New interior light and valance

WilliamA

I enjoy my trailer and applaud the factory efforts to keep things fresh but have a number of areas that need some tuning to get my own signature into it.
One of the things I've not been excited about is the lighting arena. The overhead lights are pretty harsh and while they work well for making the bed and cleaning, are far too bright for ambient light. I've been mulling over the addition of more light for just hanging around and reading or watching movies. I put together a valance with led strips for a backlight. It'll go on the ceiling where the trim strip goes across from window to window, right behind the ceiling fan opening. It will tap into 12 volt power for the overhead lights.

Here's what I've got fabbed up:

I used a strip of finish lumber (pine) with pre sanded and smoothed corners. I got a patriot 116 inch led strip with controller and glued it to the back. I'll mount it so the light shines up onto the ceiling.

The white box there is the receiver/power supply for the led's. There are three wires. The black one is 12v in, one white for power out to the led's, the other short one with the black end is the antenna that reads the wireless signal from the handheld controller.

Just need to take care of a few mounting details. I'll post a photo or two when I get it installed.

WilliamA

LuckyJ

Nice work, should look good.

You did not have the two reading light in the front corner, or were they to bright as well?

The only time we use the main interior light is for set-up, to search things when we get angry not finding what we want. We use the front corner light for averything else. White to read, blue for ambience.

TomD

I covered the interior lights inside with cut out pucks from Manila envelopes. Totally toned down the light. 0$

mgreen2

I have a 2017 model with the 2 different power levels for the reading light. Find that is does really well for ambviant lighting when on low

WilliamA

Well, I dug around for some wood stain today. Found a mostly petrified, mostly empty can in the garage. I took the lid off, chopped a hole in the rubber membrane of coagulation and found a wet spot at the bottom. I smeared some on my valance and have it looking nice. I also drilled and countersunk the mounting holes. The next time I get to town I'll pick up some brass wood screws and spacers so I can install it. I'll post a pic when I get that far...

WilliamA

WilliamA

I put up my valance this morning. It seems to work very well and looks nice. I really like the additional light without the in your face aspect.

Due to the panoramic camera effect, the photo looks like a fish-eye but you get the idea.

WilliamA

LuckyJ

Nice!

Michigan_Mike

Really gives it s nice, soft lighting effect in the trailer without any glare.

Awesome!

WilliamA

I finally got around to braving the elements and went out to hardwire my new valance. It seems the older I get, the more the elements work against my work schedule. I turned on the furnace in the trailer and went into the house to make some coffee, putzed around for a bit and then went out to a nice warm work environment inside the trailer. I pulled the switch panel for the overhead/porch lights and worked to fish enough wire down to work with.
I didn't need to install a separate switch for the valance as it has a remote wireless controller for on/off, light colors and dimmer but as it's wireless, the receiver is always looking for a signal as long as there is power supplied and I wanted to be able to turn it off when the trailer is sitting idle for any length of time. The voltage draw is tiny (too small to measure with my cheapo multimeter) but I wanted to eliminate even that small draw. In any case, the led light kit came with a switch in-line so I just used it. I shortened the end of the wire from the switch to the receiver first. I drilled a small hole in the ceiling and pulled the wire up from the valance switch and over to the overhead light switch, then tapped in my ground and hot wires. After much testing with a multimeter to make sure things were tidy and current-correct for pos and neg, I put everything back together. I stuck the valance switch to the ceiling with double-sided 3m tape.

The tiny black square just to the right of the switch next to the valance is the head for the receiver antenna. I left just enough sticking out so the transmitter could "see" it. I stuck the remote controller on the wall next to the cup holder on "my side" (curb side) of the trailer with hook and loop tape so it's easy to access and can be moved if I decide to.

It's all sewn up and working great. The valance is nice and tight and seems secure.
I really like the additional ambient light. I'm not sure about the woodgrain on the valance and may opt to paint it white this spring but for now it's all done.

WilliamA