💡 Light Up Your Life: Illuminate Every Adventure!
The Ampper 12V 40 LEDs Interior Van Light Kits feature 10 modules of high-brightness LEDs, designed for easy installation and energy efficiency. With a universal fit for various vehicles, these lights are perfect for enhancing the interior of your van, RV, or boat, ensuring a long-lasting and reliable lighting solution.
Item Dimensions | 6 x 1.57 x 4 inches |
Color | White |
Recommended Uses For Product | Vehicle Interior |
Fit Type | Universal Fit |
Includes Remote? | No |
Special Features | Best van lighting on the market., Composed of 40 super high brightness LEDs., Energy-saving, excellent for your van., Can be placed anywhere you want., Long life time, universal fit & use, voltage 12V. |
Light Source Type | LED |
Form Factor | Strip |
Auto Part Position | Unknown |
Compatible with Vehicle Type | Universal Fit (voltage at: 12V): all makes and models, fit for van, car, truck, offroad, boat deck, ATV's interior, underbody exterior etc. |
Voltage | 12 Volts |
S**K
So far, so good! Quite bright! But current input is unregulated...
I tested one section / module of 3 LED's, powering it from my car's battery, both with the engine running and not running. Ambient temperature was ~ 56 deg. F. At various times:12.58 volts applied gave a current of 0.096 amps, or 1.208 watts.12.98 volts applied gave a current in of 0.110 amps, or 1.428 watts.Re-measurement: 13.0 volts applied gave a current in of 0.112 amps, or 1.4563 watts.(See follow up heat test below.)14 volts applied gave a current of 0.129 amps, or 1.81 watts. (See follow up heat test below.) Note that this is above the module's rating of 1.6 watts.14.7 volts applied gave a current of 0.153 amps, or 2.249 watts (quick measurement due to rapid heating).Later, indoors, with the module left hanging "free air", with the ~13 volt input, and the self-adhesive tape stripped off, the module got fairly warm, but not excessively hot, even though ambient temperature was higher @ ~67 deg. F. My guess is that if the light was mounted to a substantial metal or otherwise heat conductive surface with the 3M double-sided tape provided, and that metal was at not over 100 deg. F (before the LED module was turned on), the LED's would not overheat and this light likely could make a 5 year life rating, or better. I'd guess the self-adhesive tape would hold up a module and a few inches of its wire if the tape did not get over 100 deg. F.HOWEVER, I also tried running the one module for a few minutes at 14 volts @ ~67 deg. F ambient, while sitting the LEDs pointing up on medium dense nap carpet: The module got pretty hot fairly quickly: Hot enough that I discontinued the experiment...Honestly, at this price and for what you get, one can't expect the manufacturer to put an active current regulator in each module! But, in a running vehicle at the top of the automotive temperature range (sunny, hot day) with the alternator pumping out over 14 volts... The possibility of burning out LEDs is pretty obvious. So is the likelihood of heating the adhesive tape to the point of failure. Mounting with screws and heat sink paste to a heat sink or heat sinking metal surface might be needed. Scraping down the plastic in the rear for a snug surface contact area would improve heat transfer and reduce the amount of heat sink compound needed. Heat sink film then also becomes practical and would be less messy for sure!Another possibility would be to scrape away said plastic and glue each module to a metal surface using silicone caulk (not "siliconized caulk"!), pressing firmly to squeeze out as much adhesive between the rear of the module and your "heat sink" as possible. Silicone caulk is not great heat transfer material, but, it is much better than air, and squeezed into a very thin film its thermal resistance will be fairly low. It is also MUCH cheaper than heat sink compound. The module will have to be held in place* until the cement / caulk sets, and surfaces must be clean as a whistle.