Additional LED Lighting

[Vermilye]

They sent mine without tape so I used Scotch Outdoor Mounting tape (Holds up to 5 lbs!). I did clean the area well to remove wax, dirt, etc. I also added a small "blob" of epoxy to the front end to keep the wind from pealing the lights. It has made it through a 2K trip last Fall; I'll have a better idea after this summer's trip.

Yes, I powered them from the refer 12v circuit. I added a small switch (also on the vent cover) to turn them off & on. I thought about feeding them from the porch light, but there are times I don't want both on at the same time & it would have meant more exposed wiring.

[LeonW]

Just a note about the lighting strips in the cabinets. I asked Tammy if this was a possible option, and she said they couldn't do it because of possible fire hazards. Apparently one customer did something similar to this, and some clothing got piled by the the lights (which had been left on) or shifted during transit and a couple of shirts got burned.

But, the 2012 Escapes have a couple of lights up on the dome, and as a result, it should be easier to see what is in the cabinets. If not, I guess I have my Petzyl HeadLamp.

[Garand]

Thanks for the insight. We ordered the "closet" in our 5.0 with shelves and all our clothing gets stored there. I will test a strip of the lights to see how hot they get, but I suspect they won't get too hot to the touch as they are covered in plastic (I bought the waterproof version). More later.

Dave

[gbaglo]

I've installed Sylvania Spot.It battery powered lights in a couple cupboards. They come is various sizes and shapes. The one I use in the cupboard above the fridge is about five inches long and you just have to brush your hand against it to turn it on and off.

Installed with Velcro.

baglo

[Garand]

I just finished a heat test of the LED lights. I unrolled a 16 ft strip, hooked it to a 12v source and let it run for two hours. At the end of that time the lights were barely warm to the touch. At this point, I have no worries about the lights presenting any danger inside a closed cabinet. In addition, I'm looking at some switches which close the circuit when the cabinet door is opened and cut off the lights when the door is closed.

We too bought some of those Sylvania Dot lights and used them our first season. My problem with them was they eventually fell off their mountings and we found them floating around the bottom of whatever cabinet they were intended to light. Until I get some of these strip LEDs mounted inside, a small flashlight will suffice for my needs.

Dave

[gbaglo]

Take a look at http://www.inovalight.com/

I've got one of the key-chain flashlights. It's really handy and bright for the size. About $12

I also have a Princeton Tec from Pulsar key chain light. It's a simpler design ( you have to keep the button pressed for it to be on ), but it's even smaller. It cost about $6.

baglo

[Vermilye]

If you have a nearby Harbor Freight, their free flashlights work well. By now I have a bunch of them & just leave them all over the house & trailer.

[Garand]

Here are a couple of close-up shots of the under-canopy light strip I put in ove the weekend. I may have to spread these over a couple of postings as the system hasn't been cooperating with me.

[Garand]

more...

[Garand]

and more...

[Garand]

The lights easily provide enough light to read by under the canopy. If I had it to do again I would mount them along the horizontal surface of the trailer roof (so they would emit upward )rather than on the vertical surface, in order to hide the lights from direct sight.

I wired them to an interior switch and used white extension cord rather than legitimate, color-coded electrical wires, to blend with the trailer. I also formed a channel in the 'fridge grill for the wires to pass through. Nice project,and thanks to Jon Vermilye for his original idea.

Dave

[JeffZ]

Nice pic's - I like the subtle lighting..

[Garand]

The next part of this project is to add some of the LED emitters inside the overhead cabinets. The LEDs came on a 15 foot roll, I used 9 feet under the awning, and there are enough lights left over to install 6 LEDs in each cabinet.

I plan on wiring them into the lights below the cabinet. In this way, I won't have to install extra switches, and I will have a handy indicator when the in-cabinets lights are on. It will involve drilling holes up through cabinets from the existing light fixtures and running wires to the LEDs. Based on the light emitted by the under-awning LEDs, I should have plenty of light to find things in the cabinets.

I'll keep you posted as this project moves along.

Dave

[Garand]

One final post, this with the awning furled. I took this at twilight so the light intensity is hard to determine, but at full dark it is still bright enough to read by.

[Vermilye]

Looks good!

[Seef]

Originally Posted by Garand

I wired them to an interior switch and used white extension cord rather than legitimate, color-coded electrical wires, to blend with the trailer. I also formed a channel in the 'fridge grill for the wires to pass through. Nice project,and thanks to Jon Vermilye for his original idea.

Dave

Hi Dave,

thanks for sharing. I'm too looking to get this kind of lighting on our 5.0. I wonder if you could show a picture of the routing of your wires from the outside to the inside of the trailer? I'm having difficulties in finding a suitable route.

Thanks in advance!

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by Seef

Hi Dave,

thanks for sharing. I'm too looking to get this kind of lighting on our 5.0. I wonder if you could show a picture of the routing of your wires from the outside to the inside of the trailer? I'm having difficulties in finding a suitable route.

Thanks in advance!

Seef,
I plan to do this same thing when we get our Escape. I talked with Reace about how to, and he suggested that, if I take the top frig. ventilation grill off, there is sufficient room to reach in to run wiring from the LEDs under the awning down to the porch light.
I will have an interior switch to control the porch light, so I'm going to use the little rocker switch on the porch light housing to control the LEDs instead. That way, when I turn off the porch light from inside, I also turn off the LEDs (and don't have to worry about forgetting).

Edit: Something to remember about the LED tape on a roll: every two inches, where the lines are for cutting it to length, there are solder pads for the +12V and Ground. So, you don't have to solder your power leads at the end; they can be attached at any of those pad locations.

[cpaharley2008]

Here is my led awning install pictures....
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f8...k-3134-19.html

[Seef]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for showing your installation. That is a great help!