Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Im thinking of using tap lights in my cabin instead of wiring a light in. Has anybody done this and how did it work out ?

BATTERIES

Just kidding

The tap a lite is a good looking light fixture. It's light and mounts easily. I dis assembled one a couple of weeks ago and added a 4 watt night light 120 volt and a 12 volt clearance light fixture in the dome. I now have a 12 volt ~ 120 volt light with battery back up.

You may not be able to read by it but it is very adequate for seeing enough to negotiate in the trailer.

You can get tap lights but they don't put out very much light. If you also get some fluorescent battery powered for reading it will help. You might need at least a larger lantern to go with it.

Just wondering, what is a tap light? And what powers it? My experience with battery eating lights for reading has not been good. Very expensive due to frequent battery replacement. The Coleman retro rechareable 12V lantern has been great for us. It runs all evening on a charge and recharges overnight or during the day from either an A/C adapter or 12V outlet. The 12V recharging plug stores in the base which also contains a small sealed lead acid battery.

http://www.rei.com/product/723290

Bill

wlooper89 wrote:Just wondering, what is a tap light? And what powers it? My experience with battery eating lights for reading has not been good. Very expensive. The Coleman retro rechareable 12V lantern has been great for us. Runs all evening on a charge and recharges overnight or during the day from either an A/C adapter or 12V outler.

http://www.rei.com/product/723290

Bill

Little cheap battery powered light.

http://www.doityourselfhut.com/tap_light.htm

When I bought my interior lighting I was looking at under cabinet type lighting. I wanted LEDs but they also had fluorescent and halogen but they got hot and I wasn't sure if the vibration from being on the road would effect them too. Anyways when I got my LED lights we also bought some LED tap lights that were in the same aisle. They have a clip on the back but you can mount them too. They're round and look pretty much like the under cabinet lights but we use them as flashlights and inside when we have no electric hookups. They work almost as good as the under cabinet lights just not quite as bright due to less LEDs per light. I've used the cheapo tap lights too and they are junk. Find some quality LED lights and you won't be disappointed. Batteries last a long time in them too.

Seems to me that you could get some of the better tap lights and connect them to your 12 volt DC system. Might involve some soldering and a few parts, but should not take much to adapt them. Do not know if it would be cost affective though.

Dan

This light is 12V florescent and puts out just the right amount of light for reading.



The best part for me is being able to leave them on all evening and not worry about replacing AA batteries. The rectangular light beside it is original equipment from Little Guy, AA battery powered and not used much now that we have the 12V ones.

The fluorescents are from a company named Taylorbrite and a bit expensive, but at the rate we were changing AA batteries maybe not too bad.

Bill

Actually the under cabinet LED lights (I remembered they call them puck lights) are 12v too. When I go to set up my 12v battery system I'm just going to cut off the converter plug and wire them in. Should be easier than trying to wire in a battery powered tap light.

I used LEDs for the interior and all marker, brake and tail lights on the trailer too. I didn't want to have to worry about replacing bulbs and I like the way they look.

I have bought 2 tap lights for my trailer, each one runs on AA batteries and is about 5-6 inches across.
I also have some LED strips that run on AAA batteries.
Apart from a gas lantern for under the hatch thats it for now. Will have to see if its bright enough.