Cob light strip (1 Viewer)

[Keene]

Cob light strip - (5m 12v) is there anyway I can use this without being plugged into mains power in my Moho? Thanks.

 

[AndyPK]

Yes - 12v accessory socket…….

 

[Keene]

Yes - 12v accessory socket…….

Thanks AndyPK, I already have one. It is not working in the sockets and my question is, can I use the cob without the MoHo being plugged into the mains? Ta!

 

[Phill D]

Thanks AndyPK, I already have one. It is not working in the sockets and my question is, can I use the cob without the MoHo being plugged into the mains? Ta!

No reason why it should not work when connected to a 12v supply.

Make sure the connections are the correct way around.
LEDs don’t work if the pos and neg are not correctly connected.

Ps: a thought what’s the total current needed to run the 5m strip?

 

[Keene]

No reason why it should not work when connected to a 12v supply.

Make sure the connections are the correct way around.
LEDs don’t work if the pos and neg are not correctly connected.

Ps: a thought what’s the total current needed to run the 5m strip?

Thanks. When I bought it I asked what I needed and was told 5Amp 12V DC which I bought. I put the wires in the female connector. I tried it in the house and it didn't work either, so I switched the wires and it lit up, but still nothing in the Moho. I could hear the pump working in the Moho, so the power was on there.

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[Phill D]

Thanks. When I bought it I asked what I needed and was told 5Amp 12V DC which I bought. I put the wires in the female connector. I tried it in the house and it didn't work either, so I switched the wires and it lit up, but still nothing in the Moho. I could hear the pump working in the Moho, so the power was on there.

What did you plug it into in the house?

 

[Keene]

What did you plug it into in the house?

To see if it worked. Any port in a storm.

 

[Phill D]

To see if it worked. Any port in a storm.

Yes but what did you plug into? What power supply

 

[Keene]

Yes but what did you plug into? What power supply

The normal socket.

 

[Phill D]

The normal socket.

So you are plugged into the mains socket in the house.

What are you plugging into in the van?

Please excuse the basic questions.

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[Keene]

The socket next to the cooker.

 

[Phill D]

The socket next to the cooker.

Ahh the mains 3 pin?

Then the van needs to be plugged into the mains unless you have an inverter.

You could adapt the cob to run off you 12v circuits, but one step at a time

 

[HarryML7]

The socket next to the cooker.

Socket in house 240v ac power required 12v dc -

 

[Keene]

I bought a 12v 5amp power supply adaptor charger, input: AC 100-240v 50/60Hz output 12v 5A. I would really like the cob lighting to work with the Moho plugged in to power, or not, as the case may be. I am a total novice - just in case you hadn't guessed - Sockets in the house, just normal everyday sockets. We have had the Moho a year and only got round to managing to keep water in the tank...... don't laugh!!! Don't tell husband I said that!!!

 

[Phill D]

I bought a 12v 5amp power supply adaptor charger, input: AC 100-240v 50/60Hz output 12v 5A. I would really like the cob lighting to work with the Moho plugged in to power, or not, as the case may be. I am a total novice - just in case you hadn't guessed - Sockets in the house, just normal everyday sockets. We have had the Moho a year and only got round to managing to keep water in the tank...... don't laugh!!! Don't tell husband I said that!!!

Ok you can get the lights to work in the van without being plugged into the mains.

You will need to replace the the 240v 5amp adapter with a plug that will fit into whatever 12v sockets you have in the van.

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[HarryML7]

The adaptor needs 240v - to get 240v in the van you need the van plugged into mains electricity or use a suitable inverter which will take power from your batteries and convert it to 240v. Otherwise another solution is required to plug directly into the vans 12v system without using the 240v adaptor.

IMHO - Given your knowledge of electrics I suggest you seek hands on professional assistance. 240v will kill you.

 

[Keene]

Ok you can get the lights to work in the van without being plugged into the mains.

You will need to replace the the 240v 5amp adapter with an plug that will fit into whatever 22v sockets you have in the van.

Thanks. One of the sockets has an adaptor (four plug) beside it which says 10v. I don't know what the previous owner used it for. So I am looking for a 22v plug. Any particular ampage? Thanks for your help, it is really appreciated.

