Porch Light - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Waggin Tails · RV-Dreams Family Member

Porch Light

Workinrvers · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jerry,

any signs of corrosion on the outlet? Seems a little strange to go through that many bulbs. Thinking back, I have replaced one porch light bulb in my 2007 if I remember correctly. I'm not sure if all bulbs are equal though, are you buying at Wal Mart or auto parts store?

Phil

Jim01 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Are you leaving the light on for long periods of time? That bulb creates a lot of heat inside of the fixture and may be causing the short bulb life.

Jim

53 Merc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jerry, the people that know about electricity (and I ain't them) tell me a fully charged battery is 13.6 VDC. You can get LED lights for something like a porch light. Seems a viable option.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Are they burning out or cracking? We had to seal the cover of our porch light with weather stripping because moisture would get in and drip on the bulb when hot and it would crack.

TXRVr · RV-Dreams Family Member

I concur with the LED light suggestion, but I replaced my entire fixture with one that was about the same size.

Waggin Tails · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for the comments. I normally leave the porch light and front scare light on all night and turn them off in the AM. I would guess too much heat or perhaps moisture is causing the problem. We have had several humid evenings.
The last bulb I replaced was black on the inside of the bulb glass.

Since 13.6 is a good number, I won't let that bother me.

I think LED lights are in my future. I know they will burn cooler and almost forever.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jerry,

Are you in a place where it is necessary to have your lights on all the time? (Thinking high crime area?)

I remember back many years ago up on the Panhandle of Oklahoma (think sparsely populated) there was an ongoing discussion about having the outdoor yard lights in the farm yards that came on at dusk and burned all night.

Some liked them because they said they could see out and see if anyone was in their yards. Others commented that if their lights weren't on to start with, a lot of folks wouldn't even know the farm was there. Thus, no snoopers.

Even when in stix and brixs in the country and the city, we've never kept lights on outside. Now, where we currently live in the Mobile Suites, there are a couple of the all-night yard lights. That is helpful for the dogs when they have to go out at night, but it is of little benefit to us except for those occasions when I have to run out and open the grey tank valve in a hurry.

Terry

Jack Mayer · RV-Dreams Family Member

Why would you leave your lights on all night? Just asking - your choice. But if you are in an RV park your neighbors may find it annoying.

You can replace those bulbs with high output LEDs, but if you do be sure they are regulated, or you will burn them out pretty fast. Most of the better LEDs are regulated.

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

Not sure why you leave the lights on all night...are you in a high crime area?

When I replaced my porch light bulb I took it with me to the RV parts store to make sure I got an exact replacement. But the number on my bulb did not match the bulbs they had, and since I didn't want to burn out the socket we had to make an educated guess for the replacement. As long as the base matches you can experiment with different wattage bulbs...more wattage, more light and more heat. They had LED bulbs, but they cost over $20 and the regular bulbs were less than a dollar...

Loki · RV-Dreams Family Member

Lots of 12 V LED lights under $10 here: http://www.tmart.com/LED-Light-Bulbs/?gclid=CNeA44_5wa0CFQ4j7AodiBd8BQ
They also have several halogen sockets for making wired connections to the bulb socket in the RV light fixture.

Waggin Tails · RV-Dreams Family Member

Why do I leave my porch light on all night? Well, I've always done that in my S/B. No, I am not related to Tom Bodett, nor do I own a Motel 6. I have a new strategy. Turn off the lights.

Jim01 · RV-Dreams Family Member

I'm so glad you have decided to turn the lights off. It really bothers me when someone parked next to us leaves their lights on all night, letting them shine into our windows.

I have no problem at all if the light is needed to see, (when people return to their RV in the evenings or are spending time outside), but don't think it's nessary to leave them on all night.

Thanks for being a good neighbor.

Jim

53 Merc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jerry, you commented that the inside of the bulb turned black. It seems that is a common failing of this type light. They start getting black and the light grows dimmer as they "age". Finally gets to the point the light is so dim as to be almost unusable.

Clay L · RV-Dreams Family Member

First a 12 volt flooded cell battery fully charged will read 12.6 v to 12.8 v.
The converter in most RVs will output about 13.5 volts. When a battery is charged at 13.5 volts or 14.5 volts or so from an alternator it will initially read about 13.5 volts due to something called surface charge. As I recall it's caused by ions piled up at the plates that haven't been absorbed. If you wait a few hours and/on put a load on the battery the surface charge will dissipate and you will see the actual battery voltage.

A small increase in voltage will reduce the life of a bulb quite a bit.

Below is a picture of the change in life of an 1141 bulb operated at 13.5 v rather than the design voltage of 12.6 v. The results are from a small program I wrote many years ago to help find substitute bulbs. As you can see the life is cut about in half when operated at 13.5 v.

One solution to the OPs problem is to use a Revolution 200 LED bulb. One handy thing about the Revolution 200 is that it swivels so you can cause the beam to point down some if you wish. They are sold by Starlight - the company that sells motion sensing porch lights. The Revolution 200 is now included with the porch light. Google Starlight motion sensing porch light for their site.

-- Edited by Clay L on Monday 25th of March 2013 01:57:48 PM

markspend1 · RV-Dreams Community Member

Hey Guys i think that finding porch lights in ideal places will increase their effect.
Use walls sconce lighting beside the door. This will ensure you have lighting even if one light burns out.Placing external porch lights to glow directly down the walls will improve the framework and color of your porch.Thanks a lot!!

folivier · RV-Dreams Family Member

If my porch light is on all night please tell me because I just forgot.
We use a motion detected waterproof light by the steps but occasionally will use the porch lights and I've forgotten to turn them off sometimes.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have actually been to a campground with a rule that said "no outdoor lights after 10PM". It was in Tucumcari, NM on Passport America. The owners were not ones to explain why they had such a rule.

RVRon · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jerry, you could have gotten some bad bulbs too. We bought a whole package of 1141 bulbs at an RV dealer in Colorado and they were junk. Even inside in lights that were only on for a couple of hours in the evening they were only lasting a week or 2. In comparison to our old bulbs they were brighter too so I'm guessing the higher output = shorter life. You have the right course now though... just leave the light off when you don't need it.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is an old thread that has been "revived" and I can attest that Jerry and Carol don't even have their fifth wheel anymore. They've traded for a motorhome.

One issue when folks don't look at the dates of a forum thread or a post within it, is that one could be commenting on something that has already happened, or worse yet, might be commenting on out of date information.

This type of "revival" is usually caused by a new forum member commenting and others then think that it is a new thread that they "somehow missed" before.

If you ever have a question as to the "timeliness" of a thread or post, look at the date under the forum participant's username and avatar.

Terry

VanMar · RV-Dreams Family Member

Terry and Jo wrote:
One issue when folks don't look at the dates of a forum thread or a post within it, is that one could be commenting on something that has already happened, or worse yet, might be commenting on out of date information.
Terry

On the other hand, new members such as myself, who have not read all the threads on the forum, have the opportunity to learn from the experiences and insight of others. Technical issues such as this are ongoing and always relevant--IMHO smile .

Vance

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

But, if one is reading it for the first time and thinks that everything in it is "current" and it isn't, it can be a problem. As far as reading the older posts, that is fine. However, I've been seeing a lot of old threads renewed with a comment that adds little to the previous discussions. Some of the threads have been revived with a comment addressed to the original poster, and sometimes those original posters are no longer active on the forums.

I'm on a number of forums, and some of those are "busy" enough that after a period of time, the administrator or moderators start deleting the old threads. I hope that never becomes necessary here, because I do realize the value of many of the old posts.

Terry