Wiring 12v clearance lights to AA Pack
hey guys, so I'm rebuilding my '79 Class C from the ground up. its being rebuilt to the point it is a flatbed truck in my driveway at the moment, with each wall being built separately and then laid u...
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Drilling holes and adding LEDs to the clearance lights is modifying them and may well make them no longer DOT compliant if it modifies the photometrics of the fixture. Aside from that, it sounds like an invitation for water to get into your motorhome. Clearance lights are already a frequent source of water intrusion.
I realized after I posted that the relay setup was unnecessarily complicated. A double-throw switch would suffice assuming the chassis light switch operates on the positive side of the circuit. The common terminal of the switch would be wired to the lights, and one side to the house battery, and the other to the chassis parking light circuit. In one position, the clearance lights would be always on. In the other, they would be switched with the parking lights. It would not be possible to have them off when the parking lights are on. While I'm no expert on the specifics of the DOT regulations, I don't think this would be an illegal setup--I think they only require that they be on when the parking/head lights are on, and the exact switch or control setup used to achieve that is left up to the vehicle maker.
200 mAh is not a big battery pack by any means. That's 0.2 Ah. It would power the clearance lights for maybe a half hour, perhaps less. The smallest battery used as a house battery for RVs has at least two or three hundred times that much usable capacity. I would strongly recommend you give up the idea of using a separate battery pack besides the house or chassis battery you have in the motorhome.
I realized after I posted that the relay setup was unnecessarily complicated. A double-throw switch would suffice assuming the chassis light switch operates on the positive side of the circuit. The common terminal of the switch would be wired to the lights, and one side to the house battery, and the other to the chassis parking light circuit. In one position, the clearance lights would be always on. In the other, they would be switched with the parking lights. It would not be possible to have them off when the parking lights are on. While I'm no expert on the specifics of the DOT regulations, I don't think this would be an illegal setup--I think they only require that they be on when the parking/head lights are on, and the exact switch or control setup used to achieve that is left up to the vehicle maker.
200 mAh is not a big battery pack by any means. That's 0.2 Ah. It would power the clearance lights for maybe a half hour, perhaps less. The smallest battery used as a house battery for RVs has at least two or three hundred times that much usable capacity. I would strongly recommend you give up the idea of using a separate battery pack besides the house or chassis battery you have in the motorhome.
