Added some LED Lights

[BobandArlene]

I have a new 17BH.

There's a light over the dinette, which works great during the day, but at night, it's way too overpowering (bright) when I'm using my laptop.

The brightness, plus the fact that the light is shining (glaring) at my eyes was kind of annoying.

I found some small low profile surface mount lights that looked like a good solution. I tapped in to the wiring behind the stereo, where the wiring for the dinette light is, and added a switch for the new lights.

This is the lights I used, in warm white with a stainless trim ring:
http://www.ledtrailerlights.com/tecn...lho-x-area.htm

The switch is a large rocker switch from JR Products. I centered it in the panel above the stereo.

A brown switch would have matched the interior better, but I had a black one in my collection of stuff, so I used it rather than purchasing a brown one.

[BobandArlene]

Close up of the switch:

[BobandArlene]

My plan was to install 4 of the fixtures, but after taping one of them up and powering it on, I decided one over each bench would be sufficient.
After some trial runs of moving positioning of the lights, I settled on location slightly offset from being centered over the bench.

I also offset them from the center of the cabinet:

[BobandArlene]

[BobandArlene]

[mikakuja]

Nicely done! I actually like the black switch, matches the stereo and looks factory installed.

[BobandArlene]

More details:

The cavity between the cabinet panels is hollow, so it was easy to fish the wires through to the light on the right (the front section cabinet, to the right side of the stereo)

The left side was a different story because there was a piece of framing in the cabinet bottom. The framing prevented me from getting wire fished over to the left side of the stereo, so I drilled a few holes.

The red box represents the piece of framing, the blue lines show the holes I drilled inside the cabinet.

One hole goes from the stereo enclosure area to the aft cabinet, then a small home goes through the inside bottom of the aft cabinet, allowing access to the cavity between the inner and outer panels of the cabinet floor/bottom.

[BobandArlene]

Originally Posted by mikakuja

Nicely done! I actually like the black switch, matches the stereo and looks factory installed.

Good eye, it does match the stereo, and looks better in the regard now that you mention it.

I am a big fan of the JR Products rocker switches because they are big and easy to operate.

[BobandArlene]

The lights weren't cheap, but they are really nice, and made in the US, so that was a winner in my book.

[SidecarFlip]

Already have LED's inside but not outside (clearance lights and tail lights so I changed them all out with LED bulb refit's from superbright LED.... www.superbrightLED.com (I think)...

Applied some di-electric grease to each bulb base too.

[Tiguan Tow r]

BobandArlene:

Wow, I really like your mod, you did a very nice job and your writeup with pics is great. The normal 12v interior lights are so harsh.

[SidecarFlip]

LED's come in different shades of white (think that is what it called) so you can go from warm to harsh white...

[Kenrod]

Having a 17FQ I can really appreciate your setup.
I like that a lot and as previously mentioned the switch is perfect!

[DanoHB]

Very nice! I love LEDs.