LED awning lights how would you......

eBay has tons of pretty cool LED controllers and dimmers, and allot of them have wireless remotes as well and are very small. Some controller smaller than others, but there is a huge variety. Google "LED Controller"

APT wrote:
I was able to use the power from an existing outside light near one end of the awning so the 12V power to the controller is on a switch. The light housing also was big enough to hide controller after I removed the old light bulb.

That is what I was getting at..... that is a good idea if you ask me. I wish I would have thought about it when I installed mine. I might have done it that way. :)

toaobigal wrote:
To reassure Beachums, I will remove the 1156 bulb from the porch light and replace it with an adaptor that has a 1156 socket and 2 wires sticking out of it. This way, you don't have to plug the power supply in an electrical outlet, it's switched from the inside and if you change your mind, you just have to put the original bulb in the porch light and no harm done!

I guess I should have said "perminary".... and this was an assumption that a controller was needed for RGB lights. As the OP mentioned a controller in the original post. If it were a single color (white or yellow), I guess there would be no need to disable your porch light. But if we are talking about an RGB system that produces any color and is dynamic, one may not want a white porch light on every time they want the LED strip on.

So we may be talking about dissimilar systems here.

Everything that I have use is 12v native, no rectification or AC needed. You can use it boondocking

Again, I am not totally sure which system the OP is using

There is no reassurance needed on my part ;)

I was able to use the power from an existing outside light near one end of the awning so the 12V power to the controller is on a switch. The light housing also was big enough to hide controller after I removed the old light bulb.

To reassure Beachums, I will remove the 1156 bulb from the porch light and replace it with an adaptor that has a 1156 socket and 2 wires sticking out of it. This way, you don't have to plug the power supply in an electrical outlet, it's switched from the inside and if you change your mind, you just have to put the original bulb in the porch light and no harm done!

I wish I had my old phone, which had pictures of my install. First off, what lights are they? Are they the RGB lights or just white. What kind of controller do you have?

I would assume that because you speak of a controller that it must be an RGB kit.

So far, I have installed a kit on two separate trailers. They had different layouts, so each install had its own set of challenges. On each layout, I drilled through the wall. As I have a healthy reservation of drilling through the walls, I made damned sure I knew where that bit was going to pop out on the other side.

How do you plan on securing the strip to the side of the trailer. If it is the same type of RGB light that I have (Supernight branding) , I don't think it is a good idea to rely on the adhesive that is on the backing of the light strip. I went with a really thin bead of polymer adhesive that was underwater rated and had a temperature range from -25 to 180f. I got it at my local Ace Hardware.

On both installs, I ran the electric side of the light on the side that had the best access to a source, yet still be concealed.

I have used two types of controllers. I also have not even bothered with the IR cheapies that usually come with a kit. Both controllers connected with a smartphone app that used the wifi protocol. One also had easy integration of a standalone RF. Either way, there are so many to choose from I cannot say if any one controller will standout vs another. I would recommend installing a switch to the controller, so you can isolate it from your 12v power as all that have remote or wifi capabilities will consume some amount of power whenever power is supplied . Many controllers "remember" settings, so using a master switch should not affect how well it works.

I have never thought of connecting it to the existing light. That seems like a good idea if you are okay with either running them in tandem, or permanently disabling the factory light. But either way, I would definitely recommend locating the controller inside the trailer somewhere.

I ran my wire down the middle of the slide seal... I was not feeling good about drilling a hole in my side,,, I know myself , that would not have turned out well....there is only about 3 inches of wire showing up top...

Thanks. Yes I'm trying to avoid putting a hole in the side of the trailer (although I'm not supposed to it). I'm going out in a little bit to start.

Yes I will check you tube, can't believe I didn't think of looking their first.

Thanks!

I'm installing mine next week, I'll be using an adaptor to get power from the porch light. The bulb is a 1156 and the switch is inside the trailer. All I have to do is notch the lens and run the wire to the LED strip. There are a few videos on Youtube showing that method, that where I found the inspiration...

I looked closely at how the factory awning LED's were powered, and they run the wire right up the seam on the end of the awning. If you can thread wire through there your golden. What's cool is that you never plug it in, it's all wired direct. Somewhere I even have pix. How you route to the awning is your problem... :)