Community Forums

altaclipper · 05-01-2021, 08:25 PM

Howdy folks,
I'm always impressed with the knowledge in the group so thought I'd run this minor question by y'all, to see what solutions may have already arisen. After all, why reinvent the wheel!
On our new 25RDS, there are a whopping 7, yes 7, LED lights over the rear table. Man, it is bright.....too bright in fact. At night, that is complete overkill and hard on the eyes so it would be nice to have maybe 2 on while the rest are off. Not being much of an electrical monkey, I'm guessing that the seven lights that are on an 'on-off' switch at the main control panel are all daisy-chained together, in series.
Wondering if anyone else has this same brightness issue and how it can easily be solved without tearing the ceiling apart? I was toying with replacing the on-off switch with a dimmer but think I have to run another wires, or maybe re-wiring a few of these lights in to a new switch (lots of work). Any easy solutions out there, folks?
Thanks
Glen

Cumminsfan · 05-02-2021, 11:35 AM

Wow, what was ORV thinking when they added 3 more LED's over the dinette?
I have a 2019 254RDS and we just have the 4 corner ones. That was too bright for us so I cut the wires to the two LED's at the front edge of the dinette.
You would think ORV would at least put the 3 center LED's on a separate switch.

litzdog911 · 05-02-2021, 07:36 PM

Replace the switch with a dimmer switch. Not that hard. See my video ....
https://youtu.be/n80NxxL5n_c

BornToWander · 05-03-2021, 01:39 AM

I’ve been replacing the light switches with these dimmer switches: https://shop.atcomp.com/ah-sld-5-hs01 . The downside is that they need a real ground connection (not just the wire going to the light) but they don’t visibly pulse or flicker. Well, another downside is that they aren’t quite the same size faceplates so there’s at least an exposed screw hole (or worse if you get careless with the router or power saw, don’t ask). You can get them cheaper from discount vendors. And don’t try to hook them up live—pull that fuse while you work or you can ruin them. (Yeah again don’t ask how I know.

)

altaclipper · 05-03-2021, 09:44 AM

Thanks for the ideas and I hope there are more to come. Alas, doesn't appear there is any magic or easy way to do this, unfortunately. I had already watched the YouTube video several times and just cringed at the idea of trying to get a ground wire to 7 lights scattered all around the back end of the trailer. Trying to get between rafters, insulation, other wiring, ducting is just plain simple frustration to me. How easy it would have been, when building the trailer, to run one more wire! Who in their weird ORV wisdom would put 7 LED's in a small area, without either installing a dimmer, or putting them on two different switches! ORV, I can understand consumers likely asking for more light back there, but this is just a poorly executed screw-up. With each of these 'half-baked' ideas, we get more disappointed with ORV.

Now that I got that off my back (are you reading this ORV and I know you can't satisfy everyone all the time) I will eventually get so mad at this setup that I'll rip the ceiling panels off and do something about it. I just hate destroying a brand new trailer, as it won't go back together as well as the employees initially did the job in LaGrande.
Guess there is no easy resolution to my issue, other than leaving the lights off entirely.
Time to go take a valium now. Thanks folks, for your ideas so far. Hope others might have other alternatives also, before I tear this thing apart!

Cheers
Glen

litzdog911 · 05-03-2021, 10:36 AM

You don't need to get a ground wire to every LED light, just the first one. The trick is to figure out how the switch wiring runs to the first light and access a ground at the switch location. The rest of the lights are just connected together.

ktmoore · 05-03-2021, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by litzdog911

You don't need to get a ground wire to every LED light, just the first one. The trick is to figure out how the switch wiring runs to the first light and access a ground at the switch location. The rest of the lights are just connected together.

This is totally correct. I did this on one string of 3 lights over the couch on our F28RKS. Snaking from the switch to the first light with a ground should be quite easy.

BornToWander · 05-03-2021, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ktmoore

This is totally correct. I did this on one string of 3 lights over the couch on our F28RKS. Snaking from the switch to the first light with a ground should be quite easy.

You don’t even need to do that. The switch needs the ground, not the lamps. Over the slide both hot and ground pass by/through the switch, and of course there are plenty of ground possibilities by the rear door, though that’s a more complicated cut. I also snaked a ground from the thermostat to the switch in the hallway, and I’m thinking I can get one from the bathroom vent fan to the wall and down to the bedroom switch there (but haven’t tried that one yet). So I’m only halfway done with the four but so far the results are really nice.

ktmoore · 05-03-2021, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BornToWander

You don’t even need to do that. The switch needs the ground, not the lamps. Over the slide both hot and ground pass by/through the switch, and of course there are plenty of ground possibilities by the rear door, though that’s a more complicated cut. I also snaked a ground from the thermostat to the switch in the hallway, and I’m thinking I can get one from the bathroom vent fan to the wall and down to the bedroom switch there (but haven’t tried that one yet). So I’m only halfway done with the four but so far the results are really nice.

Agreed, a ground is a ground and does not matter where it comes from.

altaclipper · 05-04-2021, 09:56 AM

Thanks guys, for alleviating my concern and obvious frustration. I may have been unduly harsh on ORV, yet it still stands that at night, 7 LEDS either on or off is extreme. In the evening, all we really need is one minor light near the door or over the table, for ambiance and safety.
I can rip a photographic camera down to the last spring and screw, then reassemble it perfectly but as you can all tell, my knowledge and understanding of electricity in RV's is extremely limited and I struggle to comprehend some of these wiring issues. I have the 12V and 120V wiring schematics on hand for this model but for some reason, the 12V doesn't show any of this circuitry. That's why I asked you knowledgeable people and I thank you very much. I'm headed out the trailer this morning, to pull the switch again and make plans for the dimmer switch install. Once again, the IRV2 folks come through! Thanks again, guys.

Cheers
Glen

litzdog911 · 05-04-2021, 11:20 PM

Let us know how it goes.

fisher99 · 05-05-2021, 11:26 AM

I took a different approach and replaced the lights with ones that have individual on/off switches. Now we can have as many or as few turned on as the need dictates. The lights are still controlled with the main on/off switch, but we have individual light control as well.

altaclipper · 05-08-2021, 08:46 AM

Fisher99, thank you for mentioning an alternative. Very interesting and we have been discussing this as another alternative. I'm tending to like it even more than a full dimmer for all 7 lights. If you see this, would you mind perhaps a pic of what you selected and/or a source?
Cheers
Glen