Jump to content
manholt

LED Rope Lights Outside

Recommended Posts

Over the last week I was camping with a friend who has a new 42 foot Fifth Wheel.  LED Rope Lights was permanently mounted under both awnings.  They did light up the campsite, but the problem was that they also blinded anyone who was not sitting with their backs to the trailer...we also heard some unkind comments from passerby's and neighbors!  I want to put some on my coach...also replace my porch light with LED.

The question is.  Will yellow, blue or red diffuse the blinding effect and still give me outside light to grill under and see my friends?  Have any off you used, use, or have experience with outside LED lights?  

Carl

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Carl, I have LED porch lights, our coach has two and they are made by thin lite. They were yellow fluorescent I switched them to white LED since I couldn't see in the dark. Well now the are so bright I lite up the campsite like a fire truck on an accident scene :lol:. You probably already guessed it we don't use them now. I also have LEDs built into the awning so when it's all the way out the lights come with it, those are also too bright. I am going to experiment with installing a dimmer on the awning lights, the only good thing is they point straight down so I just annoy everyone on our campsite, not the neighbors.

IMG_1665.JPG

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's what Carl H. did...way to much glare.  All my light's inside are LED, they have an opaque cover, that tones the lights down.  All the one's I have seen for outside, are bloody uncomfortable! :angry:

Carl

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
11 hours ago, manholt said:

Over the last week I was camping with a friend who has a new 42 foot Fifth Wheel.  LED Rope Lights was permanently mounted under both awnings.  They did light up the campsite, but the problem was that they also blinded anyone who was not sitting with their backs to the trailer...we also heard some unkind comments from passerby's and neighbors!  I want to put some on my coach...also replace my porch light with LED.

The question is.  Will yellow, blue or red diffuse the blinding effect and still give me outside light to grill under and see my friends?  Have any off you used, use, or have experience with outside LED lights?  

Carl

Carl,

About 2 years ago I converted our 3 round outside "Scare"  lights and porch light to LED.  I used the following to do the conversion:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/201161822452?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The porch light was simple - just remove the old bulb, plug the adapter into the socket and attach the panel to the back of the light housing.  The "scare" lights were more difficult.  I used four panels in each light and soldered the wiring together.  To me, the "scare" lights are not so bright that they will blind people but just right for lighting up the area.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There are multiple color LED's available with remote controls to control color, my favorite is white, amber, and blue, also the better ones can be used with a dimmer that can be adjusted down to just a warm glow or any brightness that you desire.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

An AC tech told me the two large lights, located one on each side up near the roof, centered on the coach, are "scare lights."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

FIVE...they forgot to put them on mine! :(  All I have is the normal door light, I feel like a second class citizen..:o  Come to think about it, I have felt that way, for about 8 years now! :lol::rolleyes:

Carl

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

When I have an extra $500 I will put the lights under the coach, boogey lights are expensive, they do look good!!

Carl have your friend ask the light manufacturer if his are dimmable, if so ask them if they make one or can recommend a dimmer. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 hours ago, CarlAda said:

OK, I'll bite....WTH are "scare" lights?

 

9 hours ago, manholt said:

CarlAda.  That's my question? :lol:  Perhaps motion? :rolleyes:

Leary.  Thanks for the link!

Carl

Here is a quote from Google when you search for scare light.

"A scare light is a light designed to brightly illuminate the sides of a trailer as a way to scare of a possible intruder. Sometimes they are motion detector style lights that will turn off and on as they detect motion. "

http://www.coilnwrap.com/products/RV-Smart-Light-Security-Replaces-Scare-Light.html

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great site, I like the motion detector.  Also, replacement bulb for my Halogen head lights...great site, thanks! :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A couple years ago I saw where my brother installed a LED light strip under the awning of his Bounder, along with a dimmer. It came out really nice so I decided I’d do the same thing to my 2001 Coachman Aurora.  The internet has many sights selling LED light strips in either waterproof or non-water configurations. Naturally, waterproof is the way to go. These have a self stick backing that is extremely effective if applied to a clean surface. Most let you cut them to length at  3 LEDs increments.  I chose the brightest LED chip, 5630.

Another consideration is the type of “light” you want to see. Usually you can choose “warm white”, “pure white” or “cool white”.   These are sometimes listed with a “temperature” designation in degrees Kelvin. Warm White is comparable to an incandescent light bulb and is designated somewhere around 3,000 degrees Kelvin. Pure White can be compared to sunlight with a temperature of around 5,000 degrees Kelvin and Cool White is something like a fluorescent light at 6,000 degrees Kelvin. Cool White has more of a blue tint as the Kelvin number increases.

I chose to use a Warm White light strip and a wireless remote controller. That way I could change the level of brightness as the situation required from either inside the coach or outside.

One other note is to insure the circuit you tap into is “filtered” DC from the inverter/converter. The original converter in my coach had both filtered and not-filtered outputs. In my first attempt I inadvertently wired the remote to an unfiltered fuse location. Needless to say I let all the smoke out of the components in the remote due to AC component in the DC circuit! Unless you have an older coach like mine, this will not be a problem.  

I’ve been using this configuration for 2 years with no problems. The toughest part of this installation was choosing where to get the power from and how to get it to the light strip. Here are links to both LED light strips and a remote control dimmer. They just happen to be ones I remember

 

5630 LED strip

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131557126082?_trksid=p11401.c100358.m3753&_trkparms=aid%3D333008%26algo%3DRIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150112100450%26meid%3Df567921238d848a8b7d435e2fd6ccac1%26pid%3D100358%26rk%3D7%26rkt%3D8%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D151745960222

 

12V wireless Remote

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161977675355?_trksid=p11401.c100358.m3753&_trkparms=aid%3D333008%26algo%3DRIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150112100450%26meid%3D544246fba58d40ee9d297887185749dd%26pid%3D100358%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D8%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D281957423494

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...