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Old 02-09-2011, 07:00 PM   #1
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Rear Full Function LED Light Bar

I added a LED light bar to the rear of my 17B. It has all light functions including reverse and I added toggle switches near the water tank monitor system so I can turn on the reverse lights and the running lights from inside the trailer. The light bar also has brakes and turn indicators.

Finding a light bar with a reverse light function took weeks and although it may not be quite bright enough for unassisted backing, it shows intent to other drivers and I can use the adjacent exterior light to increase the illumination if required.

The switches allow me to use the reverse light as an outside light or the running lights if I wan't to keep our night vision a bit sharper. An added benefit is the tow vehicle reverse lights will also come on, if hooked up, so I can hitch or unhitch with the tow vehicle in park but the reverse lights on to illuminate the hitch area.

Attached is a picture of the light bar with all lights off.

More to follow on the next post...
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Old 02-09-2011, 07:08 PM   #2
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Re: Rear Full Function LED Light Bar

Attached is a picture of the light bar with the reverese and running lights on.

Here is a link showing the light bar in action.

Here is a link describing the Recon Part part number 26418CL - CLEAR 15" Mini LED Tailgate Bar. I chose the Clear over the Smoke model out of personal preference. Note that the Red version does not have a reverse light function. http://www.gorecon.com/products.php?...ate-Light-Bars

The next post will desribe the installation...
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Old 02-09-2011, 07:44 PM   #3
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Re: Rear Full Function LED Light Bar

The attached picture shows the wire harness to the LED bar running along the back wall of the trailer. We keep books and snacks there so I am not concerned with wire damage but I mounted the wire in flexible conduit just to make sure.

On my trailer there was a one inch gap in the hidden support blocks that support the aft cabinet. If you feel right above the cabinet floor with your fingers you can feel the support blocks under the wall covering. The one inch gap in my trailer was right in the middle so I used that to run the wire from the light bar into the trailer. I attached the light bar with screws through the outside fiberglass and into the support blocks.

I ran a four wire trailer harness from the back to the front of the trailer as follows:

From the aft upper cabinet the wire harness ran along the ledge above the drivers side cabinet doors. This ledge can be felt, but not seen, above both of those doors. I held the wires running along the ledge in place with pieces of foam rubber stuck into the ledge area.

For power to the added toggle switches for the reverse and running lights, I spliced into the factory installed water tank monitor panel. Because I spliced into the existing monitor panel, no new fuses were required. The Black and White wires on the monitor panel are the power and ground leads. On my trailer the Black wire was originally spliced into a Red wire and the White was spliced into a White wire.

From there things got tricky........

The harness off of the light bar had five wires as follows:
These four were on a standard simple trailer harness:
Brown - Running Lights
Yellow - Left turn/brake
Green - Right turn/brake
White - ground

The reverese light was a seperate black wire.

At the water tank monitor panel I cut the white ground wire and spliced that into the monitor panel ground. I then spliced the black reverse light wire into the white wire that was part of the harness that continued on to the front of the trailer.

The following describes how I got the wire harness from the cabinet above the galley to the storage area under the front left hand seat. (this is where the trailer hitch cable connects to the trailer wiring)

On the wall between the galley and the bathroom I drilled two one inch diameter holes thorugh the double sided wood wall, being careful not to drill into the fiberglass shower liner. One hole was in the upper cabinet, near the water monitor panel, the other was in the same wall above the furnace. I use a piloted one inch hole saw to cut into the first of the double wood wall surface, then removed the pilot drill to cut into the the second wall. That kept me from drilling a pilot hole in the fiberglass liner.

I then attached a small washer to a string and used a magnet applied to the fiberglass shower liner to walk the washer and string from the upper hole to the lower hole.

That string then went through another hole in cabinet floor next to the furnace, into the the lowest cabinet under the furnace and was attached to a stiff wire that I had earlier snaked into that cabinet from under the front left hand seat. I could then pull the string and wire harness from above the galley all the way to under the front left hand seat.

Under the front left hand seat is a metal junciton box with all the trailer to tow vehicle wiring. I connected the 4 wire harness to the appropriate wires of the standard 7 wire harness but had to make the following changes because for some strange reason, the 4 wire and 7 wire harnesses use a different color scheme. This is not unique to Escape, they are all like this.

So the following 4 to 7 harness changes were made, keep in mind that the white wire on the 4 wire harness is now the reverese line because of the change I made near the water monitor panel.

Brown to green for running lights
Yellow to red for left turn/brakes
Green to brown for right turn/brakes
Whte to yellow for reverse.

Anyhow....

Now I have reverse lights, can turn on the reverse lights from inside, can turn on the tow vehicle reverse lights, and turn on the running lights from inside.

The only hard part was finding the light bar and running the wire harness, luckily I kept all the wires inside and didn't have to run wires outside the trailer.



