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Old 11-15-2018, 08:12 PM   #21
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Biggles607 Question too you... When you installed your blue LED's, you also mounted your led's to an angle iron !!! Wouldn't that make your light aim straight outward from there mounted position at the bottom curve of the skirt, more-so than a downward position had you mounted directly to the bottom of the skirt.. and I ask because I don't see your lights led's directly (those bright little buggers}when looking at your pictures, but more just the ambiance or the blue tone from them. I drew a picture which in my mind is how you installed yours, but the question that baffles me is would these little buggers be better positioned pointing straight down (directly to the ground) from bottom of skirt, or outward at 45 degree, or straight out call that 90 degree out from trailer'. Straight out, straight down, or somewhere in between. Sorry to be a pest, but it's winter, with snow and lots of spare time to fabricate everything in the shop now. Worst part is I don't have a light to take and practice with to experiment with but I do know where each will be placed and you'd have the best ideal as to position. .
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Old 11-15-2018, 08:34 PM   #22
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IF I would mount them, I would like them to be at the 45 or facing down.
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Old 11-16-2018, 04:41 PM   #23
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Hi AceallenK,

Your not in the slightest a nuisance, it's not problem to help a brother out, more an honor.

You're almost correct in your sketch, the only omission is the lowest edge of my 'skirt' has a right angle fold back up toward to chassis/frame. This means there is no sharp edge aimed downward.

My aluminum angle I used as a mount is attached on the inside of the 'skirt' and allows the LED cluster to face almost perfectly straight down.

I hope this clears it up a bit. I'll try and sketch it out for you.

John
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Old 11-16-2018, 07:20 PM   #24
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Now I got the picture, and your reason, and at the same time that makes it easy to accommodate the wires back of the light. My skirt is different as the edge folds back onto itself to create some strength and eliminate a sharp edge. So what I decided to do as of today is I will make a block from composite (Brown decking material) to create a 20 degree angle towards the outside, and make a space to allow the light wires to be folded to the side, out of sight over the skirt edge, to where I'll run my harness. I'm thinking to pre-install the blocks via nuts and bolts, then screw the light to the block. This will eliminate the weight of the block being supported by the light, which I suspect are not overly strong. End result is lights should be aprox 23 degree aiming outward rather than straight down, but I think that should still be probably ok. Worse come to worse, is chuck the blocks in the garbage can and fall into plan C. First plan went into the garbage can today as practice, plan B is the blocks, lol. Like I said earlier, no lights so guessing in the dark as to what angle to aim them, but what would be your best angle of attack for them , give or take a dozen beer and a jug for good measure in case someone looks,lol. 23 degree sound about right to you?? The block is rough measure with a groove in the center to allow the wires to slip out to the side, and don't have any made yet for exact measurements.
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Old 11-16-2018, 07:25 PM   #25
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Not sure why you want to install a block instead of just taping the lights directly to the bottom valence.
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Old 11-16-2018, 07:32 PM   #26
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I was thinking it might cast the blue glow just a little further outward by a couple feet maybe, Unfortunately I don't have a light to test my theory, and the city of Yorkton and Canada for that matter, you'd almost think LED's were just invented today,
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Old 11-17-2018, 06:30 AM   #27
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Aceallenk,


Here's how mine fit under the skirt.





I hope this helps.


John
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Old 11-17-2018, 08:37 AM   #28
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Nice graph of setup, handy. That explains why all a person sees from your pictures is the ambient glow from your LED's as there slightly hidden up and out of sight, rather than have to get them bright little buggers catching your eye. So in my case with the skirt like it is I'll mount directly to the skirt like Mark5w suggests, 2 screw holes and 1 larger for passage of the wires. Then to eliminate the LED in your face when stepping away 10 feet from the trailer, I'll just mount an angle alum in front of it. This angle aluminum will serve 2 purpose, on the back side of the skirt it will be my 2 anchor points for the harness also.
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Old 11-19-2018, 06:52 AM   #29
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Hello Awesome set up, can i ask you for a link where you got that led from ?
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Old 11-19-2018, 06:01 PM   #30
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Hello Z1 328SB

Here's the link to the ebay vendor I used with great satisfaction.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/5x-12V-6-LE....c100290.m3507

I hope you have a similar experience.

