Adding an LED Light strip to Your RV

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Yes, you could reverse the metal channel and it would probably work just fine. It really doesn't block any light as it is though. I installed it that way to support the light strip while the silicon glue was drying. After sticking the light strip to the metal channel with its 3M sticky-back tape, I completely covered the entire light strip (front & back) with a thin coat of clear silicon glue (You can see the silicon in one of the close-ups). The light strip is supposed to be waterproof but I wanted to be sure - and I didn't trust the sticky-back tape. The light strip is completely sealed from the elements.

The four small wires go through the sidewall behind the right side of the light strip and neither the wires nor the small hole, which was sealed with Dicor, are visible. It's been on the side of the motorhome for over a year, it's been sprayed with water several times and it still works great. We just used it last week at the Tucson rally to watch the snow fall. :)

I really only use the white light but Cyndi prefers the red light when we're sitting outside. It will do any color you want and it's controlled via WiFi from your phone or tablet. It will also do a bunch of flashy things and synchronize the lights to music that's played on your phone or tablet - I just don't use that feature.

Kev
 
desertfox06 said:
Any thoughts on my idea of using clear heat shrink to weatherproof it?  Thanks again.

i understand you weren't asking me.... but my 2 cents worth is this

no matter how you seal the ends, water will eventually find its way in, and then it will be there to stay.
I think it might be better to put your energy into finding a strip that can handle the weather....

Brainstorming this a bit.....
I'm thinking that using an aluminum U-channel, rather than an L-angle, then mounting at an angle downward like the OP did....might allow for the LED strip to protected a bit above and below from the legs of the channel.  the downward angle would serve to let water run over and around it, protecting the strip a bit.  the deeper the channel and the steeper the angle, the more the protection offered.
Now is this protection really needed?..... I have no idea.
 
blw2 said:
i understand you weren't asking me.... but my 2 cents worth is this

no matter how you seal the ends, water will eventually find its way in, and then it will be there to stay.
I think it might be better to put your energy into finding a strip that can handle the weather....

Brainstorming this a bit.....
I'm thinking that using an aluminum U-channel, rather than an L-angle, then mounting at an angle downward like the OP did....might allow for the LED strip to protected a bit above and below from the legs of the channel.  the downward angle would serve to let water run over and around it, protecting the strip a bit.  the deeper the channel and the steeper the angle, the more the protection offered.
Now is this protection really needed?..... I have no idea.

I'll take advice from anyone so thanks for replying.  The light strip I purchased states that it is waterproof but I don't trust that one bit. I was actually thinking of enclosing the entire strip in the clear heat shrink, not just the ends. I would think this would offer much better protection from the elements. My only worry would be heating the heat shrink tube directly onto the led diode. I'm wondering if the heat from the diode would melt the heat shrink tube. I personally don't think it would because of the low temps from the diodes but I don't know for sure.
 
desertfox06 said:
I was actually thinking of enclosing the entire strip in the clear heat shrink, .....

How would you attach the light strip with the adhesive backing covered with heat shrink tubing? The resulting covered strip would be somewhat round on the back, not nice and flat -- certainly not very conducive to gluing.

R
 
RLSharp said:
How would you attach the light strip with the adhesive backing covered with heat shrink tubing? The resulting covered strip would be somewhat round on the back, not nice and flat -- certainly not very conducive to gluing.

R

I figured I would run the heat gun along the back of the LED strip to flatten the heat shrink as much as possible and then silicone glue it to the bracket. Or, I was also thinking of buying heat shrink large enough to put around the bracket after strip has been stuck to it. I've only worked with small pieces of heat shrink with wires, so Im not sure how this will turn out.

Keep the replies comin. Getting a lot of great advice from y'all. Thanks!




 
Ok. So after a lot of researching, I have decided to use the clear heat shrink. I found a lot of people had done the same thing, enclosing the entire length of the LED strip in the tube. You can get approx 50' of tubing on Amazon for way cheaper than the HW stores. Not sure if I will be able to directly glue the strip to the side of the rv after doing this, so I may have to either go with Kevin's install with the metal strip but I also like cpaulsen's idea of the clear plastic light strip channels. I will post pics and update on the install. One question I had was about the wiring. The set I bought come with an AC adapter that plugs into the controller and then plugs into an outlet. Can I bypass the AC adapter and hardware the controller into a hot 12 volt source on the RV?  Was thinking of splicing into fridge wires as I had seen this done on another forum. Would I need an inline fuse to be safe?  If so, any ideas on what size fuse?  Any more ideas please throw em this way. Thanks again guys.
 
I probably would think that a fuse would be appropriate but then again, the line you're going to tie into is probably fused already.  I did exactly the same thing. I came through he side of the RV and tied it into a 12 volt lighter socket which would be used for a TV in the master bedroom.
 
