Boogey Lights Under Glow

[Rewillia]

Sharing photos of my recent DIY installation of Boogey Lights "Under Glow" surround ground effects LED lighting. As shown, the LEDs were installed beneath the motor coach on all sides (F&R, Driver and Passenger sides including underneath the entrance door steps). Installation is relatively simple and easy to do but does require some pre-planning in terms of placement and wiring. I choose to direct wire my LEDs to the coach' 12vDC circuitry which is Boogey Lights recommended practice (in lieu of using a 110vAC converter which are available). Located the main junction box and LED controller inside the passenger/door side basement compartment just ahead of my wet tank basement and then ran a single 14-AWG power (Pos +) wire to my electrical bay located on the driver's side and connected to a spare fuse terminal on the main 12vDC fuse panel together with the use of a 20-amp fuse.

Materials required for the installation included 1) Boogey Lights (basic) RV Under Glow kit (which includes 2-ea 16' pre-measured LED lighting strips, a controller and wiring accessory kit) together with additional pre-measured LED light strips in 8', 4' and 3' sections along with their optional HD-M7 RF controller, aluminum channel extrusions (for mounting the LEDs strips as well as the light diffusers panels which "snap on" to the aluminum channel housing the LEDs), 2) additional materials and supplies used for my DIY installation which included 16 AWG wire, tie-wraps, #8 self tapping screws, black RVT silicone, some 3/4" x 3/4" x 8ft aluminum angle extrusions as well as some 1/4" x 1" x 8 ft. aluminum flat bar) along with other misc. parts and supplies.

As shown, I particularly selected Boogey Lights single color "soft white" LEDs while they do offer a multi-color version (basically R,B,G which along with their optional controllers can be "tuned" to produce millions of color variations if so desired and can also be controlled by their cell phone app). I also upgraded to their HD-M& RF controller that includes a dimming feature (as well as other lighting control features) which further allows me to adjust the LED lighting illumination to align/match with my existing OEM installed LEDs located beneath the 2-two passenger side slides as well as on my 3 Girard Canopy Awnings.

Used with discretion, these LEDs provide both lighting accent to the coach while at the same time offer increased safety when moving about the outside perimeter at night such as when needing to access the wet or electrical bays. Expectation is we will not "always" use these but on occasion do so while respecting the privacy of our fellow RV neighbors when in commercial parks.

Additional information and photos of the actual installation can be found in at IRV2.com under RV Forums > RV Systems and Tech > Gear Discussions; http://www.irv2.com/forums/f52/diy-installation-of-ground-effects-led-lighting-374831.html

 I'd like to also mention and recommend Boogey Lights if your interested or contemplating a similar installation yourself. Boogey Lights Inc. is widely recognized as a supplier of high quality (and not the cheapest) LEDs particularly for recreational use applications, i.e. Automobiles, Motorcycles, Boats & RVs. The material composition and quality of their lights are apparent when you see them and even more so when you install and use them. They also offer the best warranty in terms of the lights themselves and are available to provide assistance (by phone or email) when it comes to planning or actually installing them. Don''t second guess yourself - you can easily "do it yourself (DIY)". No rocket science involved but does require that you do some "pre-planning" as to (a) where you want to install them, (b) what type of lights you want (single or multi-color), (c) the lengths of LED lighting you'll need or want, (d) where you will mount your controller (e) and whether you want to do direct 12vDC or use a 110v AC adapter - then its all a matter of labor from that point forward. On a coach the size of mine (45' DP) it was some what a labor of love that lasted more than 10-days to complete (albeit when I work for myself, I tend to call it a day and come and go as I please), hence the installation could have been quicker, I just wanted to take my time and work on them when I felt like it.

Why DIY one might ask (vs. having them done for you)?, Well I obtained numerous quotes that ranged from $3,700 to as much as $4,500 for the supply and installation of the LEDs. By doing it myself I have calculated that my total cost (excluding my personal labor) was <$1,000 (which included the LEDs and supplied materials purchased from Boogey Lights at a total cost off $589.00).

Hope you enjoy the photos.

[elkhartjim]

It looks nice if that's your thing but to me it's just more light pollution in the campground. I appreciate places like Big Bend National Park were I can still see the stars.

I hope you enjoy your lights.

[manholt]

Rick.

