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saxmandan · 01-10-2020, 05:13 PM

I'm a new owner of a 2005 Monaco Monarch and recently switched all the ceiling lights to LED. I used the rope type LED strips, two per fixture. Turns out they are a bit too bright, and I could have probably used one strip per fixture. I bought a dimmer on Amazon, but am having trouble locating the ground wire that goes to the ceiling lights. Any ideas on this. BTW, it's a 3-way switch, with the second switch located in the bedroom. I will probably have to send the single pole dimmer switch back for a 3-way unit. Thanks for any advice.

gsgriffin · 01-10-2020, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saxmandan

I'm a new owner of a 2005 Monaco Monarch and recently switched all the ceiling lights to LED. I used the rope type LED strips, two per fixture. Turns out they are a bit too bright, and I could have probably used one strip per fixture. I bought a dimmer on Amazon, but am having trouble locating the ground wire that goes to the ceiling lights. Any ideas on this. BTW, it's a 3-way switch, with the second switch located in the bedroom. I will probably have to send the single pole dimmer switch back for a 3-way unit. Thanks for any advice.

Not all LED's are dimmable. LED's on low voltage also require a special dimmer and not a typical 120v type. Hope you got the right items, or pull one of the strips out to get half the brightness

saxmandan · 01-10-2020, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsgriffin

Not all LED's are dimmable. LED's on low voltage also require a special dimmer and not a typical 120v type. Hope you got the right items, or pull one of the strips out to get half the brightness

I hear you, but my LEDs are definitely the type that can be dimmed. I also have the proper 12V PWM dimmer. The only problem is locating the ground that feeds all five ceiling fixtures. I took all 5 down today to see if one had the feed going to it, and none had it. I'll do some investigating tomorrow, crawling under the kitchen sink area, where all the wiring for the light switches is. I'm pretty sure I will have to swap the single pole dimmer for a 3-way dimmer, but that's not a problem with an Amazon purchase.
Another possibility is adding a simple toggle switch to turn off one LED strip on each light. That would be fairly easy, but not as elegant as the dimmer.

l1v3fr33ord1 · 01-11-2020, 05:03 AM

saxmandan-

First off, welcome to iRV2!

Second, you should add a "signature" to your profile. It contains whatever info you want; most people put info about their coach there, so they don't have to type it into each message. Instructions for adding a signature are here.

As for the dimmer, I can't help, except to supply a wiring diagram (see below). If you would like other diagrams that may apply to your Monarch, send me a private message that includes your e-mail address and I'll send what I have to you. Don't post your e-mail here; it's too public.

cavie · 01-11-2020, 05:16 AM

The FEED line, Hot from the fuse, will be in one of the 2 Switch locations and the Switch leg will be in the other switch location. You will absolutely need a 3/w dimmer and know you can only dim from one location.

saxmandan · 01-11-2020, 09:49 AM

l1v3fr33ord1..... thanks for that wiring diagram. Looks like the ground is somewhere up in the ceiling, totally inaccessible. I guess Monaco never anticipated anyone installing a dimmer, considering all the ceiling lights were fluorescent.

Cavie.... Yes, the feed line is in the front switch. Looks like it won't help, as all dimmers require access to the positive and negative LED leads. I only have the positive, so it looks like this will be an abandoned endeavor!

RCLImperial · 01-12-2020, 01:00 PM

You probably don’t have a separate ground wire. In 12 volt systems. There is a hot wire (usually black) and a white wire which is connected to the coach frame (ground). The ground in 120v AC systems is a safety requirement which isn’t required for a 12 volt DC system. Try connecting your dimmer ground wire to the white wire.

Dick L 04 Imperial

saxmandan · 01-13-2020, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCLImperial

You probably don’t have a separate ground wire. In 12 volt systems. There is a hot wire (usually black) and a white wire which is connected to the coach frame (ground). The ground in 120v AC systems is a safety requirement which isn’t required for a 12 volt DC system. Try connecting your dimmer ground wire to the white wire.

Dick L 04 Imperial

Exactly what I was thinking, so before returning the dimmer to Amazon I tried it combining the grounds. It didn't work. It absolutely need isolation between the ground going into the dimmer and the ground going out.
I checked other dimmers on Amazon and ordered this one, which has only one ground wire. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
In the "simplified" wiring diagram they show what should work. I'll post my results later today when the dimmer arrives. The switch has a click off when turning fully counter-clockwise, so I won't need to add a switch turning off current going to it.

saxmandan · 01-13-2020, 04:10 PM

Happy to report the second dimmer switch I bought did the trick. Followed the "simple installation" wiring diagram, and connected between the (+) feed and the line to the light itself and it worked perfectly. I even retained the functionality of the 3-way switch. I didn't want to add another dimmer for the single bedroom fixture, which is controlled by a separate switch, so I added a mini toggle switch to turn off one strip on that fixture. Easy to mount beside the existing on-off switch on the fixture itself. I bought a 10 pack of mini toggle switches on Amazon, so now I have 9 spares!