 

[Keene]

The adaptor needs 240v - to get 240v in the van you need the van plugged into mains electricity or use a suitable inverter which will take power from your batteries and convert it to 240v. Otherwise another solution is required to plug directly into the vans 12v system without using the 240v adaptor.

IMHO - Given your knowledge of electrics I suggest you seek hands on professional assistance. 240v will kill you.

Thanks HarryML7, good advice. I actually wired up some of our home and conservatory, channelling walls, dooking etc, putting new sockets in. I did get the correct wiring for it. Been in a few years now, still here.... Don't know anything about the Moho electrics, other than changing fuses.

 

[Phill D]

Thanks. One of the sockets has an adaptor (four plug) beside it which says 10v. I don't know what the previous owner used it for. So I am looking for a 22v plug. Any particular ampage? Thanks for your help, it is really appreciated.

12v my typo.

Photos of your 12v sockets will help guide you what get

 

[Keene]

Be right back

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[Phill D]

Be right back

no rush

 

[Keene]

These are the only two sockets we have.

 

[autorouter]

One of the sockets has an adaptor (four plug) beside it which says 10v. I don't know what the previous owner used it for. So I am looking for a 22v plug. Any particular ampage?

That 4-way adaptor says 10 amps, not 10V. It supplies normal 240V AC mains, through normal 240-volt 3-pin mains plugs. The '10 amp' label means it's probably connected to a circuit breaker that will only supply 10 amps. That is quite normal in a caravan/motorhome setup. It means that the maximum watts you can connect to it is 240 x 10 = 2400 watts. That's quite enough for almost any electrical appliance. But using more than 2400 watts will trip the trip switch in the mains box.

Small items like phone chargers and laptops are low power, maybe 100W or less, so you can use many of those. However things like a hair dryer, coffee machine, microwave etc are much higher power, maybe 1000W or more, So you can only use one of those at a time, to keep the power below the 2400W maximum.

That round socket, between the switch and the 3-pin mains socket, is a Hella 12V socket. There are two types of 12V socket - the Cigar type that you see in most cars, and another type called a Hella socket, which is sometimes called a DIN socket. Hella sockets are quite common in motorhomes.

Unfortunately most plugs you can get easily, in car accessory shops, are the Cigar type. However it's possible to buy a plug that converts between Hella and Cigar types. Like this one. It fits a Cigar socket. Just pull off the red plastic bit to allow it to fit a Hella socket.

Universal Cigar Lighter Plug & Lead - 8A Max.

12V 8A universal cigar lighter plug with coiled lead and blade terminals. Fitted with replaceable 8A glass fuse. Remove red adaptor to use in DIN socket.

www.12voltplanet.co.uk

 

[Keene]

That 4-way adaptor says 10 amps, not 10V. It supplies normal 240V AC mains, through normal 240-volt 3-pin mains plugs. The '10 amp' label means it's probably connected to a circuit breaker that will only supply 10 amps. That is quite normal in a caravan/motorhome setup. It means that the maximum watts you can connect to it is 240 x 10 = 2400 watts. That's quite enough for almost any electrical appliance. But using more than 2400 watts will trip the trip switch in the mains box.

Small items like phone chargers and laptops are low power, maybe 100W or less, so you can use many of those. However things like a hair dryer, coffee machine, microwave etc are much higher power, maybe 1000W or more, So you can only use one of those at a time, to keep the power below the 2400W maximum.

That round socket, between the switch and the 3-pin mains socket, is a Hella 12V socket. There are two types of 12V socket - the Cigar type that you see in most cars, and another type called a Hella socket, which is sometimes called a DIN socket. Hella sockets are quite common in motorhomes.

Unfortunately most plugs you can get easily, in car accessory shops, are the Cigar type. However it's possible to buy a plug that converts between Hella and Cigar types. Like this one. It fits a Cigar socket. Just pull off the red plastic bit to allow it to fit a Hella socket.

Universal Cigar Lighter Plug & Lead - 8A Max.

