Under/On Awning for LED Light Strips?

Also, seeing other posts on RV.net, I am thinking about installing some colored LED lights either under my rolled up awning, or on the extended awning roller itself. (not sure yet).  It includes the wireless 44 button remote so you can change colors, have it rotate into new colors, dim, etc.  Notice it also uses the 5050 LED bulbs which are a larger LED bulb than the 3828 size.  I am looking in to some Ebay ones too that are similar to these.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0054U46Y2/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00

Anyone else done this, have pictures, or opinions?

Haven't done it but have thought about it from time to time.  Seems like it should work if the leds used are rated for outdoor use (water resistant). The inhibitor for me is getting power to it. I already have a tube light embedded in the awning roller that we do not use because it requires a manual connection to an outside socket and the power cord dangles if we do not choose to connect it. I ended up stuffing the cord in the tube slot to keep it out of the way and never use it.  I would try the led if I could come up with some effective way to permanently power it, routing the wiring up the awning arm is some fashion that would allow it to stay in place.  I am reluctant to install it in any way that requires a manual connection to be made at the roller tube end, since we frequently deploy and then retract the awning, even when parked for days or weeks at a time (due to weather).

One of the things I have considered is placing the leds on the arms rather than the roller tube. That eliminates the problem of the rotating power connection at the roller-arm connection, but is a less effective location for the lighting.

Would be interested to hear your ideas on these problems.

The electrical hookup issue that you have is the exact reason I haven't done this yet.  We have an electric awning, which we deploy often also, and I'm not really thrilled about breaking out the ladder every time to hook up the connector at the awning tube every time we want to open or close this awning.  I believe installing these lights ON the awning tube itself would provide the best area to disburse the lighting on the campsite optimally.  I have seen a picture of someone that stuck the 16 foot section of LED lights directly on the deployed awning tube, and then tucked the wiring into the awning slot on the tube, and had the connector hanging out the end of the awning, of which he would have to connect when the awning was out. 

The other way to install these LED strips would be UNDER the awning rail ON the motorhome side itself (facing out), or underneath the awning rail itself.  These ways the lighting could be utilized without deploying the awning, and I have seen someone run the connected wiring across the roof, down into the fridge vent, to utilize the 12 volts behind the fridge.  I wont be doing this method, as I certainly dont want wiring across my roof.  I have seen a picture of someone who spliced into the connector wiring right at the edge of the awning rail, ran the wire extension underneath the sliding side rails (down the side of the motorhome), and left the connector at the bottom of the side awning rails, ready to be plugged in to the 120 volt converter (or directly to a 12 volt sourse such as the battery tray).  This is the method I most likely am interested in.

Please feel free to chime in here with other ideas!

My coach came with an awning light (Carefree awning and light) and the porch light has a receptacle for the plug. But I need a ladder to reach the cord on the roller tube and also to plug to the porch light. That ain't gonna happen in day to day use. The roller tube light is wimpy anyway, though a strip of leds the entire length (19 feet) would undoubtedly be an improvement.

I'm gonna take another look at mounting to the arms, though I could probably just as easily drape a length of 120v led Christmas lights out there when I want them. I don't see 12v as being much advantage for this, since we don't boondock much except for occasional overnights at Walmarts or some such.

I did install exactly the set of LEDs in the first posting.  I got the type where the LEDs are encased in plastic so are weatherproof.  The power connectors/boxes are not, so in event of a heavy rain I do unplug them.  Am using the AC plug that is on the outside of my coach which is located close to the rear arm so haven't bothered with trying a direct 12v feed.  The LEDs are permanently stuck to the roller bar (using the sticky backing that was built into them) just in front of the channel, so I still have the channel available if desired.

Prior to that I was using a set of string lights (typical C-world night-light style) using the cloth-hanger-S-hook-in-the-channel system.  Having a power awning over a slideout that only goes out straight it required about 15 minutes of step ladder time to deploy and remove.  Got to be such a hassle that we rarely used them, especially if rain was possible and the awning would need to be retracted.

Yes, the fact that the rollar rotates makes a permanent connection impossible, at least as far as I've been able to figure out.  However, it's about 1 minute to plug the power cord into the LEDs at the roller, lay the converter/cords in the awning channel, and plug into the outlet.  Then everything
is done by the remote control, which I velcro'd that back with the hook material and just stick on the carpeting in the bay surrounding my radio. 

