A couple of questions have come up about the replacement. It is really fairly simple, but time consuming. I chose the M8 series from SuperBrightLEDs. I've used their fixtures in my stop/turn/reverse replacement project and their replacement LED bulbs on the interior. The M8 sealed units are wider than the original fixtures, but they're brighter, simple to install, and should last a very long time.
Hi Andrew, My LED's from super bright just got delivered yesterday. I got replacements for all of the red and amber clearance lights -front and back. We have not yet started replacing them but are going to start soon. Any issues that you have encountered with swapping these out with the originals? As to be expected, I had a fiberglass guy look at a little 'ding' on a rear corner of the shell. While looking it over we discovered lots of little 'water-entrances' around many of the outside appliance doors (e.g. propane tank compartment) He suggested I use a product called 5200 fast to caulk around these areas. I suspect we may use the same product to adhere or seal around the clearance lights. Any comments/insights/suggestions around the issue of sealing and affixing the LED's. We plan on tackling this after the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival when all the locals can exhale again! The Town swells from a population of around 8000 to 20000+ for that weekend.
ReplyDeleteAlso of note, I found a propane vendor that has been enormously helpful with re-certifying my 20# horizontal propane tanks and also bought a new one that arrived a couple of days ago. I can now see why this 'little' project can get pricey in a 'big' hurry. Good advice to take it slow and make the process a pleasure rather than a pain.
Let me know about LED replacement technique!
Carol
Hi Carol,
ReplyDeleteOn my Sunrader the original clearance lights are smaller than the LED versions, so you'll want to put some silicone into the old screw holes after you clean off any debris, etc. around the mounting area. Mounting is really pretty straightforward. I think the standard practice, which I am using, is to use Butyl tape (available at any RV supply store) as a flexible, watertight seal for the light fixtures against the shell. there are some good videos online on resealing an RV window that might be helpful for you. once you've installed the lights with butyl tape, it never hurts to put a bead of silicone all away around. be sure to put masking tape around the outside of your planned bead line, because silicone smears and adheres (not like regular caulk you can wipe off with a fingertip. I would always be cautious with using the 3M 5200 product. It is essentially permanent adhesive. I'm going to be using it to mount cleats on the interior to mount my cabinets to the fiberglass. The better practice for appliance doors, etc. would be butyl tape and regular silicone. These are maintenance items, not things you can permanently seal, so you want to use stuff you can replace later. 5200 isn't in that category. Have fun at the festival, and thanks for all your updates. My poor rig is locked in the driveway mid-cabinet-remodel so I'm in no-camping mode this summer. BLURG.
Hey Andrew, I'm looking to replace my tail light covers on my 1983 SunRader. Any idea where I can find them?
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Mike
Michael, sadly I think you're out of luck on that - I searched far and wide for any kind of serviceable replacement, even used, and came up empty. I wound up doing a complete replacement of the tail lights on my 89 with modern LEDs mounted on plexiglas frames i had made at TAP Plastics. They've worked out ok, though I have yet to get the resistors in place to make them flash slowly (not a difficult thing to do, i just haven't gotten to it yet).
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