i want to add LED lights to under side of coach

[hogcard]

I want to add an LED light strip to the underside of my Bay Star 3124. One 16' strip will do. I know I want multi color and an RF controller. I'm puzzled on the rest. There are SOOOO many choices on Amazon, etc. Do I have to adapt if I want to run to a hot wire somewhere like the porch light? Or can I simply plug directly in to the outlet I have in my storage bays? Most of the light kits come with a plug in adapter.

Help me understand more. Thanks

[ByeTheWay]

I have the same interest. Hope you get some good responses.

[Lee L]

I have had the stuff to install under coach RGB LED lighting for some time ... just got around to doing it this weekend. These are the LED Strips I used: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (I notice that they are now out of stock, but it should give you an idea.) I picked up power from the front passenger side basement compartment cargo light, and also put the RF contrller in the same compartment ... the cargo light switch has to be on to power the LED strip. Installation of the LED strip was pretty simple ... I cleaned the bottom of the basement bays with acetone, put down a strip of 1/2" 3M double sided foam tape, stuck the adhesive backed LED strip to that and then used insulated staples to mechanically fasten the whole thing to the basement flooring. I still need to do a bit of wire dressing in the storage compartment, but all total it probably took me 2.5 hours to do the whole thing.

I only did the space between the front fender well and the rear fender well, it took a full 16.5 foot roll of LED strip and a couple of feet from another one.

I'll get some pictures next time I am out at the barn to show you where everything is.

Hope that helps.

[Winemaker2]

If powering from 12V I would suggest getting LED's rated for 10-30V.
I have had cheap strips & replacement bulbs burn out due to the higher voltage from the charger - 14+V absorption / bulk charge.
One advantage of the 120V plug in is it provides the steady 12V via transformer.

The better / higher cost LED bulbs have a control circuit built in that controls either V or A to prevent the burn out.

[hogcard]

Originally Posted by Lee L

I have had the stuff to install under coach RGB LED lighting for some time ... just got around to doing it this weekend. These are the LED Strips I used: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (I notice that they are now out of stock, but it should give you an idea.) I picked up power from the front passenger side basement compartment cargo light, and also put the RF contrller in the same compartment ... the cargo light switch has to be on to power the LED strip. Installation of the LED strip was pretty simple ... I cleaned the bottom of the basement bays with acetone, put down a strip of 1/2" 3M double sided foam tape, stuck the adhesive backed LED strip to that and then used insulated staples to mechanically fasten the whole thing to the basement flooring. I still need to do a bit of wire dressing in the storage compartment, but all total it probably took me 2.5 hours to do the whole thing.

I only did the space between the front fender well and the rear fender well, it took a full 16.5 foot roll of LED strip and a couple of feet from another one.

I'll get some pictures next time I am out at the barn to show you where everything is.

Hope that helps.

So did you buy your RF controller separately? Look forward to the pics

[hogcard]

Would this work? https://www.amazon.com/HeLe-Changing.../dp/B01GMJNWRK

Notice 3rd pic down on left side shows a plug in. Could you simply plug in to outlet in storage Bay or do you ditch that part and get power from a light or something?

[Lee L]

Ok ... here are some pictures. I am NO photographer, that's for sure. I WAS a systems and networks engineer for 30 years, but I cannot get iphone pictures to post right side up ... I guess you will have to turn your monitor on it's side

First ... an overall shot with the LEDs on (note my highly customized A/C condensate catch system ):

Here is a shot of how the LED strip is attached under the basement:

12 Volt RGB control wiring from the controller to the LED Strip:

Picked up 12 Volt power from the basement cargo lamp (remember, cargo light switch in the cockpit has to be on for the LEDs to work ... also note, on my coach, black is positive and white is negative going to the lights ... makes no sense, so use your volt meter to determine what is what ):

And, finally, the RGB wireless controller, attached with double sided tape to the steel upright, just under the cargo lamp in the basement:

You could run a small 120 Volt AC to 12 Volt DC converter/power supply to power the LEDs, but with 12 Volts DC so abundant in these coaches, I couldn't see the need in doing that.

Hope this gives you some ideas. It really is straightforward and pretty easy to do. I have several rolls of LEDs left, so will probably do some more in the front and back ... the little controller will handle 18 amps, that is a LOT of LEDs!

[Lee L]

Originally Posted by hogcard

Would this work? https://www.amazon.com/HeLe-Changing.../dp/B01GMJNWRK

Notice 3rd pic down on left side shows a plug in. Could you simply plug in to outlet in storage Bay or do you ditch that part and get power from a light or something?

That should work. The only thing is that the controller is going to have to be really close to the strip. It may or may not be weatherproof. You certainly can plug it into a regular AC outlet, it simply supplies the controller with 12 volts DC. I did order my LED strips and controllers separately because I wanted some flexibility in where I mounted things. I had several other projects that I used these same strips and controller on, mainly deck lighting around our pool. I can't find a link to the exact controllers that I bought, but they have small screw terminals for 12 VDC in and RGB control out, so you can use any length wiring that your install requires.

[DRL1950]

Originally Posted by hogcard

I want to add an LED light strip to the underside of my Bay Star 3124. One 16' strip will do. I know I want multi color and an RF controller. I'm puzzled on the rest. There are SOOOO many choices on Amazon, etc. Do I have to adapt if I want to run to a hot wire somewhere like the porch light? Or can I simply plug directly in to the outlet I have in my storage bays? Most of the light kits come with a plug in adapter.

Help me understand more. Thanks

Just as an added thought, I have had Boogey Lights under my coach for almost two years now, have driven through all kinds of weather and found them to be very hardy and have worked perfectly. That being said they are not cheap so I gues its all in what you are willing to pay. As a side not have hade them on my motorcycles for over 6 years, same results

[Mick Martin]

Here is a really good YouTube video explaining the different types of LED strips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E2Fkj9bjEk

[BTL550]

I just installed some RGB LED's under mine as well. I went with a product from APEX lighting, I have used several of their lights on my boat and had good success. Time will tell how they hold up!

I found the power source in the TV bay, for the stereo.

[C.Martin]

Boogey Lights claim to be mfg. with a thicker pcb material...thus worth the extra price. Any validity to this claim?

I do want RGB light with RF control/Bluetooth phone app control....but still trying to decide if I want to mount them under the belly of the coach...or have two strips mounted to the bottom of the slideouts.

Advantages each?

Still have to figure out wire routing from basement into the two slideouts if I go that route.

Too many choices...

[hogcard]

Originally Posted by Lee L

That should work. The only thing is that the controller is going to have to be really close to the strip. It may or may not be weatherproof. You certainly can plug it into a regular AC outlet, it simply supplies the controller with 12 volts DC. I did order my LED strips and controllers separately because I wanted some flexibility in where I mounted things. I had several other projects that I used these same strips and controller on, mainly deck lighting around our pool. I can't find a link to the exact controllers that I bought, but they have small screw terminals for 12 VDC in and RGB control out, so you can use any length wiring that your install requires.

I see what you mean about the controller being close to the strip. Do they make a wiring harness extension for such as this? Or can I just cut and extend using same gauge wiring?

[Lee L]

Originally Posted by hogcard

I see what you mean about the controller being close to the strip. Do they make a wiring harness extension for such as this? Or can I just cut and extend using same gauge wiring?

you can cut it and extend it no problem.