I am doing some research on adding the LED lighting kit (under my awning) on my Class A motorhome. It doesn't look too hard to install by yourself. Any ideas on this would be appreciated.

They come in two types. Make sure you get the water proof type. 5050 comes to mind.

You mean Christmas lights? That's what us Rednecks call them in June and July.

I installed some last year. Got them from eBay out of China. They were like $20 for a 15' length. I used 5050 SMD waterproof ones. I stuck them to the exterior wall just below the awning rail. The lead was way too short so I had to lengthen it. I ran the power down the awning bracket with the lead to my power awning and then in the coach through the same hole. I was fortunate that it ended up in the basement so I grabbed power from a basement light and installed the control box there. When I want them on...I open the basement door and point the remote in there and let it rip.

I chose the warm white style, instead of the multi-color. Spend a bit extra and get the brightest you can find, which is also dimmable. Then you can adjust them as the situation requires when outside.... Our coach has a Girard Awning, so I stuck them underneath the edge alonf the wall of the coach. Then I ran the power cord in behind the entry light and wired it inside the coach, behind the inverter control panel. The remote works from outside or inside, perfectly. I can have the lights very bright for playing cards, reading, etc, and can turn them way down for "mood lighting" most other times.

I did this also to our MH last Spring. Like mguay and a few others mentioned, I went with the 15' length of 5050 SMD waterproof lights. Can be had on Amazon and other places online for around $20. Do NOT buy them from Camping World - They sell exact same lights at a RIDICULOUS mark-up, around $70 IIRC.I also installed ours directly underneath the awning roller, up against the coach like others mentioned. There was a channel along there under the awning roller that seemed like it was made just for this light strip, worked perfectly. Was also enough cavity inside the awning arm to snake the wire for it down through there, and have it come out right at the bottom of the arm. To hook it up, I just pull the wire out from the storage bin, connect it to the connector at the bottom of the awning arm, and use the remote to turn it on/off. I had to buy an extra length of the wire and some connectors to do this, but it worked out great.Have some adhesive caulk of some kind handy, and plan on using it at the ends of the light strip. The 3M adhesive the light strip comes with is good and holds well, but the ends WILL peel off shortly after you put it on. A small dab of adhesive caulk on each end solved that.Provides great light outside, and is totally adjustable - Can make it one of several different colors, fade it in or out, make it as bright or dim as you want, etc. DW always used to like putting 'tacky lights' on the manual awning we had with the TT, but we did not want to do that with the power awning on the MH. These lights are what we did, instead. Highly recommend this, if you want some more light outside, but don't want to fool with having to constantly attach and remove lights from the awning roller.Oh, one other really nice thing about using LED lights like this: They do not attract mosquitos and other flying critters, like conventional lights do. :)

Multi color LED awning lighting kit ? | Good Sam Community

Effy
Explorer II
Feb 10, 2014
Effy wrote:
JesLookin wrote:
I got these LEDs from Amazon:
LEDs

I also ordered the extension cable. I routed mine up over the top & down the ladder. Didn't want to poke any holes in the side of the camper.

So there is a 4pin wire pre made I can buy?. Have a link for that?

ordered this. SHould work. ext cord
paulcardoza
Explorer
Feb 10, 2014
It's right there on the same AMAZON page:

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
scroll right

Effy wrote:
JesLookin wrote:
I got these LEDs from Amazon:
LEDs

I also ordered the extension cable. I routed mine up over the top & down the ladder. Didn't want to poke any holes in the side of the camper.

So there is a 4pin wire pre made I can buy?. Have a link for that?
Effy
Explorer II
Feb 10, 2014
JesLookin wrote:
I got these LEDs from Amazon:
LEDs

I also ordered the extension cable. I routed mine up over the top & down the ladder. Didn't want to poke any holes in the side of the camper.

