So, those puck lights above the bed...

[Cruzer]

I too didn't care for those puck lights. Very bright and tended to turn on by themselves sometimes if you left the Firefly switch on and just used the touch operation on the lens to turn them off. I did two things to correct this.

First, I added a strip of LED lighting at the very rear of the overhead cabinet over the bed. I hid them behind a small strip of cherry trim molding - just tall enough so that you can't see the LED light strip from the front of the bed but short enough so that the light would fall a few feet out onto the bed so that they could be used for reading. I then added a glass dimmer panel designed for 12 VDC LED lighting and mounted it just to the left of the overhead Firefly switch panel.

Then I pulled the floor out of the overhead cabinet so I could access the backside of the switches. And yes, it's an Entegra so even the cabinet floor was filled with fiberglass insulation. There isn't much that isn't insulated on an Entegra. I then removed the power source from the puck lights and connected it to the dimmer so that I could use the existing Firefly switches to control the LED light strip. I just leave the glass dimmer panel on all the time and use it just for dimming the light strip when desired. I then added a second glass dimmer panel for the puck lights and mounted it just to the right of the Firefly panel. I used this to control the puck lights and fed this dimmer hot power from the bedroom fan switch, which was nearby. This removed the puck lights from the Firefly system and left them solely controlled by the dimmer panel while the Firefly system now controlled the new LED light strip, which could be dimmed by it's dimmer panel if desired.

Now that we've been using this setup for a few years I found that we don't ever use the puck lights. They get too hot, are too bright and hard to control. The LD light strip works great and provides plenty of light for reading and can easily be dimmed for accent lighting. If I had to do this again I would just abandon the wiring to the puck lights and leave them in there.

I've attached photos of the light strip and dimmer(s). Unfortunately the lights were hard to shoot so they don't turn out as they really look. I've also attached a PDF of my wiring diagram.

The dimmer panel was on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L3MT41G/ref=dp_prsubs_2

[brobox]

Outstanding Mark, thank you. Curious, do you think a dimmer like that would work on the puck lights by themselves?

[Cruzer]

Originally Posted by brobox

Outstanding Mark, thank you. Curious, do you think a dimmer like that would work on the puck lights by themselves?

Sure. I have two dimmers on my setup. On for the LED strip and one for the puck lights. The glass panel is nice. One button touch to turn on and off and take your finger and slide it on the bar to dim the lights. The only problem is when you reach up in the dark to push the "panel lights" button and accidentally hit the puck lights dimmer panel and get a shot of two bright lights in the face.

[777 Driver]

Originally Posted by brobox

Curious, do you think a dimmer like that would work on the puck lights by themselves?

Hi Chuck,

I expect that Mark will be along to offer his opinion.

In the mean time, on my '18 Anthem with what I believe are the same puck lights, a pulse width modulation (PWM) dimmer did work to dim my puck lights. However, you lose the ability to use the "touch" feature to turn off the puck lights.

I haven't tried the dimmer that Mark installed, however, from all the documentation that I've found for them, they are a PWM dimmer.

At least, that's how it worked on my '18 Anthem.

Take care,
Stu

[brobox]

Thanks Mark and Stu. On the 21's the puck light are no longer dimable, that is the problem. In addition to that, the puck lights are now wired to the vanity light switch.

[voltdoc]

Originally Posted by 777 Driver

Hi Rob,

As I went through a process to dim the sconce lights that are on the same circuit as the touch puck lights, I was able to dim the puck lights using a PWM dimmer. However, the capability to turn off the puck lights by touch was lost when the PWM dimmer was wired into the circuit.

With the PWM dimmer in the puck light circuit and the circuit energized, the dimmer did dim the three puck lights. When the dimmed puck light was touched to turn it off, it immediately re-illuminated. As soon as you released your "touch", the next pulse of current to the puck light turned it back on. That happens in nano-seconds and the puck light doesn't even flicker off during that process.

At least, that was my experience trying to dim the puck/sconce lights.

Take care,
Stu

Stu, good info, I never even tried to dim those over the sofa touch pucks. I took a similar approach but replaced the pucks with non touch style 'offically' dimmable versions.

