5
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You just need the appropriate resistor.

https://sciencing.com/use-12volt-led...t-7546920.html

You just need to do the math.
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Old 02-24-2018, 05:51 PM   #6
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You just need the appropriate resistor.

https://sciencing.com/use-12volt-led...t-7546920.html

You just need to do the math.
I considered that and may tinker with it.

If my brain is working........ I would be wasting power in the form of heat though.
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Old 02-24-2018, 06:15 PM   #7
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Hi Steve,

I just purchased a batch of these from ebay. However; I have not permanently installed them yet.

I spent a bunch of time searching for that style light and finally realized that the sellers are targeting the home/120 VAC users (and ignoring us DC users) - the key is looking closely at the "LED Driver" (power converter) that accompanies each light. This is tough as many sellers don't include that information. In the case of the above, the LED driver accepts 120 VAC and delivers/outputs 24-42 VDC. I am tossing out the LED driver and connecting the light directly to my 24 VDC house power. Well... almost, I am hoping to use some slick looking dimmer switches I found (but that's a different subject).

I have tested this on the bench and the lights work as expected. However; nothing more than a short test.

Hope that helps!
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Old 02-24-2018, 07:28 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JDOnTheGo View Post
Hi Steve,

I just purchased a batch of these from ebay. However; I have not permanently installed them yet.

I spent a bunch of time searching for that style light and finally realized that the sellers are targeting the home/120 VAC users (and ignoring us DC users) - the key is looking closely at the "LED Driver" (power converter) that accompanies each light. This is tough as many sellers don't include that information. In the case of the above, the LED driver accepts 120 VAC and delivers/outputs 24-42 VDC. I am tossing out the LED driver and connecting the light directly to my 24 VDC house power. Well... almost, I am hoping to use some slick looking dimmer switches I found (but that's a different subject).

I have tested this on the bench and the lights work as expected. However; nothing more than a short test.

Hope that helps!
Thanks JD,


Those look like a good candidate. Do you have plans for installing yours?

What dimmer are you looking at?
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Old 02-25-2018, 05:32 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by PNW_Steve View Post
Do you have plans for installing yours?

What dimmer are you looking at?
The dimmers I bought are these from ebay. I have no tried them with these lights yet - maybe will give that a shot today - see if I can let the smoke out of something!

I wanted a smaller diameter light but just couldn't find any that I was reasonably sure would work with 24 VDC.

I need to decide on ceiling panels and get them installed before the lights go into action. I am currently thinking of using about four of these lights in the living room area, two over the kitchen counter, probably two in the bathroom, and probably two in the bedroom. I think I'd like to also use a good bit of accent lighting but no real plan for that yet.
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Old 02-25-2018, 07:39 AM   #10
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Curious how long that holds up. The LED drivers are constant current sources. Mostly the LED strips have a series resistor integrated every three or 4 LED's. Not sure if that is enough for the fluctuating voltage of the battery bank full versus empty .

In Elfie,our small bus, i installed 12 volt LED with an additional resistor calculated for 15 volt . Will have to see how the mtbf is going to work out on these already fragile quality products.

Later J
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Old 02-25-2018, 10:54 PM   #11
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I used 24vdc strip lights from amazon for most of my lighting. There are really nice touch panels on there to to control them With a dimmer function.

And if you go to any rv store. The led interior lights there for motor homes are almost all 12-28vdc rated.

Bill
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Old 02-26-2018, 06:06 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW_Steve View Post
Hello Everyone,

I am looking at LED lights for my interior. As I will have a 24volt house battery I am trying to run as many of my DC loads on 24 volts as I can.

I will have a SMALL DC-DC converter for loads that must have 12 volts..

When it comes to interior lights I want all LED. I thought that I would have to choose between 24 volt lights or install pairs of 12 volt lights in series.

As I am researching I am finding the majority of the lights that I am seeing that are 24 volt are listed as 12v/24v. The selection isn't fantastic.

That got me wondering if typical 12 volt LED lights will tolerate running on 24 volts without issue?

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

S.
A quick Google gave me this...for what it's worth...

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