Job well done!  I'm not a big fan of awning lights....probably dates back to the days of multi colored balls, pineapples and flamingos!  However, having under slide and now under coach lights, that is something that I'm interested in.  As you said, safety at night, has always been a concern when opening a bay!  Can't tell you how many times, I have banged my head into the slide out or the rear view mirrors at night.  My agility of 20, 30 years ago and now, is two different life's. 

My body will not allow me to self install, so I have to bite the $2,700 bullet (I have checked on the cost for how and where I want it),  what I would like to know, how are your lights attached to the slide out's?

Great pictures and hope your in a warmer place than Texas.  Jim S. snuck in while I was writing!!!

[hermanmullins]

Rick,

It looks really nice. However if you have just driven 250 to 300 miles in the rain and your coach is really dirty ,  I would not turn them on till I washed the coach. 

Carl what might help would for you to purchase a New 2018 Newell  P50. I understand that they have push buttons to open the bay doors and open and close the slides. 

We are sitting at 7 degrees here in Whitewright. High today is only supposed to reach only 21. I know lots of places are colder then here but that doesn't help to stay any warmer. BRRRRRRRR!

I read that there is a place in Russia where it was 86 degrees below zero. Now that is cold. It said that the region had a population of over 3 million. I guess there are that many stupid people in this world, just didn't know they were all in one place.

Herman 

[manholt]

Herman.  The -86.9 was set back in WW1.  Now, they get a balmy -40 to -70. LOL.  You got to have a lot off people in that part of Siberia....they got 117 prisons to care for!

[Rewillia]

5 hours ago, elkhartjim said:

It looks nice if that's your thing but to me it's just more light pollution in the campground. I appreciate places like Big Bend National Park were I can still see the stars.

I hope you enjoy your lights.

I feel no need to further justify my personal choice to install the ground effects LEDS other than to point to my comment (below) which is stated in the original post.

[Used with discretion, these LEDs provide both lighting accent to the coach while at the same time offer increased safety when moving about the outside perimeter at night such as when needing to access the wet or electrical bays. Expectation is we will not "always" use these but on occasion do so while respecting the privacy of our fellow RV neighbors when in commercial parks.]

[elkhartjim]

Sorry, I didn't read the post so I missed that statement. 

Thanks for turning them off when not in use.

 

[Rewillia]

4 hours ago, hermanmullins said:

Rick,

It looks really nice. However if you have just driven 250 to 300 miles in the rain and your coach is really dirty ,  I would not turn them on till I washed the coach. 

Carl what might help would for you to purchase a New 2018 Newell  P50. I understand that they have push buttons to open the bay doors and open and close the slides. 

We are sitting at 7 degrees here in Whitewright. High today is only supposed to reach only 21. I know lots of places are colder then here but that doesn't help to stay any warmer. BRRRRRRRR!

I read that there is a place in Russia where it was 86 degrees below zero. Now that is cold. It said that the region had a population of over 3 million. I guess there are that many stupid people in this world, just didn't know they were all in one place.

Herman 

Herman, 

 

Thanks again. My next planned addition will be the auto self-washing spray nozzles and automated squeegees that will mount on the roof top and wash my coach as I drive down the road so no worrying .  

As to the temps. well that's a bit unexpected weather when comparing our winter this year to the last one. It was 14℉ here in Lake Charles, LA this morning. I also recall we had one cold week-end in Jan. of 2017 and that pretty much took care of winter in the great States of Texas & Louisiana.  On the same topic, prior to retiring from ExxonMobil in 2016 (after 37 1/2 years), I was living in Anchorage (where the temp today is 35℉), and made a few business trips to our project site up on the North Slope. During one of those visits in December, I  called my wife  and was speaking with her when we determined there was a 100℉ difference in the temperature between where she was (in Houston,TX @ 57℉ above) and where I was (Point Thomson, AK @ -57℉ below). I can attest to the fact that once it gets -50℉ below, anything lower doesn't matter. Rule of Thumb for our construction workers on the N. Slope during such temps, was 20-minutes outside + 40 mins. inside - not to mention the time it takes to suit up in all that Arctic Gear.

[Rewillia]

3 minutes ago, elkhartjim said:

Sorry, I didn't read the post so I missed that statement. 

Thanks for turning them off when not in use.

 

Jim, no worries. I (we, my wife & I) are duly respectful RV enthusiasts and equally have our expectations when it comes to personal privacy and peacefulness. Same topic equally applies to loud music or worse, the ever increasing and annoying volume of human speech when induced by alcohol consumption - both of which are "put offs" for us. 

[manholt]

Quote

Volume of human speech when induced by alcohol.

Yea, understand that.