I used these but that was 4 years ago so perhaps there are better options now.

Then I added a physical switch so the pucks could be removed from the circuit. Those are task lights and most of the time I want them off, but I still want the sconces on and dimmed low. The switch is right above my recliner so if I need task lighting I just need to reach up and turn it on. Photo here.

Your setup and the approach Mark took are nice in that both lights can be independently dimmed, but I wanted mine to be dimmable via the firefly system.

I had firefly reprogram that lighting channel to enable dimming (it was on a dimmable channel but the dimming feature was disabled in software). At the time I think it cost about $75, they sent me a programmer to plug into the Net port on the G6 which made the changes. They even sent me a new switch label with the dimming arrows on it. I suspect the cost is much higher these days, if they will even do it at all.

Since then tho I've been able to interface with the RV-C (Firefly) and can just tell Alexa to dim or brighten any light or group of lights (no switch reprogramming required for dimmer channels), or via an app on my phone. You can see more about that project at myeRVin.com. The software is now "image" based so is much easier than my first version of the project. I hope to build images for more floor plans and pre-2017 models over this winter.

Now you have me thinking how useful a wifi accessible network compatible dimmer would be for cases like this!

[777 Driver]

Chuck,

It sounds like your puck lights are the same as are installed on my '18 Anthem, except that mine are installed above the theater seating. Mine, too, are wired into a circuit that controls the puck lights and another fixture(s). In my case, it's two sconce lights.

The OEM installation doesn't include the ability to dim either the sconce or puck lights in my '18 Anthem.

I wanted to be able to dim the sconce lights and turn off the puck lights when watching TV in the evening. I installed a PWM dimmer in that circuit that did dim both sconce lights and the three puck lights, proving that the puck lights are dimmable using a PWM dimmer. HOWEVER, you can not turn off the puck lights using the "touch" feature with a PWM dimmer powering the puck lights. With a PWM dimmer powering the puck lights, as soon as you release the "touch", the light turns back on.

By rewiring the PWM dimmer so that it only controls the sconce lights and not the puck lights, I'm able to dim my sconce lights and still use the "touch" feature of the puck lights. The "master" on/off for that circuit is controlled thru the VegaTouch. Dimming the sconce lights is controlled by the PWM dimmer and the puck lights are either full on or full off controlled by the touch feature.

At least, that's how I've modified my '18 Anthem.

Take care,
Stu

[NomadRider]

Cruzers solution seems to be ideal in that it allows dimming of both lighting systems. It would not be as easy to implement on the Aspire as it doesn't have the Firefly switch over the bed as in the Cornerstone.

I'm kinda leaning towards Voltdoc's approach - adding the flex neck lights and a manual switch for the pucks. My real goal is to divert the puck lights from shining directly in my face which I find more annoying that driving into direct sunlight.

[Saltydog44]

This is probably irrelevant now and from a no longer relevant RV'er.

We replaced the puck lights with the same map lights that we had over the passenger and driver seats.

Not dimmable but we could direct them away from our eyes easily. Really liked that mod.

[777 Driver]

Originally Posted by voltdoc

I had firefly reprogram that lighting channel to enable dimming (it was on a dimmable channel but the dimming feature was disabled in software). At the time I think it cost about $75, they sent me a programmer to plug into the Net port on the G6 which made the changes. They even sent me a new switch label with the dimming arrows on it. I suspect the cost is much higher these days, if they will even do it at all.

Since then tho I've been able to interface with the RV-C (Firefly) and can just tell Alexa to dim or brighten any light or group of lights (no switch reprogramming required for dimmer channels), or via an app on my phone. You can see more about that project at myeRVin.com. The software is now "image" based so is much easier than my first version of the project. I hope to build images for more floor plans and pre-2017 models over this winter.

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the link (myeRVin.com)!

Your explanations/instructions appear so well done that even this "old dog" might have fun learning a "new trick". It looks like the worst case scenario would be an investment of a couple hundred bucks and some time that, if it didn't work out, I'd just unplug the microcontroller and move on. Not much ventured and an opportunity to gain some knowledge. I've enjoyed automating a variety of things around the S&B (lights, locks, garage door, water shut-off, thermostat, etc.).

