Flourecsent Light

[Roger Bowton]

One of our ceiling lights in the bedroom of our '06 Monterey popped and went out, when we turned on the switch the other day.  I took it apart, and the transformer was smoked.  My problem is that I cannot find a name or part number for the light.  It is not a flat mount and there is a recess in the ceiling for the base.  I would like to locate a new light, or I could switch out the electrical board if I knew where to locate one.  Any ideas would be appreciated.  I am sure that a new ballast is available, but I don't know what to look for.

Roger

[Ken Buck]

I replaced one of mine by taking the old light out of the coach and matching the ballast up at the hardware store. We have McClendon's in my area which I would describe as an old time hardware store, not a box store. The box stores may have it, but I never looked there.  I, also, had a tube end, that was burned looking, on that unit, and found a replacement for it too.

This keeps all my lights looking the same until I'm ready to change them all to a better light.

Ken

[MarcRodstein]

I sent mine to Thinlite. They rebuilt it, even though it was not their fixture, sent it back to me good as new. The price was 50 or 60 dollars as I recall.

http://www.thinlite.com/

[Garland Land]

I’ve replaced my 12 volt fluorescent lights with “tube type” leds.  The led replacement doesn’t use  a transformer and circuit board.  Email your address and I'll send you a transformer and circuit board.  gel_2@netzero.net

[Dick Simonis]

I’ve replaced my 12 volt fluorescent lights with “tube type” leds.  The led replacement doesn’t use  a transformer and circuit board.  Email your address and I'll send you a transformer and circuit board.  gel_2@netzero.net

Didn't know they made an LED version.  Is it a plug in or are other changes necessary.  Also, where did you find them?

Thanks

Dick

[Garland Land]

I bought then from a vendor who is always at the FMCA Indio and Quartzsite rallies in Jan.  They were $25/tube and easy to install after removing the transformer and board.  The warm white is better than the cool white.  I will be at both rallies.

[Roger Bowton]

Thanks to Garland all is well.  The board he sent is in and working.

[Joel Weiss]

Here's an online source for LED kits for replacing RV fluorescent lights:  http://www.prudentrver.com/ledfleds.html

[Joel Weiss]

I just installed these http://www.rvledbulbs.com/product-p/18-0577.htm fluorescent replacement bulbs in one of the 12" recessed Thinlite fixtures that had totally died. The retailer sells both the Ming and Revolution brands and the person I spoke with said so far he can find no particular differences except that the Mings sell for less.

Both Ming and Revolution sell 400 lumen replacements for the 12" fluorescent bulb, but a single one of these is less light than the original fluorescents and two would be a lot more lot (and more $$). I went with two 300 lumen Ming bulbs at $24 each and they are perfect (I had also thought that having two light sources in the fixture would also look better than a single, off-center one). The color temperature is virtually a normal "cool white" and the provide just about the same light output as we had previously.

One thing that really makes these fluorescent replacements great is that the LED tubes sit in the original light bulb holders but don't use them for electrical connection (there are wires directly attached to the LED tubes). That was perfect for me since the tube holders in my fixture no longer made good contact with the bulbs and often had to be jiggled after we arrived at our destination. The failed ballast in the fixture had over-heated them and caused additional damage. Therefore, I wasn't sure they would work as anything more than "tube holders" anyway.

Installation was a snap; just connect the wires from the LED tube to the two 12V wires going to the fixture.

The bottom line was a ~$56 (including shipping) investment to replace a recessed Thinlite the cheapest price for which I can find is $66. Since it was a recessed fixture there were fewer replacement options. The net result is a "like new" fixture that consumes 6.8W instead of 16W.