Light It Up! Added LED lights to Awing and Steps.

[MJ.STIGER]

I just added some LED lights to my Awning and Steps. 

I feel like the turn out was great. The Steps where a bit of a challenge but it looks great. 

I went with BTF Lighting from Amazon.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089YFVPFF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Added a remote controller https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08X2GV1NG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Using BTF light controller. With Bluetooth https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NQ15B5K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I like that it works via bluetooth to smartphone APP. Full color changing and able to set a timer to turn off. I added both to the Patio light switch. And set the lights when turned on to a default White at a certain brightness.  Its going to make it easy for the wife to turn on the lights and move one. With the Remote control and the App you can change the lighting scheme. I created 2 zones so the Awning and Steps can be controlled together or separate. 

Fun little project. Might do the under carriage next. Still trying to figure out what replacements for the rope lights to do.  I might use the same setup. But need to find the rope lights that are a close swap. 

[timaz996]

Sweet!

[Old Dog]

 Great job,, that has been on my list for the last 2 years. Your coach is almost identical to mine, could you share the electric side of the install such as wire routing and power sources? Also what you're considering for underneath.

Thx Don

[Just Jim]

That does look nice.  Like some of the others.... I need "how to" instructions.  Is the receiver built into the light strip?  I have replaced the rope lights under the bottom of my cabinets with LED strips.  Would be nice to be able to dim them, but I suspect I have the wrong kind of strip.  I would like to add lights to the outside though.  Looks like you used the porch light as your source of power?  Did you do the inside steps or just the one outside?  Ideally, I would love to be able to control grab handles, step well lights and outside lights. 

[MJ.STIGER]

Be happy to give all the knowledge I have. But it’s fair to say it’s not all plug and play. 
 

- I did use the patio light for the power source for the awning led strip. 
 

- opened up the patio light and removed the bulbs. Pulled power from the coach and used that as the main power to the BTF led controller. Mounted the controller in the porch light it self. 
 

drilled a hole from the left side of the light and passed wire through there. I will get photos next time I am there. That 5 conductor wire ( reason for 5 conductor is multi color leds) runs I. The gap under the awning to the front of the coach. This looks a where it joins the led strip. 
 

From there I had pre soldered the cable to the strip. And ran the strip down the side of the coach on the awning underside. I used some 3m double sided prompter before I stuck the led strip down. 
 

The led strip comes in 16ft. I have about 21 ft of awning. So I chose to cut 5 ft from another roll and solder them together. This was the toughest part.  Practice on a piece your not going to use first. 
 

Now that wire I ran in the gap does not fit well very loose. So I used some black silicone and put some dabs on the wire and pushed it in with my finger. Messy it can be. I like the gorilla wipes that you get from Home Depot. They seem to clean up very well.
 

when I’m back at my computer, I’ll work on posting some more information for y’all  

[Just Jim]

Thanks for the info.  I'm still fuzzy on how this works.  You have the controller and all the LED strips have to plug into it?  If you plug two in... then that is two zones that can be controlled separately?   

 

If you have inside lights in 3 different areas that don't connect, then going to need 3 controllers?

Thanks again.

Jim

[MJ.STIGER]

3 Parts needed to make this work 

1-12v power

1- Led Strip

1- Controller

The Controller is fairly small. It will send all the data to the LED strips via the 5 wires. I chose the 5050 series leds because they have a pure white channel. Its hard to get white out of a RGB (red,green,blue) led.  So they make different LED strips that have RGBW white led. Or RGBWW Warm White. 

The controller will control the leds  depends how many you put on 1 controller. But each controller can be added to the same zone or a different zone. If you are using a smartphone to control them this is very easy to manage. If you are going to use the smart panel it does up to 5 different zones. So you can put multiple controller on 1 zone of control.  

And a bit about power consumption. The photo of the the white lights on the awning about 21 ft of leds. at Full 100% white brightness it draws about 1.8amps. All other colors at 100% come in less about 1.2 amps or less. And when you dim them the amp draw will drop as well. When i have it set to about 40% which is a nice amount of white light. I am drawing about .7amps. So figuring the Patio light is likely on a 10/15 amp fuse i am in the clear. 

