| Author |
Message |
Johnny (63.159.193.82)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, November 30, 2002 - 10:11 pm: | |
OK, the ricers (www.riceboypage.com for examples) gave me an idea. They use an abundance of neon lighting, available in many colors, including white. It's cheap, compact, bendable (if you get plastic tubes), & available at Wal-Mart if it needs replacement. Since I'm converting a "space-challenged" bus (long-nose skoolie) with a low roofline & boondock a lot, I'd rather avoid power-hungry incandescant 12v lights & bulky, space-robbing, pricey flourescant lights. However, there's 1 stumbling block: anyone know where I can find out how much power these neons use? |
Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 01, 2002 - 12:46 am: | |
Usually....USUALLY, usually as in "most often"...
Neons and fancy trick lighting won't give you as much lumens per watt as will a flourescent or an incandescent. Usually not even close.
Even LEDs, though they are getting brighter on a daily basis, still don't offer the lumens per watt that an incandescent will.
As the world turns, so do the followers...and they/we follow what works best. You don't currently see many conversions using riceboy-tech because while it is fancy, it's not too efficient either money-or-lumen wise. It's mostly about getting noticed by the other sex (or the same sex depending on what you're in to) which is not, as far as I can tell, what designing lighting for bus conversions is mostly about.
If you want some really whacko but efficient lighting that's waaaay out of the ordinary and will blind you on very little power, try the glowing quartz balls filled with sulfur, tightly confined in a microwave field.
http://eetd.lbl.gov/newsletter/cbs_nl/nl6/S-Lamp.html
Now there's something that will impress moths and be easy on the batteries!!!
Ohboy, watch out!
Cheers
Gary |
CoryDaneRTSIIIL (4.17.253.220)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 02, 2002 - 12:48 am: | |
That Sulpher lamp sounds like it will do wonders for commercial agencies, doesnt sound like it will do much low voltage though. But, lets wait and see. cd |
Will (12.162.39.178)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, December 07, 2002 - 9:42 pm: | |
Johnny,
If you are into energy saving, 12v, and space savings; you might consider the lighting that will take over most applications in the future.
L.E.D.s I have several that are bright enough to read by (one led) and if you bunch them together they are brighter. They use 1/20th the power of incandecents. I have replaced all of my coach's cleareace lighs with them; I can leave them on all night and not even affect the battery.
The Wal-Mart neons are very dim and use 120v AC
Will |
Johnny (63.159.185.206)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 08, 2002 - 8:54 am: | |
If the neons use 120V, how do they get mounted in so many cars? I know they come in 12V versions.
Where do I get LEDs? |
Will MC-7 (12.162.39.46)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 08, 2002 - 9:51 am: | |
Johnny,
If you make your own lights you can get l.e.d.s at Jameco. Remember you must limit the current to 20 milliamps per diode so use a resistor everytime.
http://www.jameco.com/Jameco/Products/ProdCT/p030.pdf
If you want to skip the electronics the go to:
http://www.theledlight.com/led-assemblies.html
Good luck. Will |
joe shelton (Littlewind) (165.247.12.56)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 9:41 am: | |
What is the yellow or amber LEDs like? I was planning on white LEDs but they cost $$$! I'm planning on using them for overhead interior.
Joe |
FAST FRED (209.26.115.52)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 11:41 am: | |
BOAT Style,
If you look in any boat catalog you can find round "cieling"(in a boat its the overhead) mounting round SS fixtures with either glass or plastic in the domes.
These can be easily modified to be more usefull.
There is an on off switch that can be changed to a pull chain.
Lots easier to find by feel, a pull chain.
Most fun is to install a second pull switch , and toss the single filament bulb .
AS its marine there is a dual filiment socket already installed .
A dual filiment bulb will fit , although one of the pins will need a bit of filing to remove most of it.
And you will need to use the SS housing for ground.
Then you can have a lamp that only uses 1/2 A (12V) that is great for moving about ,
but a pull of the second chain gives 2A of "lets look for the contact lense" bright light.
In my boat, I kept the hard to find small switch for the 2 A and let the easily found pull chain only give the 1/2A side of the bulb.
Fast , Cheap , saves energy when someone leaves a light on,,,Works for me,
FAST FRED |
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