Updates to our 1993 Concourse - Project Thread

[danesk]

Thanks ASaucyBurrito,

I went ahead and ordered both the strips and the connector kit. I figured a saving of time since we are leaving on a trip in a few days.

Sorry to hear about failure of the 3M adhesive. Perhaps I will try barge cement...it has worked well for me. Or epoxy?

Thanks again for posting your great idea.

[chin_k]

Burrito, did you used the 3M VHB tape, or the regular double sided tape? The VHB tape is a lot more stronger, and maybe able to do the job without clips.

[ASaucyBurrito]

Chin_k,

The strips themselves have double sided adhesive already applied. Initially I tried using that, but I saw that start to peel back on the first fixture I did within a couple weeks. Next I tried to use the adhesive spray that I had lying around, and again, it seems it has started to peel back a bit.

The RGB strip is from a different manufacturer and the original double sided adhesive is holding strong to the wood. Different substrate and it is lighter, so who knows if it is just the adhesive more other factors.

I will probably use the clips that came with the kit for most as they have worked well on the fixtures I've done so far. There is not much room for the bathroom fixture, so probably epoxy or something else there.

Not quite as easy as I had hoped!

Dan,

Hope you like them. Only thing I noticed was that the strip I bought has a denser LED pattern than many, so you have to cut the strip at a different location (off of the standard cut line) to allow room for the connector. You end up scrapping a few 1" sections but there should be enough in any case.

I pulled the image below for an example - different strip but you'll get the idea. The cut line is in black, you need to cut at the red close to an LED. Should make sense once you have the strip and connector in hand. I used a razor to peel back the small part of the waterproofing to expose the contacts.



James

[chin_k]

The fact that the LED get pretty hot may have made the adhesive losing grip on the substrate. I will used 3M VHB when it is my turn to do this. If anyone knows the VHB is not helping, let me know and I will look into other alternative.

[ASaucyBurrito]

The fact that the LED get pretty hot may have made the adhesive losing grip on the substrate. I will used 3M VHB when it is my turn to do this. If anyone knows the VHB is not helping, let me know and I will look into other alternative.

Agreed on that point, however it's been sitting in our driveway this whole time not even using the lights. Thought sitting in the sun it has probably gotten to 90-100 on some days. If I recall the original adhesive was not 3M branded. I used 3M "Super 77" spray adhesive unsuccessfully. By the process of elimination hopefully we can figure out an easy solution for others. Hoping that I didn't mislead Dan with my choice of LED strip. Everything else about them is great, just this one (lack of) sticking point.

I might try the VHB tape if I can find it locally.

[BobW9]

Just an FYI, from my understanding, most of these LED strips are rated at 12V, which is a maximum. Beyond that they get hot and their life span will go down (though considering the 2000 hours or more many are rated, getting 1500 hours might not matter in the life of use of the RV).

I got some cheap LED strips recently to play with, before replacing some of the lighting in my Concourse, and noticed that at 11V they are great, at 12V they are warm, and when setting my bench power supply at 12.8V, and worse at the 13.3V my Li batteries tend to sit at, the lights get hot. And of course, it only gets worse if the system is pushed up to 14.4V or something during charging.

I intend to put a little voltage regulator on them, so they will see around 11-11.5V regardless of how high my 12V system might get.

The guy in this link has a nice blog posting regarding his change to LED strip lighting:

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuse ... t/true.cfm

Opinions vary about using or needing the regulator, but in testing, my LEDs do get quite hot during a 1/2 hour or more at 12.8-13.3 (and worse at 14), compared to staying quite cool when at 11.5V. So I will definitely be using voltage regulation.

Oh, and I understand some specially sold for RV's/boats are rated for 11-15V or so. These are more expensive - maybe they are higher quality, or have voltage regulation built in to the strip?

Bob

[chin_k]

Bob, you brought up a very good point. I think instead of getting a voltage regulator, I will go with a dimmer like the following:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-24V-6A-Dim ... 0005.m1851

There are many different models and packaging, so you may want to search around for the one that fix your taste. I am going to check on the wiring diagram and see if there is a way for me to put one of these dimmer in the rig and be able to control multiple LED light at the same time.

[ASaucyBurrito]

Good info Bob. Looking at these, I do not think there is any voltage regulation built into the strip. Each segment has a current limiting resistor along with the three LED's themselves, but no actual regulation.

I agree it is probably optimal to use a voltage regulator. Those shown in that post are very reasonably priced as well, only a couple bucks each. For the time being I think I'm going to leave it as is, and if I have any issues I'll let you guys know.

Chin_K,

I have also thought about adding a dimmer to the main lights. I know in my rig the input for at least the main three center lights all goes into the same light (I think rear most? Not sure, it's been a while) where it is split off. It seems you could install a single dimmer there and allow you to control the three main lights to the same brightness level, which would probably accomplish 99% of what I would want. Though at $5 each just putting one of those in every light would be pretty nice as well.

James

[chin_k]

Oh, boy, I just came across the wireless/remote version of the dimmer on ebay. For less than $5, I think I am going to try those instead. Some are very tiny, and can work in-line. Such as this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-RF-Re ... 0005.m1851

It is beyond logic how they can sell it for so cheap, with free shipping.

[ASaucyBurrito]

Oh, boy, I just came across the wireless/remote version of the dimmer on ebay. For less than $5, I think I am going to try those instead. Some are very tiny, and can work in-line. Such as this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-RF-Re ... 0005.m1851

It is beyond logic how they can sell it for so cheap, with free shipping.

Great find. Definitely ordering a set for the interior lights.