*Masking tape may work, or clamps, or, screws of course work too in some spots (just be very careful where you are drilling, as always.)If heat sinking is difficult, a tech oriented user can also add a voltage regulator or an appropriate LED constant current driver. (This would be a VERY good product for the seller to offer: Small regulators /drivers for single modules, and a larger version for entire strings.)One other note: I also observed that as the module warmed, if the input voltage was constant, the input CURRENT actually rose slightly. This points to some sort of slight (at these temps) positive temperature coefficient in terms of current drawn. I would not go so far as to say that "thermal runaway" is an issue, but, I can't rule it out in some circumstances using an unregulated (current) supply.Brightness @ 13 volts input is good, and light quality, although a "cold" white, has no annoying blue-ish or purple-ish tinge to it.I did not have any problems with wires pulling loose and so on, but, I was careful with them. For those who prefer solder connections, after cutting and stripping wires between modules, I tinned a couple with conventional 60/40 rosin core solder: The solder flowed on well, alleviating my concern that the manufacturer had cheaped out and used Aluminum wire (brittle and requires special solder flux.) (Happens often with Chinese products, but this one did not.)Now if we could get the vendor to sell these in warm white, maybe a "bug light" color for camping, and perhaps other colors too, that'd be great!A final thought is that if you have an extra 9 volt "wall wart" AC to DC power adaptor around, it may well be able to push one or more of these modules to provide under cabinet lighting and such, in home applications. Just check the adaptor's unloaded voltage and then the voltage "in use" (see discussion above) as some adaptors are unregulated and may provide too much voltage if "pushing" a very modest load. If pushing many modules, the current rating of the adaptor is important too.Meters used in testing were a Fluke 8060A and a Beckman HD160. (Oldies but goodies!)Update, 2/4/2024: I installed two modules to replace the license plate lights in my family's 2009 Subaru Outback. This involved taking out the old bulb housing but re-using the lens. The modules are temporarily held ln in place on each end with a small dab of hot melt glue. Another small dab of hot melt glue covers the closely clipped wires on one end of each module. I'm not sure the hot melt glue will hold up at the top end of the automotive temperature range, so I plan to go back in and secure with something higher temperature resistant, but still removable with a bit of effort, such as silicone cement.Brightness-wise, these are great! Almost too great... but, that gives me a little leeway to add a series resistor or voltage regulation (which will effectively be current limiting) if need be. This is a bit of an experiment to see if I burn out a module running off the Outback's modestly "hot" (high) voltage rails, esp. when temperatures warm up as we get into summer.Note that I've tried replacing the 194 OEM incandescent bulbs with 194 LED bulbs, but every brand I've tried has failed. In the small, confined, closed space of the bulb housing for these license plate lights, apparently the 194 LED bulbs overheat and internal connections become intermittent. They FEEL hot in operation, that is for sure.* With the bulb housing (rear part only) "gone" I'm hopeful convective cooling will help matters out, plus, these modules have much greater radiating surface area. Possibly I should have painted the back side of the modules black black or cobbled on some sort of heat sink. I DID remove all the mounting tape / foam.*I've used the same 194 LED bulbs as marker light replacements, and, so far, so good. Likely that is because the internal volume of the marker light housing is much larger than the internal volume of the license plate light's housings, allowing the marker lights better cooling.Also note, the new arrangement for the license plate lights is not sealed up. The old housing had a rubber gasket between the lens and the rear portion of the bulb housing, and road grime still(!) got in there and on the inside surface of the lens. So... we shall see if moisture or road grime becomes a problem (light blockage or even module failure.)
M**R
These things rock!!!
I bought these to install in a camper, but unfortunately the camper i was getting fell through. But I did test them out and boy let me tell you what, these things up off some much needed light. Still got em, but still need a product to utilize them on or in.
