New Light Bulbs

C93 Light Bulbs

Have you encountered one of these new light bulbs...maybe your porch light burned out and you went to change it. A CEF 93...what?  Looks like a regular 1146 or 1156 bulb...but is says CEF 93 and made in China. I tried to find this bulb at auto parts stores, Wal-Mart...no one carried this bulb!? Having been 'burned' in years past by substituting an 1156 for a 1141 and melting my porch light fixture...I was a little cautious about getting the right bulb. The fixture had stamped on the back plate, substitute was a 1003 bulb. So I tried the smaller 1003LL which I hoped would not melt things. It worked ok but seemed to burn out faster than the C93. Well I finally made time to research light bulbs and compare specs. Here is the result.

 

Bulb	Amps	Light Output MSCP	Energy Used Watts	Life Avg. Hours	Watts < over C93	Remarks
C93	1.04	15	13.3W	700		New bulb used in outside RV lights
1003LL	0.94	15	12W	400		RV recommended replacement for C93
1093	1.19	15	15.2W	1,000	7%	Good replacement only 1.9W more & much longer life
1142	1.44	21	18.4W	1,000	38%	Old standby bulb easy to find at any auto parts store
1141	1.44	21	18.4W	1,000	38%	Old standby bulb easy to find at any auto parts store
1156	2.1	32	26.9W	1,200	100%	Old standby bulb but too hot - could melt your fixture

 

Yes, the 1003 would not melt the fixture, but look at it's avg. life...only 400 hours! The data reveals a much better choice, the 1093 and I had thought they are available at most stores that sell auto parts. However, recent experience has shown that the 1093 is also hard to find. So, I thought the old regular 1141 and 1142 are brighter and probably will work fine in most RV light fixtures - WRONG!  Been using an 1141 and it too MELTED part of the top of the snap in lens...not bad, but just enough that it will allow rain to enter the fixture!  That will break the bulb if you have your porch light turned on in a rain storm. . . so, back to the easy to find 1003 (but short lived), or trying to find the elusive 93 or 1093 bulbs.  The RV industry doesn't make it easy...I was just at Camping World today, NO C93s, no 1003LL (LongLife), just regular 1003s.

BTW be careful with the 1156 or 1157...they are too hot for most RV light fixtures, they are designed for tail light fixtures and they WILL MELT your plastic light fixture!

Updated 4-19-08