Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-14-2016, 12:56 PM   #1
from Cali
 
RV Pilot's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 99
Awning lights and toggle panel

Hi guys, I'm not sure what forest river was thinking when they wired the awning lights to the running lights (headlight LEDs and halo). It kind of makes it unusable for a patio light use. I don't know about you but I don't want to sit around wasting electricity and having people think I left my lights on. Has anyone considered or changed it to separate the two?

Also I'm not sure if this is correct on all FR3's but my toggles in the front panel do not eliminate when my headlights are on. This makes it impossible to see any of the switches while driving at night including the fog lights. Seems like a huge safety hazard. Has anyone else been frustrated with this?


2015 FR3 30DS
Central Coast of California
__________________
______________________
2015 FR3 30DS
2014 Jeep Rubicon X
Central Coast of California
RV Pilot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2016, 01:26 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: North Idaho
Posts: 104
I think it must be a factory (defect) miswiring. Our awning, not a motorhome, has a separate switch just for the awning on the main switch panel. I can't think of any reason to have the awning light connected with the running lights while rolling down the road. As you said, kinda defeats the purpose!
Probably fixable if you are up to it, if too large a task a dealer is the option.
Tdbrn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2016, 05:24 PM   #3
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 11
My FR3 is wired the same way, I did think that is was funny to set it up like that. If you figure out how to do it let us know so we don't have to reinvent the wheel.


Thanks
punkutsu is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2016, 08:11 PM   #4
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Ocala Fl
Posts: 48
Saw somewhere on this thread a while back that a few owners did some thing to correct this. I have the same issue with my fr3 also. 2015 model. I pulled my panel off an saw 4 wires attached to the switch, was scared to cut though. Maybe theres a owner that can chime in an help us out. Camping World here in Fl. wont help, they say it would be a warranty issue if something goes wrong down the line.
jogalot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2016, 04:21 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
Posts: 833
Pull 4 wires off the switch and measure voltage if any......If +12v it is a feed line & tie voltage point........If other switch terminal has +12v that is feed side.........If yes now trace the 4 feed wires to determine what is controled thru switch
Jim in Halifax is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2016, 06:11 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Antone's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Yorba Linda, CA
Posts: 275
On my to do list...hope I did this right...

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ad.php?t=91621


Antone

2015 Forest River FR3 30DS - No Ragrets

Toad - 2011 Jeep Wrangler
Antone is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2016, 03:00 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
vacationlovers's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
Posts: 156
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tdbrn View Post
I think it must be a factory (defect) miswiring.
It wasn't a mis-wire; it was just a dumb decision by Forest River. But they got enough complaints that they fixed it in the 2016 models. There are now separate switches for the two sets of lights.
__________________
2016 FR3 30DS
Thousand Oaks, CA
RV Trip Photos
vacationlovers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2016, 04:04 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Kadiddle's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 138
I made a change. I put a toggle switch to the left of the Awning/Battery panel at the bottom of the pantry. Behind, I tapped the awning power feed for 12VDC. I traced the LED wires down the awning right mount, through the wall, and under the coach to find the hot wire going to the awning lights. With this wire in hand under the stairs, I cut the feed that comes from the dash, spliced in a wire that went through the bundle of wires under the pantry floor to the other side of the switch mentioned above.

Now the dash switch does the front halo LEDs and the new switch does just the awning. Glad to hear they woke up for 2016. The link above by Antone is an easier solution to install but a slightly longer reach to activate.
__________________
2015 FR3 30DS
2010 Ford Escape Toad -or- 2012 Ford Focus Toad
Kadiddle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2016, 02:41 AM   #9
Member
 
Landshark1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 45
Quote:
Originally Posted by RV Pilot View Post
Hi guys, I'm not sure what forest river was thinking when they wired the awning lights to the running lights (headlight LEDs and halo). It kind of makes it unusable for a patio light use. I don't know about you but I don't want to sit around wasting electricity and having people think I left my lights on. Has anyone considered or changed it to separate the two?

Also I'm not sure if this is correct on all FR3's but my toggles in the front panel do not eliminate when my headlights are on. This makes it impossible to see any of the switches while driving at night including the fog lights. Seems like a huge safety hazard. Has anyone else been frustrated with this?


