# Fluorescent Lights And Batteries



## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

Tried to find a solution for lighting while dry camping to keep from eating the batteries so fast.
LED's are NOT the answer, I tried those.

Stopped at camping world and picked up a Thinlite model 622.
It's a twin tube 14 inch fixture.
At 40 bucks each, I only bought one for research purposes.

I hooked up a meter and measured the twin bulb incandescant fixture at 2.6 amps.
The thinlight fixture measured 1.3 amps. Exactly half!

I must say the lighting is quite improved as well.
I'll be picking up a few more of these shortly as DW says she likes it.
Jim


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Looks good Jim
And sound like it could save a bit of juice as well
And brighter at that
May just have to look into that one of these days

Don


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## z-family (Oct 2, 2004)




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## Scooter (May 9, 2005)

Another idea you may want to consider when trying to lessen the lighting burden while on extended dry camp stays is the use of TAP lights. Cost is about $3.00 at Wallmart and require 4AA batteries.


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

Katrina said:


> I hooked up a meter and measured the twin bulb incandescant fixture at 2.6 amps.
> The thinlight fixture measured 1.3 amps. Exactly half!
> [snapback]102023[/snapback]​


When dry camping we pull one of the two bulbs out ... also cuts usage in half 

Ed


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## Radar (Dec 1, 2005)

This past weekend I did the same thing by pulling out one of the bulbs to save the batteries. For an idea at a mod, is there a switch that I can replace the factory switch with? Like a three way switch that I can wire in that will give me the option of "Off", "One Bulb", "Two Bulbs" ?


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## Huskytracks (Apr 18, 2005)

That was one of the first mods I did. I noticed that the stock light didn't light up the rig too well. I found that most of the time we had to light 2 fixtures to do what we wanted to. At 2.6 amps per fixture times 2 fixtures we run 5.1 amps. That adds up over a dry camp weekend. So I ordered 2 thinlites that matched our existing fixtures, one 16 watt and one 30 watt. The 16 watter draws something like 3/4 of an amp and the big one draws 1.3 amps. But either will light the whole main area of our rig. so we went from 5.1 amps continous to 1.3 amps most of the time and 3/4 when we don't need so much light. Thinlites rule!


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Would love to get them because they look good and the performance is great but with a generator and dual batteries I seldom run short of power.

I wish the price was in the teens and I could more easily justify getting a few but I may still get one to see the improvement in light over the standard lights.


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## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

Ditto to what Andy said - gen and dual batteries. After reading your post however, I took a look at them at the Camping World site - because I like the look of the pic you posted. But then I started thinking about the difficulty I have had getting florescents to light when it is very cold - like when winter camping - and I decided against them. They would be great if I only dry camped in above freezing weather though.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Jim

That is great. Half the juice is a great savings while dry camping.







Do the lights work as the batteries start to drain?? Is there a min voltage required before they turn on?

Mod looks great









Thor


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## Morrowmd (Feb 22, 2005)

Radar said:


> This past weekend I did the same thing by pulling out one of the bulbs to save the batteries. For an idea at a mod, is there a switch that I can replace the factory switch with? Like a three way switch that I can wire in that will give me the option of "Off", "One Bulb", "Two Bulbs" ?
> [snapback]102093[/snapback]​


Check the switch right on the fixture itself (not on the wall). All of my 12 volt lights have the ability to turn on just one bulb if needed. One setting is off, the middle setting is one bulb, and all the way to the other side is 2 bulbs on.


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

Great mod.

Radar....my OUTBACK has the switch for 1 bulb, 2-bulbs, or off.
Did they change in later models?


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

Only both ON or OFF in my 2006 26RS. No one bulb choice for mine!

JT


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Both on or off. First trailer I ever had that did not allow you to turn only one bulb on in the fixture.

John


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## Radar (Dec 1, 2005)

My 2003 21rs has only the one switch on each light fixture that controls both lights. If I had known that they drew so much power, I probabaly would have spent more time sittting in the dark, talking to the DW


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Our lights are all On-OFF only. On the other hand, even when camping with shore power, we usually do not have more than half the lights on in the trailer. Often just one in the dinette and one in the bunk room, so power draw is not a big deal for us.

The fluorescent mod looks nice, but I get enough 'artificial' light at work. Give me the warmth and color temperature of incandescents anytime, please!

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## Lady Di (Oct 28, 2005)

I guess we are from the dark ages, as we often use portable lanterns when dry camping. I guess this is a carryover from tent days. 
We will have to try removing one light. We are already planning the dual 6 volt mod.