12V 8A universal cigar lighter plug with coiled lead and blade terminals. Fitted with replaceable 8A glass fuse. Remove red adaptor to use in DIN socket.

www.12voltplanet.co.uk

Thank you, slip of the brain function, amps/volts. I have a hair dryer which plugs into the Hella socket. Hopeless piece of kit, no power. Great info, much needed, thanks very much. I still don't know what to do about the cob light strip. The 10amp extension sockets isn't connected to anything other than the wall. The plug was initially in the three pin socket next to the Hella socket. I bought a 3 way cigar lighter socket with usb charger. I haven't used it yet. Thanks for the link also.

 

[autorouter]

If it was mine I'd change that Hella socket for a Cigar type. Hella ones are much better technically, but most things you want to plug in will have a cigar plug on them. That range of sockets and switches is by Berker, note the circular mains plug. The more popular CBE range has a mains plug with a square with rounded corners. The fascia plate can be prised off, to reveal four screws. I use a flat scraper rather than a screwdriver, to save marking it. The Berker ones are a bit harder to find. Don't know if the colour matches.

Berker 12V Power Socket Outlet - Anthracite Black

Cigar Power Socket 20A, 12V Anthracite, Matt Dimensions: 55.5mm x 55.5mm Hole Cut Out: 42.5mm

www.furneauxriddall.com

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[meanders]

A lot of helpful posts here including the safety warning from HarryML7. I would also add to that the message that even 12V systems badly implemented can and do cause fires and as such should be treated with caution.

As also explained, there are only 2 ways of getting the 13A mains sockets live in the motorhome. One is connection to an Electric Hook Up (EHU) or as you put it, plugged in. This delivers mains voltage (230V AC) into the motorhome and it will make the 13A sockets live. The other way is by using an 'inverter'. That takes 12V DC from your on-board battery and creates 230V AC. In some motorhomes this is then provided to the 13A sockets in the motorhome, but sometimes just has a single socket. The bigger the inverter the more current it draws from the battery, so a thicker cable is needed and the faster it will flatten the battery.

As you have found, there is no such thing as a 12V hairdrier that is effective. That's quite simply because a hair drier needs 1500W upwards to be any good. At 230V that is roughly 6.5 Amps being drawn, but at 12v its a massive 125 Amps. That will flatten most batteries in just a few minutes and the cable size has to be huge and unwieldy. Most 12V sockets are rated at only 180 - 200W which is roughly 15A at 12V. It means therefore that any inverter that plugs into a 12V socket can only run low power equipment such as laptop chargers, possibly small TV's etc. Anything like toasters, kettles, hair driers, electric heaters etc need much bigger inverters and much bigger batteries and the invertors is wired directly to the battery bank using very thick cables.

Now your LED light (Chip On Board LED type) actually needs a 12V DC supply at 5A meaning it's 60Watts. (5x12=60) so that could run directly off the 12V socket with the correct lead, but that has to be wired the correct way round as LED's only work if the voltage is connected the right way round. That's because the D in LED stands for Diode. A diode only passes current in one direction a bit like a one way valve in a water supply. It would be much more efficient to connect it that way as both the inverter and the power supply you bought for the light use power to convert first from 12v DC to 230V AC, and then from 230V AC back to 12V DC to feed the light. No conversion is free in physics so you are wasting power converting it twice. So while the light itself might only be drawing 5A as above, the invertor is likely to draw 7 or 8 amps meaning the batty will flatten quicker. If you have a single lead acid leisure battery, that's likely to be about 90 Amp Hour., Ah ha, I hear you say, that means I can run it for 10 hours or so..... Not true. You might get half that before destroying the battery.

It does bring me back to why on earth you would need such a powerful LED light in a motorhome. I do stage lighting as a hobby and can confirm that a 60W COB LED produces as much light as a 424W traditional tungsten lamp! (usually equated with a 500W fresnel or PARCAN luminaire given the losses in the optics). I have lit many whole shows on half a dozen such units! But one of those is more than four 100W light bulbs.... in a motorhome? Or is this to mount outside the van while travelling? If it is, I regret to tell you it would be illegal and you sooner or later would be stopped.

Hopefully this is of some assistance, but I suspect the first question you need to answer for yourself is the last I pose being "Why?"

