LED light installation with door side slide-out

[johntinacamping]

DW and I have a 2015 Heartland Mallard that did not come with any awning lights. The only outside light we have is the porch light. I have purchased a 5 meter long RGB waterproof LED strip and will be installing it either on the slide or below the awning track on the trailer body. I wonder if anyone else with a slide-out under your awning has done an LED installation. I think if I mount it under the awning rail the slide-out will block too much of the light. That's why I think I will probably mount the strip on the top area of the slide-out facing toward the awning. This will probably give us the best light output even though it will be a few feet shorter than our awning. I would love to mount the strip to the awning roller, but then I would have to unplug it in the event of rainy weather because the strip itself is waterproof but not the controller box or the other wiring connections. This is the kit I have purchased and I'm waiting a few days for it to arrive: RGB LED kit. Does anyone have advice to offer?

[Hornnumb2]

Mine came factory with it under the awning but with the slide out and awning closed it didn't put out much light. I ended up adding another strip lower under the awning and one on the slide at the top also. I ran the wire in behind the microwave and down the pantry wall cavity and through the chase on the floor to the original spot the factory had them wired. I added a wifi controller for that set so I can control them with my phone.

[APT]

Clean installation!

[johntinacamping]

UPDATE: I have installed my RGB LED strip and I really like it. But I have decided to also install another strip to the top of our kitchen slide to make up for those shaded by the slide when it's out. I will go behind the refrigerator and tie into power at a light above the countertop inside. The strip is a great improvement for light under the awning. The porch light alone does next to nothing, so I took out the bulb and hid all my wiring in that housing and tied into the power there. That way the strip works with my porch light switch. It's not installed gun-barrel straight, but I'm satisfied knowing I did the install by myself. Not a bad setup for $20.

[beemerphile1]

You will get a little shadowing from the slide but will have plenty of reflected light off the awning.

[johntinacamping]

Mynticelx wrote:
I put mine right where the awning attaches and simply let the slide out come out and "cover it".. it still shows the light and ends up working great. I would just do that. Simple install and still works great.

That just might be the route I end up taking. I plan to hold it up there with some tape and try it out at night to see if it would work well enough for our liking. It sure would be nice to wire it into the porch light and be able to switch it off and on and not have anything to unplug and fool with.

[Mynticelx]

I put mine right where the awning attaches and simply let the slide out come out and "cover it".. it still shows the light and ends up working great. I would just do that. Simple install and still works great.

[johntinacamping]

This picture will show you why I don't want to simply mount the strip under where the awning attaches to the trailer. I think the slide-out would hide most of the light.

[APT]

I hid/protected the controller/box in my porch light housing since it used 12VDC anyway. This means I can turn them on/off from the switch inside. I sealed the non waterproof connectors with UV resistant sealant.