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Old 02-09-2011, 08:35 PM   #4
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Re: Rear Full Function LED Light Bar

Cool! I've seen LED Thundersticks mounted to the window frame (no holes through the fiberglass!) and it can be cut to length http://www.realtruck.com/fire-ice-le...1807P1C1T.html

I think you're really going to like the increased visibility
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Old 02-10-2011, 04:37 AM   #5
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Re: Rear Full Function LED Light Bar

Very Nice!
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Old 02-10-2011, 11:45 AM   #6
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Re: Rear Full Function LED Light Bar

I wonder what is involved to retro fit my 2010 trailer
with stanard light config. to the new and improved LED lights?
Do it your-self or Reace special ?
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Old 02-10-2011, 05:07 PM   #7
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Re: Rear Full Function LED Light Bar

If you're talking the interior lights, you just buy the LED bulbs and replace the standard ones. Costs about $25 a bulb, so I've been getting a couple at a time, over the past couple years, and installing them where they are most used. Tammy has them in several color temps so it's best to try them and see which ones you like.

I got a yellow bulb for outside the door ( the theory being that it wouldn't attract insects ), but it sheds little light. Basically tells you where the trailer is.

If you're talking exterior, then I think you should talk to Reace and get them installed during the build.

baglo
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Old 02-10-2011, 05:11 PM   #8
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Re: Rear Full Function LED Light Bar

And, since the exterior lights ( brakes, turn, etc. ) are used while connected to the tow vehicle, you're not going to save any power.
LED light look great, but I won't be doing any retro-fit.

baglo
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Old 02-11-2011, 10:15 PM   #9
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Re: Rear Full Function LED Light Bar

Wouldn't you know it. Keep in mind that the single greatest cause of death is birth....

baglo

Story on Vancouver Sun web site:

Small LED bulbs that are promoted as eco-friendly alternatives to traditional light bulbs contain high levels of lead, arsenic and a dozen other potentially hazardous substances that have been linked to various cancers, a new American study shows.

Researchers at the University of California in Irvine and Davis crushed LED bulbs from strands of Christmas lights and found that the red ones had up to eight times the amount of lead allowed under California law, while the other colours bulbs had even more contaminants. White bulbs contained the least lead, but they had high levels of nickel, said researcher Oladele Ogunseitan, chair of the university's department of population health and disease prevention.

"LEDs are touted as the next generation of lighting. But as we try to find better products that do not deplete energy resources or contribute to global warming, we have to be vigilant about the toxicity hazards of those marketed as replacements," he said in a statement.

The report is the first to look for toxic chemicals in LEDs, he added.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/fri...#ixzz1DiMuoFnR
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Old 02-12-2011, 01:34 AM   #10
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Re: Rear Full Function LED Light Bar

Folks;
In 1954 and 1955, I was employed at Port Radium Mines, Great Bear Lake North west Territories. The product or mineral that was being mined is called pitchblend.
The Nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, was made from material "Radium" from that mine.
In those years, you could make extra money, .75cents an hour loading Yellow cake onto a scow for transport accross the lake to an airport at sawmill bay.
I would go to my bunkhouse covered in yellow dust.
Our Base ball diamond was made from the waste products of the mine, "Uranium" this was not used in those days, so was used as fill, High Grade Uranium.

Then I went to work at Giant Mines in Yellowkife North West Territories, a hard rock mine, digging for gold.
The ore there was "Arsino Pyrite" a gold bearing rock that is very high in arsenic.
Our drinking water arsenic content was to high for human consumption but it was the only water we had so what the hell we drank it.

During my apprentice years to become an electrician "Industrial" it was my task to drain the insulating oil used for coolant in the transformers feeding the mine, and boil it just below the flash point of 450 degrees farenhiet toremove moisture build up.
Then run it through a press to filter out any dirt that might be in it.
I would have to get inside the transformer cans and wash then down the repaint them with red glyptal paint.

I later years all of these things are said to cause cancer, birth defects and who knows what else.

I take it with a grain of salt when I hear a so called scientist say something is not good for you.
Asbestos is only dangerous when it is friable.
Arsenic is only bad for you when you eat it pure in high quantities.
Transformer oil is only bad when it is heated to very high temp or drank.

And uranium , or radium bombs are very bad when you are with in three miles.

Note to ones self! do not crush your LED lights

Doug
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Old 02-12-2011, 03:01 AM   #11
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Re: Rear Full Function LED Light Bar

Hi: Yukon Escape...My father was a Stationary Engineer in charge of a two boiler heating system for a huge building. I have seen him mix powdered asbestos and soak strips of rag and apply them to insulate the steam pipes. I have seen him climb into a hot water storage tank to remove the scale buildup. During the winters he shoveled 8 or more cubic yards of coal a day, by hand, to feed the heating boilers. He died at age 83 of massive heart failure...so I too will not crush my LED lights...I promise. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie
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Old 05-07-2016, 04:01 PM   #12
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Great Mod ! Congrats.
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Old 05-09-2016, 11:21 AM   #13
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That figures. Not surprised in the least. Your tax dollars in action.
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