RV lighting, from products to USE, in several posts!

[PJaster]

Well, this first photo, is of the Brand & Product that lights my reading & working at night areas... It is BRIGHT White in color, if you can find the typical "blue" coolness of LED's (in general), in its light, your sight is very keen indeed.



My entire RV's inner lighting is 12 Volt, & LED, where I live & use it the most, I have NOT changed above the driver's area, as I do not use it except for storage, and Miss Cleo the resident Cat resides there, when she forgets to be socialable!

The second photo is of my second in line of Lighting needs, general area lighting.... it is at best Medium White, there is a bit of Bluish in the color tone, if that is a problem for you!



You would be surprised how finicky some folks are about color tone in ~expensive~ LED's, but will use CFL cork screw bulbs!

My third photo is third in line light, Of Course! By that I mean it is less light than the second level, but is nice to provide low level light, at night, towards when you get sleepy, and want a bit of light, but not to intense.



NOTICE! photo's 1 & 2 put out enough light that it IS ~blinding~ to look at, even 2, which throws an ellipsis pattern, you just plain will be hurting to look AT the LED Unit.

Now that I have shown you the three I use, I will start dealing with "making them work" for my needs!

[PJaster]

Now, interesting enough, Light number one is actually mislabled!

it is 12 Volts AC, not DC.

It does not matter which leg of the bulb is connected to + or - But I did not know this for the first Four Bulbs I bought and used.

This is by far, the easiest way to wire this bulb, ask me how I know!



If, you want to use a real ~socket~ to plug it into, you can use the mini plug socket from an old PC, the molex plugs are two sizes, use the smaller one, then choose the wiring that the pins plug into the socket!

Now, second stage of the job:

Wire the second pin, and seal them both with liquid PVC:



At that point, once dry, it is 100 % water proof!

I needed a "fixture" to hold the bulb, do you know where to get Aluminum Cigar Tubes?



OK, so notice a few things:

1. the opening is "belled" after I cut off the threaded area, if your tube has no threads, better yet! I simply used a pair of Needle Nose Pliers, to bell it out a bit, makes it easier to insert.

2. I cut/drilled a hole a ways back on the tube, just an exacto knife, nothing big time about it.

3. The wiring is shown, just to give you an idea of what it was, and that it has polarizing print on it.

The wire came from a dead wal-wart, you know, reduces power to plug into a toy, phone or whatever. I never throw wires away ... I always have just the particular wire for a job!

Now lets assemble a totally waterproof lamp holder:



I am using liquid PVC in Green because it was close to my reach, and I have lots of Green. I save Red for 12V DC positive work, and Black PVC for negative work... I also have White you will see why in other DIY projects.

Here the Light is fully installed, and sealed again!



You can also see, that where the wire comes out, is also sealed with Green PVC!

Clean the lense up:

here it is, pitch Black, and just that LED "on".



Done!

philip

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Very interesting

[PJaster]

a Boat Light inside the RV...

Here is my "Light Number Two"



This is a stock part found in any good Marine (boating) Store.

In its photo in the first post, there are Red Arrows pointing to the six LED bulbs, full encased with a plastic case, and Epoxied on the bottom side.

It comes with a pigtail setup, that makes it simple to do, Red/+ Black/- doesn't get easier!

it comes with a nice rubber mounting setup, which is great for boats, not needed inside an RV.

I tried to show size, here is a better take on it:



my 4 inch calipers. It stand 3/4 inches tall:



Hey, there is that Green PVC again!

I buy it Cheapest at the big Orange BOX store lots of us use.

To my surprise the most expensive place was Harbor freight! by almost Twice the cost, but a "metal can" not glass jar, both have a brush on the lid to apply the PVC.

So, how did I use this one?



I had a broken tail light bulb, and broke out all the glass, soldered the + lead to the center, and the black lead to the brass base.

Now it just plugs into the regular socket that 100 percent of all RV's have... !

The multi-tool is my favorite for this work: Swiss Tech, about $10. spring loaded handles in pliers mode. and hard to give "to much torque" when you use them, strips 20 gauge wires easy, etc.

Here it is, plugged in, again pitch black, to show its capabilities.



??? What is the Orange thingy, philip ???? Oh some 550 para cord, international orange, gives a good idea of color balance.

philip

[PJaster]

Thank you Matt.

I was going to edit <in> some more comments to my last post, but my Wireless Broad Band lost signal strength!

So for post 4, two things, one Vital, IMO. I used a non conductive Epoxy, to fill the brass base of the bulb up. This does Two important things:

1. it keeps the wires from pulling out or off the base.
2. it keeps the ~shape~ of the base intact. the brass is very thin, and is normally supported by the glass bulb!

Also, in the second photo on Post #4, there is a red arrow: it points to the automotive style plugs I use in quick disconnect wiring. I Always paint the positive plug Red, to show what it is, as I often have the Opposite End(s) available, that is, they come as a pair of connectors, with Red & White wires, of about 14 gauge.

Obviously, one end is for the battery output, the other end is to connect (in)to the battery!

I will do a thread on my batteries, and connectors.... after I do light #3, OK?