12v Fluorescent Tubes Length 60 Cm?

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whitebeach

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Hi,

anyone know where I can get a12V FLUORESCENT TUBES LENGTH 60 cm for above kitchen in a Hymer?
 
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On my old van I got a 5mtr roll like this and soldered tails on as required to stick on every tube lamp that was fitted. This will do one at a reasonable cost without needing any soldering.
Saved lots of battery use as they use a fraction of the power that strip lights need.

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When did mine I thought I’d use waterproof LED strip but that’s not good because over time the silicon covering discoloured and reduces light out put . I stripped all tube control gear back to incoming 12volt supply to board, this way you keep the original switch.
I did fit to 2 strips but it was to bright so removed one
IMG_1519.webp
IMG_1527.webp
 
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whitebeach said:
Thanks, is it easy to hook this up to the excisting 12 v?
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Yes, BUT.....
You have to bypass the existing circuit board as this is a crude inverter converting 12vdc to 230vac.
Easy enough by simply disconnecting it from the inbuilt switch and connecting the LED strip in it's place.
I did this with all 9 strip lights in my RV.
The strips were twin tubes at 11watts each.... 99 watts in total....so a massive power saving with LEDs.
 
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Derbyshire wanderer said:
On my old van I got a 5mtr roll like this and soldered tails on as required to stick on every tube lamp that was fitted. This will do one at a reasonable cost without needing any soldering.
Saved lots of battery use as they use a fraction of the power that strip lights need.
Click to expand...
Yeah that's all you need just stick them anywhere you need light , mine work off 5 v usb you can buy any length with a plug already on.
 
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You can even get them in Poundland.

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whitebeach said:
Thanks, is it easy to hook this up to the excisting 12 v?
Click to expand...
Yes they would be just take all the control gear out my back to connector in red circle on my photo and connect led wire instead of control gear.
As jive said in another reply, personal I prefer cool white in the kitchen for better light but that’s just me maybe
 
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whitebeach said:
Hi,

anyone know where I can get a12V FLUORESCENT TUBES LENGTH 60 cm for above kitchen in a Hymer?
Click to expand...
The sale of fluorecent tubes was banned in the UK February 2024.

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ChrisL said:
Strange that they're still available for sale on amazon then?
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Not at all, and not illegal https://robus.com/news/fluorescent-lighting-ban-what-you-need-to-know

Basically like the incadesant and halogen ban the existing stock is still legal to be sold, the production of them (and import) is banned.

The issue is it's going to become near impossible to find as the stock dwindles. It's annoying for me as I still have a very nice halogen uplighter in the living room. Lovely light, but impossible to get a spare for. (it also uses 300w, which is same as entire rest of house on average!).
 
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starquake said:
Not at all, and not illegal https://robus.com/news/fluorescent-lighting-ban-what-you-need-to-know

Basically like the incadesant and halogen ban the existing stock is still legal to be sold, the production of them (and import) is banned.

The issue is it's going to become near impossible to find as the stock dwindles. It's annoying for me as I still have a very nice halogen uplighter in the living room. Lovely light, but impossible to get a spare for. (it also uses 300w, which is same as entire rest of house on average!).
Click to expand...
I haven't been able to find any led direct replacements for my Hymer, so it's going to be a pain, fortunately I also have halogen spots which now have led's so not completely without a source of light in the future.
 
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Some of these LED strips will run very hot on 13.3v lithium voltages. The current shoots up with only a small increase in voltage. I run my kitchen ones at about 10.5v they are nearly as bright and stay much cooler.

An easy way to lower the voltage is fit a couple of silicon diodes in series with the strip. Each diode has a voltage drop of about 0.6v

 
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Richard n Ann said:
Even on 12.6v some will get hot
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Yeah, I tend to run my own LED stripes via WLED based controllers, and run the power supply through a regulated dc-dc converter so the output is 12.0 volts.

Even so, 12V strips do run hot, you get quite a lot out of them at a 50% duty cycle, so we usually set the WLED for that, as it also more than halfs the power consumption (with WLED you can set each strips max power use).

Running with the cheap(er) Chinese controllers with no controlable power limits so they run at max all the time isn't wise.
 
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whitebeach said:
Thanks, is it easy to hook this up to the excisting 12 v?
Click to expand...
Yes as others have said you need to disconnect the original control board wires and connect directly to the feed wiring. You can still use the switch if you want by using it in the new circuit as long as it isn’t wired into the old control.
 
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Manic said:
I see these are warm white, wouldn’t cool white be better in a kitchen
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That was the first one I found that didn’t need soldering as an easy fit but yes I too would want cool white for the kitchen.
When I did mine I bought a 5mtr roll of each as there were 11 tubes between the lounge, kitchen and bed areas.
 
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