One attraction of the eRVin, if I understand correctly, would be the ability to use an Android smartphone to control the lights and shades. I did purchase the iPad app and have found that to be useful, but didn't want to go to the additional expense of purchasing the Android app for our smartphones (yeah, maybe I am cheap). Is it possible to control the heating/air conditioning using eRVin, as well?

Take care,
Stu

[voltdoc]

Originally Posted by 777 Driver

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the link (myeRVin.com)!

Your explanations/instructions appear so well done that even this "old dog" might have fun learning a "new trick". It looks like the worst case scenario would be an investment of a couple hundred bucks and some time that, if it didn't work out, I'd just unplug the microcontroller and move on. Not much ventured and an opportunity to gain some knowledge. I've enjoyed automating a variety of things around the S&B (lights, locks, garage door, water shut-off, thermostat, etc.).

One attraction of the eRVin, if I understand correctly, would be the ability to use an Android smartphone to control the lights and shades. I did purchase the iPad app and have found that to be useful, but didn't want to go to the additional expense of purchasing the Android app for our smartphones (yeah, maybe I am cheap). Is it possible to control the heating/air conditioning using eRVin, as well?

Take care,
Stu

Stu, yes an app (free), actually a browser so works on any device that can run a browser. On a smartphone or tablet you save the site (in Android Chrome "Add to Homescreen") to create a shortcut and it essentially behaves like an app.

Lights, shades for sure and possibly other things on Anthem/Cornerstone with Vegatouch. Plus the ability to create your own custom lighting "Scenes" (see myervin.com for a post that explains scenes).

Full disclosure, I've yet to work with a Vegatouch owner, but eRVin has a fully RV-C compliant interface so it should be fully compatible and non-disruptive. I would think of it as a redundant system. In fact, my initiative for this project was because we kept noting wall switches due to static discharge and i wanted an alternative means to control the lights.

For lighting, the interface is fully integrated, so let's say you press a wall switch button, the status of that button will change in the eRVin app (and also in the Alexa app), likewise if you change the status of a light in eRVin, the wall switch button will automatically reflect that status. I believe the same will be true on the Vegatouch display and would love to verify that.

Personally, my favorite eRVin feature is the Alexa integration.

Unfortunately the HVAC on Entegra with Vegatouch is, I believe, Firefly proprietary, however if it follows the RV-C spec some ability to do HVAC from eRVin is possible.

Problem for me is I don't have a Vegatouch to experiment with. If you are willing to learn some new tricks as you say I would be happy to work with you.

eRVin is based on CoachProxy for Tiffin and CoachProxy had code to support HVAC (I think I left that code in eRVin, just disabled it). I don't believe any Tiffin's ever had Vegatouch but I think they used the Spyder versions of a central control screen which I suspect are more limited than Vegatouch. Honestly, I'm not really too sure about the details of those systems.

For Entegra's without Vegatouch (with the Airxcel RV Comfort thermostat), there are a couple of solutions pending. One is I recently gained some technical details about the proprietary network Airxcel uses to control the roof units, so direct eRVin integration is getting closer. In addition, microair.net (the EasyStart air conditioner controller people) told me they will be releasing "sometime this fall" a version of their EasyTouch RV thermostat that is a replacement for the Airxcel unit on non-Vegatouch Entegra's. From what I gather they have already reverse engineered the proprietary Airxcel protocol. The EasyTouch is wifi and Bluetooth capable and I'm pretty sure will be easy to integrate with eRVin.

Let me know if you have any more questions! Feel free to contact me via email which is in my avatar.

[stayoutlate]

There is a dimmer switch , I bought it on amazon for 15 bucks , it’s about the size of a quarter and it’s very easy to install

[K-lee]

We popped the lenses off of ours and spray painted the inside yellow. It keeps the light Very subdued.

[Bob Rost]

If you can access the wiring you could add these remote controlled LED 12 volt dimmers: https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Mini-Co...sAAOSwYSFdyOHg They cost $4.95 each, I have used them on several projects and had good results

Bob Rost
2017 Forest River 5th wheel