12v lighting

Hello everyone. We have recently purchased a dandy discovery (96) and just wondered what lighting people used and would recommend. Thanks, Tony

Hi and Tonyddl

We just bought some of these to run off a 12v battery.

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Mr Itch likes his tilley lamps, so its whatever rocks your boat, or Dandy.

Moved this so more people find it, to the forum

mike

Hi and welcome Tonyddl.

A good starting point is what kind of power source you want to use - batteries / leisure battery in camper / mains hookup or even gas/petrol ?

Let us know what your preference is and we can make sensible recommendations.

First of all thanks everyone for the very warm welcome.We were looking at lighting off a 12volt battery and also where the best places are to put lighting. Thanks again, Tony.

These are the type of lights we used.

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We mounted them on a small wooden batten and put clips like these on the back.


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They then clip onto the roof hoops or awning rails and you can position them wherever suits your needs best. If you then decide to move them as long as you have put enough wire on them it is no great hassle.

Hope this helps.

For operation off a 12V battery, I don't think there's anything better than the fluorescent lamps of the type that phoenix has linked to. Good quality LED units are still too expensive in my opinion.

We do use little battery-operated LED lights over the beds for reading and getting in and out after the main lights are off. We have [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] attached using a piece of velcro. The batteries last a whole season.

Thanks everyone for all your help, do the lights wire up to the plugs given to us by Ian at Riva Dandy? Thanks again, Tony.javascript:emoticonp('')

Tonyddl wrote:Thanks everyone for all your help, do the lights wire up to the plugs given to us by Ian at Riva Dandy? Thanks again, Tony.javascript:emoticonp('')

Most likely - Are the plugs (and sockets in the camper) like the ones below, or a different type?

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Yes,they are.

That is the type in Phoenix, they were her original sockets from new as far as we know.

Tonyddl wrote:Hello everyone. We have recently purchased a dandy discovery (96) and just wondered what lighting people used and would recommend. Thanks, Tony

Tonyddl wrote:First of all thanks everyone for the very warm welcome.We were looking at lighting off a 12volt battery and also where the best places are to put lighting. Thanks again, Tony.

Hello Tony

I would be more fundamental in how you choose what lighting you have. I'd say it's about how you want to camp and it's about what you require.

How you want to camp: Are you likely to be deposited on a site with a EHU? Do you prefer cheaper sites without a EHU. Are you out and about and will only use the Dandy as a crash pad. Will you want to have recreation around your Dandy perhaps barbecuing of an evening. If so how will you chill your food and beer. (I know it's technically beer and food in order of importance but we've not been introduced yet so I listed in the polite form)
How often will you be going Dandying and how far? A 96 Discovery does it have an underfloor heater?

You may at this point be thinking WTF (didn't stay polite and formal for long) has all this got to do with a few lights?

Lets look at the simplest option, "All I want is a Light": In this case I'd say the 60 LED inspection lights sold by Aldi and Lidl at £10 are unbeatable. 2 or three of these will easily light a Discovery and it's awning for a week over summer and a long weekend over winter. They charge quickly and can easily be charged in the car or if you stop off for a couple of hours at a favored hostelry with the permission of the landlord. They are highly portable and aid greatly in providing that addition light to find items in the car, boot and especially the roof box. In fact whatever you get in terms of lighting for the Discovery buy at least one of these and a couple of cheap LED head torches from Poundland.
The downside. I noticed the term "We" used before bought a Discovery. From this I conclude that the Discovery will not be a solo toy. Also that either the lady concerned will likely have issues about ambiance, or if it's not a female then applying my standard level of bigotry I'd assume you would both be more sensitive about ambiance.
The LED inspection lights look industrial and LED lighting unless it is a modern fitment with a cooler colour is devastatingly harsh.

Peridot ventured that for his opinion LEDs are overpriced. Possibly so but before LEDs lights consumed a large amount of power and the centre of my questions are about what power requirements you will have and how you will satisfy them.
The three big power consumers when camping in order of instantaneous are heat, (by a big margin) chilling and light.
So how you heat your Discovery and how you chill your food impinge on how you light your Dandy.
Missed out your TV or audio entertainment. See how your choices affect what the solution is?

If you will or think you will camp infrequently or you like luxury. Go with an EHU and just use mains lamps inside the Dandy. The awning if it is dripping with condensation might an issue but we'll explore this route if you are going that way.

Various fluorescent tube lamps are available either to Phoenix's design or more decorative. You may choose to ask about the tube "heat" or colour of white. These fittings will contain a tube of 8w to 13w what the total demand is I'm uncertain of but you have a demand of 16w to 26w. If using LED's I'd have said that 4W would provide sufficient light but looking at tables I'm more given to use half the power so 8w to 13w. The big problem with any low voltage lighting with a central power store is the leisure battery. If you camp frequently and want to use none EHU sites then leisure batteries are a possible solution if less frequently or you might use EHUs then they are a pain in the proverbial. You may have to charge them while away, you have to pay attention to them for the rest of the year when you are not camping.
12v leisure batteries were for years the accepted solution and might be the solution for you but with lower power demands individually powered LED units and rechargeable dry batteries may suit.
If you want to start to depress yourself read the piece on
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] though I'd not recommend fitting a 12S connection to your Discovery you can see the considerations. (your use may warrant a 12S connection navver has. As said so far horses for courses)

At the other end of the scale if you don't want to use EHU's if you have an underfloor heater and a 3 way fridge (electric cold boxes are strictly EHU) then non electric sources can be considered.
I have two Tilley lamps (the higher quality Bialladin/Vapalux lanterns are available unused from £40 used £25 or so. Immense quality. Are the army going LED? I won't spend best part of £150 to £200 but four matching Vapalux lamps with the downlighting plates would be a credit to any group camp.) either paraffin, petrol or gas lanterns all have their individual benefits. Collectively they all add heat as well as light. No use on your two week South Of France camp but very welcome in the UK where evenings can turn chilly.
I love the slightly soft light and the gentle hiss. I'm not alone!

severebrainfailure wrote:

First trip is booked for fathers day weekend - i can smell the bbq and hear the tilley lamp already

Shocked even I consider ambiance, I must man up and stop this.


I have two Tilley lamps, two LED inspection lamps, a few poundland LED downlights, an LED head torch and various other LED torches. I haven't made up curtains for my Designer yet nor have I set up the water pump.
I'm not the person to tell you what lighting you want but hopefully I've started you looking at wider considerations.

Thanks a lot for all the info. You have given us a lot to think about.