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Old 05-30-2015, 05:51 AM   #1
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Adding a remote control dimmer to your awning LED lights

When we purchased our new Starcraft TT, I was looking forward to using the new LED lights mounted to the outside wall just underneath the awning. The first time I used them the whole family said WOW, we don’t need to light up the whole neighborhood! We need lights for both tasks and atmosphere, so why not install a dimmer. Dimming LED lights often takes a different type of dimmer than a resistance type rheostat switch that you use in your house. They need a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) dimmer. Think of turning a switch on and off really fast so only part of the voltage gets to the lights, this dims the lights. Changing the on and off time brightens or dims the lights.




To dim the LED light strip I ordered this off Amazon.

LEDENET® Wireless Remote LED Dimmer RF PWM Dimming Controller Control DC 12-24V 20A for 5050 3528 Single Color LED Strip Lighting - - Amazon.com
It is a PWM dimmer with a remote.



I planned to mount this behind the electrical switch panel just inside the door of the trailer. After mounting it and wiring it into the circuit, it wouldn’t work. I found that my ground was the problem. The switch has 4 terminals. Positive and negative inputs (voltage supply) and positive and negative outputs (LED light strip side). I found that the negative coming from the LED light strip has to be a single dedicated wire going to the lights. I won’t work any other way. This ruled out mounting it behind the switch panel, as the ground wires there are common with many other circuits.
I admitted defeat and decided to mount the dimmer in a box on the outside of the trailer, I purchased a small plastic electrical box and waterproof cover at my local home store, cut down the cover to the same size as the box, used a Dremel tool to slightly enlarge the box so the dimmer would fit. I still had to remove the mounting brackets from the dimmer to get it to fit in the box (they just unscrew). I then put double sided tape on the back of the box, leaving the protective strip on the outside of the tape. I then painted the box and cover with black paint for plastic surfaces. I drilled a hole in the side of the box to run the wires into. I then attached the box to the side of the trailer right where the red and black wires exited the awing track and went to the lights. I cut the red and black wires leaving enough length to run the wires from the lights to the connections on the dimmer. I installed eye terminals on the ends of the wires, ran them through the hole in the box and connected to the dimmer output terminals. To connect the incoming power wires to the dimmer I had to lengthen them about 6”. I used un-insulated butt splices, coated the connections with liquid electrical tape, and then put heat shrink tubing over the splices. Whatever you do the splice must be waterproof. I then put eye terminals on the wires, ran the wires through the hole in the box and connected to the supply terminals of the dimmer. I then sealed the wire entry hole in the box with black silicone, and installed the cover.
The install looks neater in person than in the belowpicture.



To operate the lights you must first turn on the power switch located on the trailers electrical panel, just as you always would. This powers up the dimmer. You can now turn the lights on or off using the power switch on the remote. You can dim or brighten the lights by clicking or holding the up or down arrows on the remote. It appears so far that the remote remembers the last setting when you turn the lights on and off with the switch in the TT's switch panel. So far the remote has worked from about 20’ away. I haven’t tried it from any further. I elected to use double sided tape and attach the remote to the door covering all my switches. The remote control does NOT come with a battery, so you have to go buy one.


The white remote on the left is for dimming the inside LED lights. More on that in a later post.

Video of light operation
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Old 05-30-2015, 07:51 AM   #2
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Very nice work. Would one of the modules you used for inside work on the outside?
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Old 05-30-2015, 08:03 AM   #3
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Thanks for the thorough explanation and photos.
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Old 05-30-2015, 08:22 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Filthy-Beast View Post
Very nice work. Would one of the modules you used for inside work on the outside?
Yes, and it would be a much easier, neater install. You could just wire it in and cover the whole thing in heat shrink tubing. I could have done that, but I had already installed that system on the interior lights and they would have operated one the same frequency.

Link to dimmer:
Amazon.com: Lerway Mini LED Controller Dimmer with RF Wireless Remote Control DC 5~24V 12A R106: Musical Instruments
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Old 05-31-2015, 09:07 AM   #5
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Thanks for the write up. But can you explain why it wouldn't work behind the switch? I'm having a hard time picturing this. Do your LEDs only have one wire? Wonder if it's the same on Jayco?
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Old 05-31-2015, 03:05 PM   #6
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Thanks for the write up. But can you explain why it wouldn't work behind the switch? I'm having a hard time picturing this. Do your LEDs only have one wire? Wonder if it's the same on Jayco?
Most PWM voltage control devices use the negative lead to vary the voltage, therefore you need a dedicated ground wire directly from the light you are trying to dim.

The easist dimmer would be the one I listed here, only 4 wires to connect, and no box to mount the device in, just some waterproofing. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It is very small in size. Of course you need access to the wiring on the exterior of your trailer, or access right where the wiring harness enters the interior. Being that they are RF transmitters, you don't have to be in sight of or point at the receiver like you do your TV set.
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Old 05-31-2015, 03:22 PM   #7
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Got it! Thank you.
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Old 05-31-2015, 03:42 PM   #8
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Adding a remote control dimmer to your awning LED lights

Would this work? JACKYLED PWM Dimming Controller For LED Lights or Ribbon, 12 Volt 8 Amp, 3301 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003L4KKF2..._b83Avb1DCH2AC
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003L4KKF2..._b83Avb1DCH2AC or would this be like the 1st dimmer you bought?
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Old 05-31-2015, 03:54 PM   #9
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Adding a remote control dimmer to your awning LED lights

Click image for larger version

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ID:	18352I just pulled a access cover in my closet and have full access. Nice! Not real interested in a remote control. So I'm trying to figure out the easiest dimmer.
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Old 05-31-2015, 04:10 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iplumb View Post
Would this work? JACKYLED PWM Dimming Controller For LED Lights or Ribbon, 12 Volt 8 Amp, 3301 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003L4KKF2..._b83Avb1DCH2AC
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003L4KKF2..._b83Avb1DCH2AC or would this be like the 1st dimmer you bought?
Yes this one should work just fine. Just need access to the knob to adjust.
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Old 06-01-2015, 07:53 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tslarson View Post
Most PWM voltage control devices use the negative lead to vary the voltage, therefore you need a dedicated ground wire directly from the light you are trying to dim.

