Has anyone changed the awning led lights with dimable lights? When I talked to the factory rep they told me that the current led lights on our 2017 BH were not dimable. I had thought about getting a dimmer switch only. But with this info I decided maybe I should just exchange the whole strip, but that means a new transformer and possible controller. I will not do this till the warranty is up but was just wondering if anyone has tried a dimmer switch or switched out the lights?
Exchange LED awning lights with dimable color changing lights
- Thread starter rono
- Start date
windviewer
Well-known member
I put a dimmer on our LED light strip (Prowler 2015) when we first got it. I used this one https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...oller-with-dynamic-modes-rf-remote/1370/3140/ and it worked fine.
Of course, the LED light strip itself is useless as they are NOT waterproof and will quickly short out (or randomly work as ours has done since the first year). Last research I did showed NO waterproof led strips available (despite what they say) so your mileage will vary on the usefulness of the embedded light strip.
fastcarsspeed
Well-known member
Our 2014 had led light strips in the awning and they were almost all burnt out. I ended up going to amazon and buying light strips from there. 12.00 I think for each one and they work just fine. They may not last years but at that price it was worth the test. Very easy to splice the wires and wire in the new strip. They can be cut to whatever length you need them. Just as a fyi in order to do colors you need 3 wires and the wire is actually in the edge of the awning material. Ours only has two wires so only one color. I am just going to do color changing LED's for the under carriage of the camper.
If you’re handy with soldering and basic electricity check out the strips at Adafruit. They are the best on the market period.
They do do however require a 5v buck converter (cheap on amazon) but the lights are flat out amazing. I have made whip lights for my SXS out of them and just wow. So bright, dimmable, any color you can imagine and controllable with your smart phone.
Be be glad to walk a person through the setup if you’re interested. I’ve put mine through literal **** and they are like a Timex watch.
dragland
They do do however require a 5v buck converter (cheap on amazon) but the lights are flat out amazing. I have made whip lights for my SXS out of them and just wow. So bright, dimmable, any color you can imagine and controllable with your smart phone.
Be be glad to walk a person through the setup if you’re interested. I’ve put mine through literal **** and they are like a Timex watch.
dragland
This weekend, one of my awning LED strips actually burned in one spot. So I am looking at replacing the strip also, and was wondering if anyone had changed theirs out to RGB light strips. The RGB strip has 4 wires going to the strip vs. only 2 for the plain white strip. Does anyone know if the 4 wires will fit through the edge seam of the awning where the original wires run?? Was also thinking of RGBW, which have 5 wires... Would hate to spend the money buying them, and the wires not fit through.
Here are a couple of photos of the burned LED strip. Luckily we noticed it. It was dark out, and we noticed that one of the LED's appeared to be RED in color.. So I looked closer and noticed it was actually burning. This could have been a problem had the light switch been on with the awning rolled up.
Here are a couple of photos of the burned LED strip. Luckily we noticed it. It was dark out, and we noticed that one of the LED's appeared to be RED in color.. So I looked closer and noticed it was actually burning. This could have been a problem had the light switch been on with the awning rolled up.
mlpeloquin
Well-known member
Works well and are bright. https://www.amazon.com/Awning-Repla...513708483&sr=8-7&keywords=rv+led+light+strips They slide right into the track.
I've looked into getting color changing lights for the awnings, but I decided that I didn't feel like running new wiring for the RGB strips. So I'm going back with white only, and putting a control module behind the switch in the camper so that I can dim them via a remote. Going to do all 3 awnings the same way, and should be able to control with 1 remote.
I may, in the future, install RGB lights right under the base of the awning, so that I can have light even when the awning is retracted.
I may, in the future, install RGB lights right under the base of the awning, so that I can have light even when the awning is retracted.
mlpeloquin
Well-known member
You might think about a 12V RF controlled waterproof RGB LED light strip. https://www.amazon.com/Achivy-Chang...557&sr=8-5&keywords=waterproof+rgb+RF+Control There are others out there as well.
I've done quite a bit of research on the LED strips on Amazon. I went and measured the channel that the awning strip goes into, and it's only 8mm wide. So it appears that the 5050 LEDs are 10mm wide, and will not fit in the channel. Also When you get into RGBW or RGBWW strips they are up to 12mm wide. So I settled with replacing the awning strip with 8mm wide white 3528 LED strip, and will install dimmer controllers. I will play around with mounting an RGB strip up at the base of the awning (bottom of gutter), so that I can have lights when the awning is retracted. And since there isn't a channel that it needs to fit into, I can use whatever strip I want. The biggest concern is running the wiring, and having to drill a hole somewhere in the trailer....
Here's a page that describes the dimensional differences of the different strips for your viewing pleasure!
https://www.flexfireleds.com/pages/Comparison-between-3528-LEDs-and-5050-LEDs.html
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