Lighting (inside) for enclosed trailer.

I picked up a enclosed trailer (8.5X20) and would like to put some kind of general lighting inside to make it easier to load and find things inside at night. Has anyone used 12V L.E.D strips or something like that as I am not sure the L.E.D system would provide enough light. Or should I look at another system?

Thanks, Paul

Very interested in the responses.

Here's my rigged up hurricane lighting. I think 90 watts total running off a car battery. It was enough to light up a 20x15 room comfortably. Got them off eBay for ~$12.

Mine is 5 metres 7020 waterproof strip.

This is at night with only them on. The wall is about 15 feet from the strip.

I used something similar to Stampie on my 6x12. Hooked it up to a 12v battery and small switch and it really does light up the whole trailer. Two of them would probably make your seem like daylight inside. Someday, I'll wire the trailer for 12v power with a deep cycle battery so I don't have to recharge the battery as often.

Should be able to find a 15-20 foot strip shipped for under $15.

-Rob

Stampie, how long will the battery last on this set up and do you remember the brand of lights?

Thanks, Paul

Harbor Freight makes a pretty decent LED work light that's rechargeable, so it's effectively cordless when in use. Has a high and low beam setting, intended for working under the hood so it throws a lot of light down.
Has hooks as well as magnets on both ends to secure it. Coupons have these reduced pretty often down to 27.99. Battery life seems great so far.

Donebrokeit wrote: Stampie, how long will the battery last on this set up and do you remember the brand of lights? Thanks, Paul

Here's an eBay link to what I bought or similar. I got the 7020 specifically for the higher output in lumens. Their chart says 8 amps and Google says a small car battery is 45 amp hours so guessing 5-6 hours.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-SMD-3528-5050-5630-7020-300LEDs-RGB-White-LED-Strip-Light-12V-Power-Supply-/162215368797?var=&hash=item25c4ca185d:m:mqSlB2zOjWE7OWbk6BHW3Jw

ProTip: If you have a 7-pin trailer plug, one of those wires is a 12-gauge positive wire. You can use that to let the tow vehicle's alternator charge a deep cycle battery that you mount in the trailer.

ProTip: If you haven't looked at LED lighting lately, you will be quite surprised at how much light you get for virtually no draw on your battery. It is altogether too easy to install far more light than you could ever need. I had way too much light in the small camper trailer I built a few years ago, and after camping for 3 nights, the very small battery I used didn't even need a charge at all!

My vendor of choice is Super Bright LEDs. The quality is a big step above random bits bought from eBay, and you can find 10% off coupon codes all over the web.

I use the LED strip lights from ebay. 2 rolls work great. I have allegator clips I stick on the spare battery I carry for the Chumpcar. Long term is to put a solar charger on a dedicated battery. The trailer gets used separate from the truck a lot.

LED tape is fine. Get them from Ebay or Amazon. Bright white will provide a few more lumens, but warm white works as well. I just bought a bunch from Amazon for $8.95 each.

Most of them are 60 LEDs per meter and about 16' (5M long or 300 LEDs).

I used two strips in a light box behind a printed vinyl banner. I had to paint over the black vinyl because it was glowing through. Lots of light.

Here are some for $7.99. Expect one in a dozen to be defective, and also potentially expect to do some soldering. Some come pre-terminated, others come with a pigtail that you solder on to the wires of the tape. This example seems to come with a pigtail already on it, or possibly with a clip-on splice joint to attach the cord.

Amazon LED tape

I used LED tapes from Amazon. Like $15 a length.

Made my own switchbox so I can have as many or few on as I need. Also have a 12v outlet and dual USB outlets in the bottom. Marine fusebox mounted on the wall and a lawnmower battery in the tongue box with a solar panel keeping it topped off.

I think I have maybe $100 invested. Need to make a nicer switch box now that I have a sheet metal brake.

If your willing to wait a couple weeks, and get non waterproof these are cheap. I bought 3 rolls, all were good. ~$3 a roll, and smd 5730's which are a little brighter than the 5050's

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tanbaby-LED-Strip-light-5630-DC12V-5M-300led-flexible-5730-bar-light-high-brightness-Non-waterproof/32429656371.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.a60LmY

Or rigid strips, ~18" these will be even brighter than the rolls. ~120lumens/watt

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/0-5m-SMD-8520-LED-Bar-light-DC12V-50cm-36-leds-LED-Hard-Rigid-light-For/32665016796.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.56.CtCIzX&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1_116_10065_117_10068_114_115_10069_113_10017_10080_10082_10081_10060_10061_10062_10056_10055_10054_10059_10078_10079_10073_10070_421_420_10052_10053_10050_10051,searchweb201603_6&btsid=216aa85d-c58d-4b2a-88b2-161eff7e2547

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMD_LED_Module

You can just count the number of LEDs and multiply by wattage to get your power draw. Generally the larger LEDs will get you more lumens per watt.