Just an update after a trip to HD.  They did not have the nylon blocks that Kevin used.  I cant find em online either so if someone has seen em online can you post here?  I found the metal strips.  They are in the tiling section and are used for lining up tile. The only channels for LED lights that they sell are the round ones used for rope lighting, so now the search begins for the square channels.  Cpaulsen, did you use the round channel square?  They sell channels with clear plastic covers online specifically for LED strip light however they are over 20 bucks for only 39".  Way to costly due to amount needed.

Question for ya Kevin.  For me, I personally like the way the LED's reflect off of the underside of the white awning, giving that entire space underneath there the look as if the whole area enveloped in the light.  Do you still get that effect with the lights angled downward?

Thanks again guys.
 
In a few of the pics, you can see that light does reflect off the bottom of the awning. I can't offer an opinion as to how the heat-shrink idea will work, because I've never seen one installed like that... but then again, I've never seen one installed like mine either and it's holding up great.

Sorry you couldn't find the nylon blocks in your Home Depot. They are designed to prevent things from falling off walls during an earthquake so unless you live in earthquake country like us, they may not be available. LED light strips are 12 volt lights. If yours came with an AC transformer, you should be able to bypass it with 12 volts. I was able to tap into a 12 volt circuit in the cabinet, right where the wires come through the wall. That circuit is on a 10 amp circuit-breaker but I installed an in-line dedicated 5 amp circuit-breaker/switch for the WiFi box and light strip.

Kev
 
desertfox06 said:
Just an update after a trip to HD.  They did not have the nylon blocks that Kevin used.  I cant find em online either so if someone has seen em online can you post here? 

I would think that someone who has them in their Home Depot, If they could get the SKU Number for you, you should be able to order them through your HD or online.  ???
 
desertfox06 said:
Thanks John.  It shows my local HD having 11 in stock!  Could not find em anywhere and even the workers said they did not know what they were!!  Oh well, guess i can order em online and pick em up.  Thanks so much for posting!

I would go back to them and have them punch in the numbers or the name. They should find it.
 
That's an useful rig for awning lumination. I wonder what kind of material does the body made of ? Ruber or Aluminum?

As far as i know this Led strip lights with color changing function are made of Ruber which will getting aged easily and it has a shortage on heat disspation.

And i will be recommended to use a Led awning light like the attachment instead of a color changing one.


As this have been posted for almost a year ago, was the Led Strip Light works well ?
 

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Put mine up last weekend. First I enclosed the entire length of led strip in clear heat shrink and flattened it down as I went along. Did this for extra protection against weather. Then I placed 4" strips of Velcro at equal lengths on the back of the heat shrink. Put the opposite pieces of Velcro on the trailer. Now I can remove when trip is over. I tied into an outdoor light that is not used for the electrical. Controller then velcroed onto trailer near a speaker to use the music function. Worked great.
 
Thanks for the helpful Ideas on installing the LED Light Strips.  Lots of good ideas and it helped me make a decision on how to was going to install mine. 

I installed mine about an inch below the Awning Channel.  I used 3 inch masking tape to mask off about an inch below the awning channel.  Then I sprayed 3M 91 Adhesive between the awning channel and the tape. I also sprayed the light strip with the adhesive. The adhesive that comes on the strips just wasnt good enough to stick for a long period of time (learned from my sons mistakes).  I let it sit about 15 mins then put the lights up. I also put some silicone on the end that I cut to ensure no moisture could cause a short hopefully extending the life of them. I tapped into the Porch light circuit to turn them on/off.  They dont budge at all.  since I did install them up under the the Awning in an effort to protect them from the elements as much as possible for reasons stated in this thread I thought since the awning was rolled up it would restrict the light when the awning was rolled up which it did to some extent but I was pleasantly surprised when all was said and done that there was still a lot of light projected.  Definitely more than the Porch light gave at any rate.  I also verified how much amp draw the lights had which turned out to be 3 amps for the 14 feet I installed.

Another Great use for LED Light Strips.

Since I do a lot of loading and unloading my truck in the dark and usually in a hurry.  I installed 2 runs of Light Strips under the bed rails of my truck using the same method above with the adhesive. As they are up under the bed rails they are protected for the elements for the most part. I ran the wiring through the back of the cab with all the connections in the cab and siliconed the holes on both sides that i drilled and i also mounted a pull switch on the Dash next to instrument light switch for easy of access.  Since the Light is reflected down on the bed its not blinding and provides plenty of light without the risk of killing the Battery if left on to long. Now fumbling around in the dark for tie downs and anything else I put back there is easy to find.

Thanks Kevin for the WiFi Idea.  Ordered swithes for both the RV and the pickup.

Thanks again for all the good info. 

Louis
 

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Light strips are unregulated, which means they need 12 volts, not the 13.5-14 volts the RV converter supplies when you're plugged into power.

I'd use something like this to feed the strip.  It's called a dimmer, but it's actually a combination dimmer and regulator.  Inside is a full electronic regulator board that can take anywhere from 12-24 volts while putting out LED safe voltage.

The wifi controller does the same thing, so you don't need both.
 
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