 

[Phill D]

Good morning Keene I can see you have a lot of sound advice

 

[Keene]

A lot of helpful posts here including the safety warning from HarryML7. I would also add to that the message that even 12V systems badly implemented can and do cause fires and as such should be treated with caution.

As also explained, there are only 2 ways of getting the 13A mains sockets live in the motorhome. One is connection to an Electric Hook Up (EHU) or as you put it, plugged in. This delivers mains voltage (230V AC) into the motorhome and it will make the 13A sockets live. The other way is by using an 'inverter'. That takes 12V DC from your on-board battery and creates 230V AC. In some motorhomes this is then provided to the 13A sockets in the motorhome, but sometimes just has a single socket. The bigger the inverter the more current it draws from the battery, so a thicker cable is needed and the faster it will flatten the battery.

As you have found, there is no such thing as a 12V hairdrier that is effective. That's quite simply because a hair drier needs 1500W upwards to be any good. At 230V that is roughly 6.5 Amps being drawn, but at 12v its a massive 125 Amps. That will flatten most batteries in just a few minutes and the cable size has to be huge and unwieldy. Most 12V sockets are rated at only 180 - 200W which is roughly 15A at 12V. It means therefore that any inverter that plugs into a 12V socket can only run low power equipment such as laptop chargers, possibly small TV's etc. Anything like toasters, kettles, hair driers, electric heaters etc need much bigger inverters and much bigger batteries and the invertors is wired directly to the battery bank using very thick cables.

Now your LED light (Chip On Board LED type) actually needs a 12V DC supply at 5A meaning it's 60Watts. (5x12=60) so that could run directly off the 12V socket with the correct lead, but that has to be wired the correct way round as LED's only work if the voltage is connected the right way round. That's because the D in LED stands for Diode. A diode only passes current in one direction a bit like a one way valve in a water supply. It would be much more efficient to connect it that way as both the inverter and the power supply you bought for the light use power to convert first from 12v DC to 230V AC, and then from 230V AC back to 12V DC to feed the light. No conversion is free in physics so you are wasting power converting it twice. So while the light itself might only be drawing 5A as above, the invertor is likely to draw 7 or 8 amps meaning the batty will flatten quicker. If you have a single lead acid leisure battery, that's likely to be about 90 Amp Hour., Ah ha, I hear you say, that means I can run it for 10 hours or so..... Not true. You might get half that before destroying the battery.

It does bring me back to why on earth you would need such a powerful LED light in a motorhome. I do stage lighting as a hobby and can confirm that a 60W COB LED produces as much light as a 424W traditional tungsten lamp! (usually equated with a 500W fresnel or PARCAN luminaire given the losses in the optics). I have lit many whole shows on half a dozen such units! But one of those is more than four 100W light bulbs.... in a motorhome? Or is this to mount outside the van while travelling? If it is, I regret to tell you it would be illegal and you sooner or later would be stopped.

Hopefully this is of some assistance, but I suspect the first question you need to answer for yourself is the last I pose being "Why?"

WOW, Thank you so much for the detailed information. I did mention to my husband that it might be a tad bright when I ordered the cob. It is dimmable, therefore, I wasn’t concerned and have been looking for the appropriate switch to attach. I had intended to place the strip to create an ambient light, so basically that is why I made that choice. I was then going to alter the length as required and work out the difference and change the ampage plug. I am not over fond of the white LED lights. They look cold. I bought warm white and was hoping for a cosy glow. It is as simple as that. No thoughts of traversing the highways and byways with the cob on the exterior of the MoHo, but now you mention it …… lol. My hopes have been dashed for interior ambient lighting. We were caravaners before our first MoHo a year ago and the choice of luminaire was easy, one cosy table lamp did the trick. I do appreciate the time you have taken to reply to me.

 

[Keene]

Good morning Keene I can see you have a lot of sound advice

Good morning Phill D. I appreciate your replies to me. It is wonderful to know I can connect with so many helpful people on the forum. Thank you.

 

[Keene]

Many thanks to ANDY PK, Phill D, HarryML7, autorouter and meanders for taking the time to reply to me and for the insightful information, it is appreciated. Thanks again.