I chose these because they are dumb controllers and you can control via local Bluetooth. Their are many different controllers and such out there. Trust me i do a whole 10,000 led Christmas display at home every year. So these controllers are simple and easy to use, setup and control. I preset the lighting color and brightness for them to turn on to when power is restored. So the use of the patio light switch is great. Turn them on and poof you have light. Then if you want to get fancy from there you can uses the smart panel or smartphone to change colors. 

And a correction on my other post i said gorilla . Its the Crocodile Wipes from Home Depot. They are great.  

 

 

As for the existing Patio light. I took out the bulbs. And wired up a some White LEDs through the switch at the bottom of the patio light. Took out the tube lights and lined the inside of the light with the 12v LED. I will work on taking a photo when i get back out there. 

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by MJ.STIGER

[1nolaguy]

This looks great. I need to replace my step light already and was not sure how to go. I look forward to additional posts with more details.

[MJ.STIGER]

Well i guess its a good time to go into the Step LEDs. 

This on was tough on trying to figure out how to get the LED to its location. I decided to goto first step. This was a tough decision but i felt that if i had leds on the first step it would give a better glow. So here is how got it done. 

From the Step back to its power source. 

1. Cleaned the metal undercarriage with Crocodile cloth and then wiped clean with another cloth. Then i applied 3m promoter where i stuck the LED strip. 
2.  Now when i came across the bottom of the step i had to make a 90deg turn. This is where i soldered the LED Strip to the 5 conductor wire. This was the toughest part i think. As i did this in the field. And would have been smarter to do on the bench and bring the LED strip and wire all together to the step and cut wire and led at install. Note i did put heat shrink on all connections.
3. The Wire from the LED i dressed along the step corner to an opening at the back of the step just under the 2nd step. I used a Gorilla caulking that sets up quick to hold the wiring. From the hole at the rear top of this step. I used 2 zip ties at this point to keep the wire tight. 
4. From the point of these zip ties i left a loop the same distance of the first step about 12 inches. And then zip tied again to a top rail that crosses the top step. This was to allow the wire to free loop and move when the step goes in and out. 
5. From the last point of zip ties the wiring goes to a wire loom that is just front of the passenger side shock. There is a wiring path that leads back of the coach and then to the passenger wheel well.
6. From the inside of the passenger wheel well. I was able to locate the wiring going to the passenger control side.  I used a small long screw driver flat head. And pushed a hold through the foam. Then i feed the wire through this hole into the passenger side controls bay.
7. From the passenger control bay i pulled the cup holder and plate to open up this area. 
8. I found the Patio lighting cable that sends 12v to the patio lights. And made a Positive connection to that and found a good ground connection. I installed some Wagos to bring 12v +/- wire up to the cup holder hole. Along with the 5 conductor wire. 
9. Then i connected the 12v and the 5 conductor wire to the LED smart controller. And programed to a new zone on my smart panel controller and added to my smartphone.  And replaced the top plate and then pushed the controller and wiring in the cup holder hold for future access with out having to pull the whole panel out. 

Yes this was a bit of a challenge for sure. And i could have elected to goto the front of the coach and over to the control panel under the drivers side for power. But i wanted to make sure this was part of the Patio light toggle. So that when the awing light / porch light was turned on it would turn on the Step light as well. But with the challenges the end result is impressive and well worth the headache. 

 

Again i will need to get some photos of it completed. But this should give you a good idea. 

3 hours ago, 1nolaguy said:

This looks great. I need to replace my step light already and was not sure how to go. I look forward to additional posts with more details.

- 

Edited June 12, 2023 by MJ.STIGER
Adjusted the Quoted comments.

[1nolaguy]

Wow MJStinger! Thanks for all the details and photos. In this and you OP you mention 3M Promoter. I've never heard of that but will look for it. Hopefully it will help when I redo the ceiling lights are half of the LED strips have come down. Not sure what Crocodile Cloth is but assume it is similar to emery cloth.

[MJ.STIGER]

3m adhesion promoter for 3m tape.  Not sure if its a gimmick but i hear that it does work. 

3M Adhesion Promoter

Crocodile Cloth
i like how they are tough and clean up a lot of messes. Plus they do great with cleaning silicone off walls and hands well. 

[Gary 05 AMB DST]

Like the song, "Is that a Chevy 69?"  Is that an Unlimited 06?

Gary 05 AMB DST