Exterior Lighting

bluwtr49 wrote:
Just curious, what happens to the lights when the awning retracts? Especially with a Girard where it all tucks away into the housing.

bluewtr49,
I cannot answer the part about the Girard but, on our coach, we have the top of the line, Carefree, (not sure what model it is, came with the coach) and, I carefully calculated where the light would still do a decent array of light, even with the awning in the fully retracted position. I could have placed it lower but, I didn't want it seen, out in the open, so to speak. But, while it certainly does not broadcast nearly as much light when the awning is in the fully retracted position, it still puts out a serious amount of light, to about 4-5' out from the sides of the coach.

But, If I open that awning, about 1 foot, the light array is broadcast out to about 35-40' from the sides of the coach. It goes even farther than that, just not as bright. I love them.

Posted By: dlos on 06/03/13 09:43am
I installed the Dometic LED strip, twice in fact, and they still don't work, I can not for the life of me figure out what is wrong with them, installed much the same as described here.
Fastened to underside of awning channel, drilled thru RV wall, spliced and soldered back inside to keep drilled hole small, plugged in to outled inside by TV.
They worked for a couple hours, not since. Same thing with both strips???

Very frustrating. Any thoughts?

dlos,
Well Sir, not exactly sure what may have happened. I've had to replace the "Controller/dimmer" on mine. Hopefully it (the new one) will last. The original one, lasted about 6 months. Now, here's a test for you. Remove the 12V controller/dimmer from the system completely. Hook your 12V power, directly to the input wires to the LED strip. You'll have no control over the lights at this point, they're simply on, the minute you hook up the wires. But, this will tell you if you're controller is shot. If you get no lights, you've got some bad LED strips.

When my controller went bad, we were just getting ready to head out for a trip and I really wanted those lights to work. So, knowing my test worked, I bought a cheap, tiny, toggle switch and wired it directly to the 12v POWER and, to the LED strip. So, while on the trip, all I had to do was throw the switch. Worked flawless. But, I've since acquired a new controller/dimmer. See it that works.
Scott