The easist dimmer would be the one I listed here, only 4 wires to connect, and no box to mount the device in, just some waterproofing. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It is very small in size. Of course you need access to the wiring on the exterior of your trailer, or access right where the wiring harness enters the interior. Being that they are RF transmitters, you don't have to be in sight of or point at the receiver like you do your TV set.
For this dimmer, is the control module water proof? So if I installed it, could I just waterproof the splices and be done with it? Or would I have to waterproof the actual dimmer module too?
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Old 06-03-2015, 03:53 PM   #12
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Worked! Just hope it keeps working....Click image for larger version

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ID:	18398Appreciate the help.
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Old 06-29-2015, 12:50 PM   #13
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Quote:
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Very nice work. Would one of the modules you used for inside work on the outside?
Quote:
Originally Posted by tslarson View Post
Yes, and it would be a much easier, neater install. You could just wire it in and cover the whole thing in heat shrink tubing. I could have done that, but I had already installed that system on the interior lights and they would have operated one the same frequency.

Link to dimmer:
Amazon.com: Lerway Mini LED Controller Dimmer with RF Wireless Remote Control DC 5~24V 12A R106: Musical Instruments
I just got around to doing this mod.

the ends of the shrink wrap around the module are open and you can see the circuit board, so I added some silicone caulk in there.



There is a track cover that when removed exposes and nice length of wire lead going to the LEDs. I off set the butt connectors so I could use a smaller diameter shrink wrap and fit them into the track.



All wired up.



Here you can see the smaller shrink wrap over the wires and connectors and then a larger size over the module and ends of the smaller shrink wraps.




Works great, remote not real strong so you have to be outside with it. The other nice thing is it remembers the last level it was set at, so you can use the inside switch to power off the LEDs and when switched back on it goes to the last setting and you'll only need the remote to change the level of output.
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Old 06-29-2015, 03:09 PM   #14
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I just got around to doing this mod.

the ends of the shrink wrap around the module are open and you can see the circuit board, so I added some silicone caulk in there.



There is a track cover that when removed exposes and nice length of wire lead going to the LEDs. I off set the butt connectors so I could use a smaller diameter shrink wrap and fit them into the track.



All wired up.



Here you can see the smaller shrink wrap over the wires and connectors and then a larger size over the module and ends of the smaller shrink wraps.




Works great, remote not real strong so you have to be outside with it. The other nice thing is it remembers the last level it was set at, so you can use the inside switch to power off the LEDs and when switched back on it goes to the last setting and you'll only need the remote to change the level of output.
This is exactly what I'm working on. I just got "waterproof" butt splice connectors to use for mine. I put some flexible outdoor adhesive in the ends of the module and then put some heat shrink over that. My plan is to connect the module in much the same manner as you, and cover the whole thing with another layer of heat shrink.

I'm wondering though: how did you get it to sit in the channel? Did you put a couple spots of glue or silicone or something? Or did you just depend on the wire tension and let it hang up there. I will want to secure it so it doesn't move around.

Also, I don't have quite as much space as you do, so my install has to be much more compact... I'll put up some pics of my own whenever I get around to installing the final product.
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Old 06-29-2015, 10:16 PM   #15
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I wanted to use the but connectors I use on my jeep but ran out. They are heat shrink covers with solder and adhesive inside, but this was all I could find in the little town near where we are camping.

http://www.amazon.com/Shrink-Solder-...JWCN993670K90C

Tension holds, but I doubt it would driving. I cut the cover that was over the wires to into to two smaller pieces and put it over the wires and up to the module. sorry no pic of that. that cover snaps on the outside edge of the track. I did have to cut down the inside rails so that the cover was flat.

If that doesn't hold I'll use some adhesive.
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Old 06-29-2015, 10:20 PM   #16
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Here's a crappy night shot

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Old 06-30-2015, 05:27 AM   #17
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GREAT INFO. I went down the road already trying to use the resistor method. Then I learned about changing the pulse width...

I have a couple of similar applications to do here...

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Old 06-30-2015, 07:30 AM   #18
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Wouldn't it be easier to put this at the on/off switch behind the switch panel?
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Old 06-30-2015, 07:48 AM   #19
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Wouldn't it be easier to put this at the on/off switch behind the switch panel?
That has been tried and does not work, because the LED dimmer requires a PWM dimmer - not a rheostat - and also requires it be hooked up with only the ground wire from the LED strip. The switch in the switch panel shares a common ground with about 4 other switches. It was tried there and did not work. he explains that earlier in this thread.
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Old 06-30-2015, 07:48 AM   #20
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Wouldn't it be easier to put this at the on/off switch behind the switch panel?
Yes, but it won't work. The switch behind the panel uses a common ground. The dimmer works on "Pulse Width Modulation" or "PWM" which requires the dimmer switch to be wired directly to the pos and neg leads to the light. So you have to find the red and black wires that go directly to the light and wire your switch in that line somewhere. For my trailer, that's easily accomplished outside where there is some wire exposed before it runs into the trailer with the power awning leads.

Edit: Scoutr beat me to it!
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