So there is a 4pin wire pre made I can buy?. Have a link for that?
JesLookin
Explorer
Feb 10, 2014
I got these LEDs from Amazon:
LEDs

I also ordered the extension cable. I routed mine up over the top & down the ladder. Didn't want to poke any holes in the side of the camper.
paulcardoza
Explorer
Feb 10, 2014
I was lucky. We have a Girard awning that extends over the front entry door. I ran the light strip along the bottom of the awning mount, about 1/2" away from the wall. I ended it right above the entry light and ran the wiring in behind that fixture. Very clean and neat look. I was then able to put all the light controls in behind the cabinets inside, tapping into a 12v wire in the wall. My setup does not need line of sight either. The remote works from outside just fine, with the controller inside the coach in a cabinet.
Effy
Explorer II
Feb 10, 2014
So I received the lights yesterday. Tested them here in the house. THey work great. The remote does not appear to require line of sight. I tested from all angles and distances and it works fine. The adhesive stio that came on it appears to be worthless but I can buy a roll of that. So one final question on the install. I planned on attaching them directly on the wall of the coach just underneath the awning. Originally I had thought about running the power lead inside the awning mounting rail as my outside receptacles are right there and a bin right below that. The only problem with this seems to be that the power lead is really short. The 4 pin connector to the remove receiver is only about 3" long. So I either have to run the lights themselves down through the awning rail, or make a lead. I have never worked with the 4 pin connector lke that but I imagine I could splice it and run a length of it. How did you giys mount yours? I'd rather not drill into the wall if I don't have to.
Effy
Explorer II
Jan 31, 2014
emiddleb wrote:
Effy,

I have had this system for 2 years now, still working fine.

The IR receiver... if you click on the Ebay link and look at the picture, the white box has two cables off the top and a plug at the bottom. The plug is where the power transformer connects, the large square plug at the top connects to the LED strip, and the small cable off the top has the IR receiver at the tip. It is a flexible cord with a small lump of dark plastic at the tip facing to one side (has a small bump there.)

Some notes: while many of the strips are marked 'weatherproof' because the strip is encased in plastic, the transformer and white box are not. I have found the IR version to be very fussy about placing the tip of the receiver properly... it is directional off one side only. If I had to do it again I'd do the RF version. Also, if you want to install the strip on the awning roller and you have an awning where the roller rotates as you open and close the awning, you'll have to unplug the cable to the strip before opening/closing.

Thanks for the info. Very helpful. In looking at it I see it now. My plan is to mount the transfomer and box in a lower bin. ANd if I understand correctly I could either mount the IR in a small hole facing out, or use an IR repeater I already have. For the price it's hard to beat if it works right.
emiddleb
Explorer
Jan 31, 2014
Effy,

I have had this system for 2 years now, still working fine.

The IR receiver... if you click on the Ebay link and look at the picture, the white box has two cables off the top and a plug at the bottom. The plug is where the power transformer connects, the large square plug at the top connects to the LED strip, and the small cable off the top has the IR receiver at the tip. It is a flexible cord with a small lump of dark plastic at the tip facing to one side (has a small bump there.)

Some notes: while many of the strips are marked 'weatherproof' because the strip is encased in plastic, the transformer and white box are not. I have found the IR version to be very fussy about placing the tip of the receiver properly... it is directional off one side only. If I had to do it again I'd do the RF version. Also, if you want to install the strip on the awning roller and you have an awning where the roller rotates as you open and close the awning, you'll have to unplug the cable to the strip before opening/closing.
Effy
Explorer II
Jan 31, 2014
mguay wrote:
Effy wrote:
I have looked at no less than 300 sets of these between Amazon and Ebay with prices from $19 - $80. How in the world do I know which ones to buy? I am looking for the 16ft, multi color (with soft white or dimmer) with remote, with power supply. Anyone find a good source for that? Tested and reliable?

These look decent and low cost.

Cheapos from Ebay

Those are the same as mine. I didn't get the 110v converter with it. I just kept it simple and wired direct to 12v from the basement light.

Doesn't say where the IR reciever is. I would like to mount as seamless as possible. I would like RF but the IR will work if I knew where it was and how to mount.
mguay
Explorer
Jan 31, 2014
Effy wrote:
I have looked at no less than 300 sets of these between Amazon and Ebay with prices from $19 - $80. How in the world do I know which ones to buy? I am looking for the 16ft, multi color (with soft white or dimmer) with remote, with power supply. Anyone find a good source for that? Tested and reliable?

These look decent and low cost.

Cheapos from Ebay

Those are the same as mine. I didn't get the 110v converter with it. I just kept it simple and wired direct to 12v from the basement light.

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Multi color LED awning lighting kit ?

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