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## kjp1969 (Apr 25, 2004)

You can also get lower wattage bulbs- we have a 4w in the little lights under the beds. They're plenty bright for reading and probably save a lot of juice. I think they're the same style bulb as 12v landscape lights, and there is quite a variety of bulb wattages in that style.
Kevin P.


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## Morrowmd (Feb 22, 2005)

kjp1969 said:


> You can also get lower wattage bulbs- we have a 4w in the little lights under the beds. They're plenty bright for reading and probably save a lot of juice. I think they're the same style bulb as 12v landscape lights, and there is quite a variety of bulb wattages in that style.
> Kevin P.
> [snapback]102209[/snapback]​


Never knew they had lower wattage bulbs for those fixtures. I think I'll replace the bulbs in the bunks. Those are the ones that mysteriously get left on.

Can I call this a mod?


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## BlueWedge (Sep 11, 2005)

I am leaning toward the 3 way switch idea. Need to do some investigation on this. I did pull a bulb last year when dry camping. I let you know if I find anything easy ..


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

I like te idea of a 3 way switch. My trailer only has on and off. Any ideas where you can buy a 3 way switch that fits into the light fixture?

The lower wattage bulbs (4watt) sounds perfect for me as well. What wattage are the factory bulbs?

Thor


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## huntr70 (Jul 8, 2005)

Thor said:


> I like te idea of a 3 way switch. My trailer only has on and off. Any ideas where you can buy a 3 way switch that fits into the light fixture?
> 
> The lower wattage bulbs (4watt) sounds perfect for me as well. What wattage are the factory bulbs?
> 
> ...


You can buy the three way switched whole light fixture for a few bucks....

Go on Ebay and do a light search in the Ebay Motors section under RV parts.

They are so cheap, I would just replace the whole light.

Steve


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## Dreamtimers (Mar 7, 2005)

Morrowmd said:


> Radar said:
> 
> 
> > This past weekend I did the same thing by pulling out one of the bulbs to save the batteries. For an idea at a mod, is there a switch that I can replace the factory switch with? Like a three way switch that I can wire in that will give me the option of "Off", "One Bulb", "Two Bulbs" ?
> ...





NDJollyMon said:


> Great mod.
> 
> Radar....my OUTBACK has the switch for 1 bulb, 2-bulbs, or off.
> Did they change in later models?
> [snapback]102163[/snapback]​





Thor said:


> I like te idea of a 3 way switch. My trailer only has on and off. Any ideas where you can buy a 3 way switch that fits into the light fixture?
> 
> The lower wattage bulbs (4watt) sounds perfect for me as well. What wattage are the factory bulbs?
> 
> ...


I checked in on this. The replacement switch would cost about $.75 more or less, but the switch is a custom production run and the min. order 2-3000. I guess this means I won't be doing this mod.
















The shame is that the compant that made the lights could have done it for a few pennies more during the original design.

Also the older TT had a different light fixture which had this two position design. I guess a suited Gilligan needed something to justify his paycheck.

Dreamtimers


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Dreamtimers said:


> Morrowmd said:
> 
> 
> > Radar said:
> ...


Sign me up for 10 switches only 1900 to go.









Thor


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## huntr70 (Jul 8, 2005)

Here is an example of what you can get on Ebay....

Clicky.
Or, you could get a single light...

Clicky.

Steve


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## MaeJae (May 12, 2005)

CamperAndy said:


> Would love to get them because they look good and the performance is great but with a generator and dual batteries I seldom run short of power.
> 
> I wish the price was in the teens and I could more easily justify getting a few but I may still get one to see the improvement in light over the standard lights.
> [snapback]102122[/snapback]​


If the price of fuel for your generator keeps going ^ you may be able
to justify one sooner than you think.









MaeJae


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## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

I'm gonna use the Hootbob approach to posting and say that these are all very good points.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Ok, I see all the ways to save power while dry camping and they are all good.

My question to this group is, how much time a day do you think you use your lights?

For my family it is a very small number....say 20-30 minutes a day. We simply don't use them that much as we are not in the trailer at night. We're around a big camp fire enjoy time with our camping buddies. Kids go to bed...lights go on for ~5mins while they get ready...then lights go out again. If they need to use the restroom, they both have a small flashlight in the little pouch by the head of their bed.


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

Oregon_Camper said:


> For my family it is a very small number....say 20-30 minutes a day. We simply don't use them that much as we are not in the trailer at night. [snapback]103096[/snapback]​


Agreed, we do it this way too. For adult reading, we use a battery-operated florescent we bring along.

Ed


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## BlueWedge (Sep 11, 2005)

Ok the switch sounds expensive... How about a small switch that just disables one of the lights ? Probably just easier to pull the bulb ..


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