M**M
Works great, bright, low amperage, tape backing is "meh"
These are super bright! The wires are a bit slim, but not a so-thin-they-break-each-time-you-strip-the-wire thin. The tape on the back worked to hold them in place long enough for me to put a screw into it. Otherwise, I would not trust the tape for any amount of time. The spacings of the wires works for me, for when you put 3-4 stretched out, it is bright! One thing I DID do was, when cutting the wires, cut the final one nearly flush tot he light base itself. The insulation is thick enough for me (plus I properly fuse everything) that the exposed wires don't pose a huge hazard (I am also mounting them to wood, so no worries on it shorting on anything but the other wire). Trim it just right, and there is a very small dot of wire - not enough to worry about. If you are really worried, leave 1/4-1/2" of wire and use some liquid electrical tape to seal them off.Used for quite a few hours so far, and they have worked well from 11.6v to 14.4v. I did not notice a difference in brightness between the varying voltages, but perhaps my eyes were a bit blinded over the hours. Did I say they are bright?Used in a tiny vehicle closet, one light worked but caused shadows. My fix was to put in 2 - one on the ceiling, and another on the wall, spaced as far as the wire spacing would allow. No more shadows, plenty bright, and when placed in the correct orientation, they are not blinding.Of the set I got, so far I have not had any failures. I tested the entire strand all at once, and all were pretty much equally bright. They are not totally directional, but not spot lights, either. I would say 120-140 degrees of light, fading on the outer 20-40 degrees. Works well to light my vehicle up, as the other folks pics show.
M**E
Very bright, great value, a little fragile
When installing, I tugged one of the wires and severed/stopped one of the lights in the middle and it stopped all the others downstream from working. It didn’t pull all the way out, but apparently was severed. I cut out the bad light and wired/used the remaining downstream string in series, then, wired the bad light at the other end, i wired the the bad light via the other pair of wires on the other side of the bad light and it worked. Also, don’t install in the cold, they didn’t stick well to my cold roof in my van. Had to use more 3m double sticky tape when they fell off. Now that it’s done, it is soo bright and such a great price. I also wired it by taking out the old dome light bayonet style bulb and inserted the stripped wire ends in between the bulb base and the pos/neg leads. Worked well. Simple and quick.
S**
Super product
Used these lights in my trailer and they are by far the best and brightest light for those late night jobs. Love it!
G**J
Easy to install and bright
Nice and bright! One 60 LED strand has 20, 3 LED lights. The strand is about 12’ long. Very easy to wire. I added a 12v switch when installing so I could turn them on and off. I ordered two strands and ran one down the right side and one down the left side of my enclosed cargo trailer. I mounted the switch next to the door and now I can get my equipment in the dark without rummaging through the trailer with a flash light. So far, I’ve had no issues with the LEDs going out. I stuck the lights on the ceiling with the included sticky backing. It’s been hot and humid and after a 100 mile trip, they’re still holding great. I recommend these for the price, you can’t go wrong!
M**R
Work great
Easy to install, works great. Cut and rewired to install and light up back of cargo van. Works amazing!
M**K
Thoroughly impressed for the price
Unreal value for what you get. I was looking at buying all components separately to light a toolbox camping set up, but this is by far the cheapest and best way to run a small 12 v light system. Cable harness was heat shrunk and soldered ends which was not expected for the price. Would certainly buy again and will buy additional lights to add on to the set up.
B**O
Plenty of light!
My 1 car garage is far from the house and has no power. I bought 1 set of these and split them into 4 parts - 2 Sets over the workbench and 1 each along 2 other walls. I just extended the wires with some old 18 gauge speaker wire I had on hand. They are hooked to an old car battery which is is kept charged by a very small solar panel. There's an amazing amount of light. Plenty to work by at night. I thought I might buy another set, but really there's no need. I did paint the interior of the garage white which of course helps a lot. If your space is dark you might add a reflector behind or get a second set.
N**L
Very close together
Come in a pack of 20 x 3 lights but the joining cable is very short and the light pods are really close , I cut mine in two banks of 10 , one of the leds didn’t work to well from day one
T**.
Great amount of light
Good product, provides enough light for my purpose and the self adhesive backing was a real help during the installation.
Trustpilot
5 days ago
1 day ago