2015 FR3 30DS
Central Coast of California

I rewired the LED's in the front to turn on with the headlights, and now the switch on the dash controls the awning lights only. It's much better this way!

Cut the connection that goes to the dash (It's the grey wire). Then hook the LED's up to the parking light circuit. The parking lights go on when you turn on the parking lights or headlights switch, so the LED's turn on the same way. Here are some pictures to illustrate.

Good luck, I hope this helps!


Name:   ImageUploadedByForest River Forums1453102593.245745.jpg
Views: 775
Size:  73.8 KB

Name:   ImageUploadedByForest River Forums1453102609.202625.jpg
Views: 768
Size:  73.8 KB

Name:   ImageUploadedByForest River Forums1453102619.222936.jpg
Views: 792
Size:  71.2 KB
Landshark1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2016, 05:50 PM   #10
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Ocala Fl
Posts: 48
Landshark1 Did u do that on a fr3 model? I have a 2015 25ft fr3 but I can not seem to locate any wiring like your pics. I like the idea.
jogalot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2016, 06:05 PM   #11
Member
 
Landshark1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 45
Awning lights and toggle panel

Quote:
Originally Posted by jogalot View Post
Landshark1 Did u do that on a fr3 model? I have a 2015 25ft fr3 but I can not seem to locate any wiring like your pics. I like the idea.

Yes, I have the 2015 FR3 30DS. The wiring is in the front of rig.
Landshark1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-21-2016, 07:43 PM   #12
Junior Member
 
maceman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 10
Remote control awning lights w/ dimmer

Hey all
Just to pass along my solution to this awning light control. I too (2015 FR3 30ds) was disappointed with the dual connected front led lights and awning lights and after tracing wires in dash, decided on a simple solution with a dimming feature benefit.
Link below.

PWM 12V Remote Dimmer

The (2) wires for the awning lights exits the chasis just below the floor (inside black wire loom) under the small black plastic cover just behind the passenger front seat. They run over to the battery.
I spliced in a waterproof in-line fuse leading from the battery to the remote box, capped off the end that did lead to the dash switch and connected the positive/negatives into and outgoing.

I mounted the remote sender to the side of the frame (forward of the battery) with wire strap and heavy duty velcro.

Another beautiful feature of the remote is when we go for walks and come back after dark (especially while dry camping) I can turn on the lights from a distance of about 30-50 yards and light up our site (making sure no slithery creatures have made camp on our outside rug).

I will try and add some photos of the install and locations if needed to help out.

Note: They do sell a waterproof version of this remote system, however I did not originally buy this. I used clear silicone (very liberally) inside and out of the remote sender box and terminals and have since been through numerous rain storms since last march (7500 miles) with no issues, however I would recommend a waterproof model so the install would not have to be done ever again.

Be safe and enjoy.
maceman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-21-2016, 08:34 PM   #13
Kanadian Kamper
 
kenandterry's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Southern Ontario
Posts: 8,129
Having your awning lights on while driving down the road at night is probably not legal in most states and provinces.

Gotta be wired wrong.
__________________

Ken and Terry
2018 Sunseeker 2430S-CD, nicely modified and carried by a 2017 Ford E450 Sport
Former Georgetown 330TS owner for 10 years with more mods than I can count, pushed by our 2017 GMC Terrain
kenandterry is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-21-2016, 09:51 PM   #14
from Cali
 
RV Pilot's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 99
I don't think anyone is driving down the road with their awning light on unless they forget to turn the toggle switch off at some point. You may have misunderstood the situation. The driving lights do not turn on the awning light, the awning light turns on the LEDs around the headlights.

My plan is (when I get around to rewiring mine) is to put a separate new switch in for the awning light near the door as some have done. I'm planning on attempting to using the old wires coming from the toggle in the panel to light some extra lights around the outside of the coach. I don't know about you guys but most of the time it seems I arrive at my destination and it's inevitably close to dark. It would sure be nice to have some extra lights around the outside to park, level and/or hookup.

Thoughts?


2015 FR3 30DS
Central Coast of California
__________________
______________________
2015 FR3 30DS
2014 Jeep Rubicon X
Central Coast of California
RV Pilot is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
awning, light

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:32 PM.