Best regards
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Old 12-12-2018, 03:56 PM   #31
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Well I got my LED's that I been so patiently waiting for. WOW those little fellows are bright especially if your looking directly at the LED's, so its plan B. Ambient light and going to mount them behind an angle iron. I certainly don't want to be looking at those everytime a person is 20 feet away or walking towards the trailer. Made everything up today using 5/8 angle, and siliconed (twice) where the wires enter at the backside. The rest of the project will be finished in the spring.
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Old 12-12-2018, 06:42 PM   #32
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Biggles607,,, I see your trailer is a 33' and you purchased 3 pack of 5 blue LED's. Did you mount all 15 fixtures along that one side of your trailer? My game-plan is 14 along the right side and another 6 along the left side, (30' trailer). I also did an Amp test and a string of 20 LED's won't exceed a half an Amp (.44A)
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Old 12-13-2018, 02:13 PM   #33
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Hi AceallenK, since we're being formal....Heehee.

I used only ten (10) along the kerbside, for no other reason than it worked out with the spacing.

I wanted a uniform glow so I drew all the obstructions, wheels cutouts stairs etc and the frame. Knowing I would be mounting one between the twin axles, I worked out the positioning from there, forwards and backwards. It turned out each is spaced about 33" +/- 1" for a total of 10.

I just realized how anal this sounds, I must have too much time on my hands.

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

John
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Old 12-13-2018, 02:22 PM   #34
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In case you're interested, I finally mounted two of the white 5 x LED units on the inside center frame of the upper and lower pantry cupboards. Powered by a dedicated 12V LED transformer hidden in what was the shore cable void below.

The lights are controlled by (normally closed) micro switches concealed on the top frame of the pantry. Whenever the doors are opened we get instant light into what was otherwise a gloomy pantry space.
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Old 12-13-2018, 03:53 PM   #35
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Thanks for that Biggles607. Up here in the prairies we just call that fussy, and I'm a true believer of it. IMO it don't matter if a 5 minute job takes 5 hours nor does it matter if I have to do it twice. I'm the one that looks at it, and I'm the one who gets to have the fun to do it right. When I go to turn on my light, i want them to work, BUT I also want them to work in 3 years down the road and not a string of lights dragging behind the trailer as were heading down the road, lol... No such thing as over-kill, just a little fussy.. Now-a-days in a throw away society it seems to many and too much is on the opposite side of the spectrum, sad actually. Enough horror stories to back that statement, right here with CrossRoads !!!
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Old 12-14-2018, 01:55 PM   #36
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Biggles607, is there a reason that you didn't use a longer string of LEDs? It seems with each connection, you have a higher potential for failure, so less strings equals higher reliability. Perhaps that light was only available in that length?
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Old 12-14-2018, 04:02 PM   #37
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Hi Wingerdinger,

The LED light units are a factory made cluster of 6 LED in a sealed lens mounted on a backplate, there are two wires coming out of the back. White (POS) and Black (NEG)

Once I'd planned the spacing, I was able to calculate how much wire I would need to connect all the white leads from the individual units in parallel. This way I was able to make the entire 'string' of LED light units on the bench. I soldered and heat shrink wrapped every connection so I'm pretty confident of the electrical integrity of the circuit.

All the black leads are connected to ground using one of the two mounting screws securing the LED unit to the tin skirt which in turn is grounded to the frame.

If I lose power to one of the lights, it should be easy to trace the fault and rectify it.

I hope this helps.

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Old 12-15-2018, 11:31 AM   #38
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AceAllenK, I love that term 'Fussy'. All too many things are designed and built poorly these days, with cost and profit taking the place of well made. If a person puts things together so they last, there is a certain pride. Some young people could learn from this.
Biggles607, it would be great to see some pictures of the final install from the underside. We can wait for better weather, hehe.
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Old 12-15-2018, 11:43 AM   #39
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It's always good weather down there where Biggles607 lives.
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Old 12-16-2018, 06:46 PM   #40
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Yeah Baby, that's why we live here....


I'll post some more photos soon.
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