New Mod: Lighted Entry Handle

[digNbubbs]

Did a cool little mod today. Added a light to the acrylic entry handle and it looks great. I am not yet finished because I didn't have a switch for it, but will get one next weel. I am also going to replace the clear LED for a colored one.

Love it!

Before:


Lighted!



I am easily amused

There are a few pics of the action here - http://www.chillaxnet.com/gallery2/m...ech/?g2_page=3 About half way down the page to "Passenger side hump removal".


--kev

[digNbubbs]

Did a cool little mod today. Added a light to the acrylic entry handle and it looks great. I am not yet finished because I didn't have a switch for it, but will get one next weel. I am also going to replace the clear LED for a colored one.

Love it!

Before:


Lighted!



I am easily amused

There are a few pics of the action here - http://www.chillaxnet.com/gallery2/m...ech/?g2_page=3 About half way down the page to "Passenger side hump removal".


--kev

[Diplomat Don]

digNbubbs....I did the same thing and tied it into the stepwell lights (switch). That way I know it's on.

[MonacoMama]

Kev...SacsTC saw showed me the post...and he saw the look in my eyes...he knows that he will have another new project but he said he was going to do what Diplomat Don has done ...even before Don posted....and I like the clear light...no colored LED for mine...colored ones woould remind me too much of the street racers!

[ronboc]

Ok, I'm thinking maybe a whole bunch of LED lites, all different colors and hooked to a special control-box ....

Then you could turn on all the green ones, say, to let folks know it's safe to come over.... Or just the red ones when you're in a bad-mood.... And so on.... Maybe even alternate the colors for a way-cool lite-show while sitting outside in the evenings.

Wow, the ideas are endless...
-- 'Barberpole' the colors up the handle.
-- Connected to a motion-detector and the colors start out dim and bluish, but slowly getting brighter and more intense in the red shades as a person walks closer.
-- Pulsing in time to the stereo.
-- A giant LifeSaver candy 'dispenser'.

This is gonna be HUGE!


(oh, uhhh, sorry, got carried away there. Way to go, Kev, great idea! Did you use a light kit or make up your own?)

[stevelp]

Cool. I would like to do this to my Monarch. Can you give more detailed discription of how you did it, and what components you used?

Thanks

[Tom N]

I assume your running the LED directly from 12v. Did you put a resistor in line???

[Diplomat Don]

stevelp......I did a couple of these for different people in different colors. The best light I found was a 12v plug in map light. The type with a flexible arm sold at auto parts store. The one I found had (5) LED lights in a round configuration.

If you take the top bracket off of your handle, you'll expose the end of the acryllic tube.

I disassembled the map light until I was down to the small circuit board the lights were soldered to. I anchored the circuit board inside the handle so that the lights are pointing at the acryllic tube (as close as possible). I drilled a hole through the exterior wall where the upper bracket would cover it and then fished a wire through. On the inside of the coach I have a large arm rest with several switches. I was able to take the top of the armrest off and access inside where I fed the wire through. I tied into the switch for the stepwell lights.

Hope this helps.

[stevelp]

Thanks for the info. I am going to do this one. Looks simple and inexpensive with great results.

[Gordon]

Very Cool idea! Gonna give it a shot!

[Drifter]

I found sight that explans a lot about Leds, It's worth a look http://www.theledlight.com/index.htm

[digNbubbs]

Thanks for the props on the mod. I did it pretty simply because I bought the LED fixture from Monaco. Not sure of the part number, but the parts guys on the phone can look it up easily. Tell them to look at a Sig or Exec (or similar), as they have these LEDs. Kind of looks like the top part of a Mag light with two wires coming out. I got a standard panel rocker switch on the inside and hooked into a live wire from the existing bundle.



Thanks for the link to the LED site Drifter. I am working on a little solar powered LED project now that I am sure that site will give me some good info. I have also used this one for calculating needs - http://www.metku.net/index.html?sect...calc/index_eng


--kev

[ronboc]

Ok, I'm thinking a tri-color LED now....

Green says "Sure, come on in, we're home and looking forward to seeing you"
Yellow means "Yup, we're here, but we're kinda busy but come on in anyway".
Red is for "We already put down the levelers so this baby ain't truly rocking, but you still shouldn't come a-knocking".

Or I could just string some semaphore flags from the tv-antenna?