When the awning is fully extended the LEDs point directly down, and by tapping the retract button once or twice I can angle the LEDs back towards the RV.    Attached is a photo of them in use, with the setting at 'white full power.'  Bright enough to read by.  Usually I run at about 1/2 this level, and sometimes switch to "red" to preserve night vision.

Not a perfect solution, wish I could figure out a permanent 12v that didn't require plugging at the roller, but 10x easier than what I was doing before.  Probably I could figure out a way of routing 12v power up the arm and either tap into a bay or put the remote electronics and 110v power there, but would still face a moment of ladder time to plug in at the roller, so not really any more effort to run the power down the arm at that point.

Mark,
Just curious as to how you would attach the strip to the tube as it has a silicone jacket. I like your idea.

Pete

Would some kind of slip ring like they use in wind turbine work if place on the end.

Then use a coiled/stretchy wire up the awning arm.

Could you bring the wire through the exterior wall directly under where the awning attached to the camper (at the roof line) then run wire down to the roller?  Then glue the wire to the awning fabric (underneath the awning).  That should allow the wire to roll up with the awning fabric.  You would need a durable and flexible wire that would not break and short causing a fire hazard (that risk may make this idea undesirable).

Delbert

Or maybe an auto-retract cord reel mounted at the edge of the roof, allowing the cord to unwind as the awning moves out? Probably ugly, though, and still leave the rotating head problem at the roller tube.

I use LED rope lights and prefer to just lay them on the ground all around our 5er as I also frequently roll & unroll the awning with the weather.

Yes, there are a couple ways I've considered to run the power up to the LED lights on the roller bar, the easiest of which would be to leave the remote control box/sensor in the bay with the radio etc, and just run a simple 12v 2-wire cord inside the awning rails up to the roller.  Then the electronics would be protected and I could either tap a 12v line or continue to use the AC adaptor plugged into the entertainment center in the bay.

The real tough issue is where the light strip plugs into the cord at the top of the awning arm/roller area...  if you watch your power awning go in and out it rotates 360 many many times to extend/retract.  I don't think there is anything simple that would keep that connection permanently (perhaps something like Conquest suggested.) 

However as I said, for me having the LED lights permanently mounted and one minute's ladder work to plug in the lights at the top once the awning is extended is something I can live with for long term.  Far better than my old system of the cloth hangers and S-hooks and stringing lights each time.

I found a site with LOTS of choices on slip rings these would be my choice.

http://www.senring.com/panshi.html

NOW I have another project for my own RV ;D

Not having a good way to leave the connector plugged in all the time on the awning rail itself is the reason I might go with installing my LED light strip directly on the bottom of the awning rail. That way the awning doesn't have to be extended for the lights to be seen and they are not noticable any other times. I would run an extension wire down the side arms and have the connector plug hanging out the bottom of one arm, ready to be plugged in.

Has anyone thought of having the the wire coil up on the end of the awning tube as the awning retracts?  The draw on the LEDs is very low so I think 18 or 20 gage wire would do the trick.

Thought of it but haven't experimented to see if it would work consistently enough to be useful.

conquest,
I looked at the link you provided but didn't anything as far as cost and if they're waterproof.

I mounted a LED 5050 waterproof strip to the underside of the rail on the camper that the awning mounts to. We have a Dometic power awning on our 2012 Grey Wolf, I ran the wires down the rear channel of the awning mount rail and then into the rear storage compartment where I mounted the controller and did the wire connections.

This weekend was our first trip for the year, I had 1 person come and ask me about the lights and on Saturday night I was told that there was 3 goldf carts and about 10 people watching them fade through the colors. Here is a picture from this weekend, but its no a very good one...

Gary,
A couple of days ago, I read a forum about a guy who manufactured support legs for a electric awning and was able to tie down the awning using ratchet straps and now I can't find the write-up. Do you know where it stored? Thanks.

Rene are you talking about something like these?
http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/members/23156-albums1249-picture7005.jpg
http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/members/23156-albums1249-picture7004.jpg
http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/members/23156-albums1295-picture7463.jpg
http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/members/23156-albums1249-picture7008.jpg
If these are what you were looking for a member on ForestRiverForums use to make them, I think he made about 20 pairs in total, his "name" is OldCoot.  I was lucky enough to get a pair, they came with the poles, brackets and mounting hardware (everything is aluminum except 4 bolts and pop rivets which are stainless steel).  I just had to purchase the 2 straps and tie outs, in total I have less than $230 into them.

That's exactly what I was talking about. Anyone know if these can be purchased or something similar?