Exterior Lighting Upgrades

[pugslyyy]

LEDs are, of course, the way to go these days. My wife and I like to have illumination that preserves night vision, so upgraded to red LEDs for the outside lights. The results were... anemic (but still better than the stock incandescent)


This, however, is _much_ better


and it is on the awning, so when I crank out the awning it comes out as well...


And for completeness, I ran white LEDs as well.




This is what the switches look like inside the truck camper. Red = Red, Blue = white (there don't seem to be any white switches)

 

[Abitibi]

Looks good!

How did you wire it?


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[pugslyyy]

I found some very nice 18AWG sheathed speaker wire that I think will hold up nicely. Except for a very small section where it passes through the shell of the camper, it is all concealed when stowed. I'm going top keep an eye on it for a while and look for rub/wear spots etc. I just have the hole sealed with butyl rubber at the moment, so it will be easy for me to make adjustments if need be.

The tricky thing was getting it on the awning extension - I didn't want the light to just be affixed to the camper wall.

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DILPS32

 

[Abitibi]

Nice! Thanks.


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[pugslyyy]

Total project cost, $38.64 for the 10 meters of LED (5 red, 5 white - still have leftovers) + $12.99 for the wire (lots left over). I had spare switches so didn't need to buy any.

 

[Abitibi]

Makes for a cheap upgrade. I've seen it done on awnings before and like the result. Mine are ARB (different style) so not sure it'd work as good... Worth a try!




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[pugslyyy]

Makes for a cheap upgrade. I've seen it done on awnings before and like the result. Mine are ARB (different style) so not sure it'd work as good... Worth a try!
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My style is actually one of the tougher ones to get the LEDs to work on - the ones where the roller extends out are much easier, you just sew the wire into the awning seam and stick the LEDs onto the roller spindle.

And of course super easy is just to stick the LEDs onto the outside of your camper. I really wanted the LEDs to be on the outboard edge of the awning, which was what made it more complicated.

 

[Abitibi]

Might have been more complicated but the end result makes it worthwhile...

Cheers
Mr. D


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