Home› Battery/Electrical & Solar

LED Light Installed Inside Tub Lid

BrianZBrianZ Member Posts: 1,765
edited April 2019 in Battery/Electrical & Solar
First, thanks to the exterior lighting discussion where @klenger mentioned installing a light inside his tool bin (see http://tabforum.nucamprv.com/#/discussion/comment/113657), I realized how useful that could be for accessing tongue bins when it's dark outside.

So, here's my install details, with a parts list at the bottom..

I already had a switch leftover from the pair ordered for the television (see http://tabforum.nucamprv.com/#/discussion/6582/blue-television-light), so I only needed to order the light & an extension cable with connectors to match the switch ..

My plan was to cut the 3-ft cable in half, for connecting one half from switch to light, and the other half from switch to battery..

And one more part was needed - an inline fuse holder (see red wire above) to fit between the battery & the rest of the circuit, which I got from a local auto parts store.  I already had supplies of connectors, heat shrink tubing, & soldering gear to make connections for this wiring harness.  Above you can see the small plastic cable hanger clips I added to each side of the switch cable for mounting.

I chose this 4-inch 6 LED light, figuring it would provide adequate light at minimum power consumption (reportedly 80 milliamps or 0.96 watts).  Plus, all of the electronic components are embedded in epoxy, so waterproof.  I had some spare stainless bolts that fit the holes just right, but I had to file down two parallel sides of the bolt head to fit between the plastic walls of the fixture.  

The surface mount underside has a nice rubber base that grips well & protects wires.  I extended my heat-shrink tubing for an inch or so inside the rubber fitting, and wires are soldered to the cut end of the cable & mended with heat-shrink tubing.

I mounted the switch on the inside of the tub where it would be easy to reach by feel in the dark, and supported the cables using 3M Command Outdoor Light Clips.  This location is close to my bus bar junction box where the wires are connected to 12V power.

Arrow shows the newly added 4th fuse.  Since it was already getting a bit crowded in there, I used a mini-fuse holder (or "ATM" type) instead of the standard ATC type fuse.  To avoid having to carry two different sized sets of fuses, I would not recommend these if space is not an issue. It's a bit smaller, but not a huge difference.  I added split loom to this cable from outside the box to where the connector attaches to the switch connector.

View of switch looking into the tub.  After taking this photo, I added some electrical tape around the joint between both pairs of connectors to make them more water resistant.  I  did not see an IP rating for the switch itself, but it seems fairly tightly made.  At least it's tucked up under the lid where I hope it won't get much exposure to water.
Flip the rocker switch and..

We have light!
I figure that by angling the lid down a bit, it should light both the inside of the tub, plus the new storage container I recently added between tub & jack post.  With the lid partially closed, the lip should block light from shining directly in our eyes.  Still need to test in the dark.

Parts:

Light: 
Partsam 4" Ultra-Thin-Line LED Utility Light Bar 6Diode Sealed Clear Lens White 12V https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014IJ6OCG

Switch:
ANVISION 2-pack Black Male to Female DC Power Inline Cable with On Off Switch 5.5x2.1mm, No Need Soldering https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D66D9PM

Extension cable:
Eleidgs 2PCS 1 Meter 2.1mm x 5.5mm DC 12V Adapter Cable DC Plug Extension Cable Male to Female Black, For LED, CCTV, Car, Monitors, and more (3.3ft) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M6C24XG

Clips:
https://www.command.com/3M/en_US/command/products/~/?N=5924736+3294277839+3294529207+3294857497&rt=rud

Fuse Holder:
From local auto parts or hardware store.

Split Loom:
20 FT 1/4" INCH Split Loom Tubing Wire Conduit Hose Cover Auto Home Marine BlackMarine Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KW9RHYG

-Brian in Chester, Virginia
TV: 2005 Toyota Sienna LE (3.3L V6)
RV: 2018 T@B 320S, >100 mods 
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Share on Google+

Comments

Sign In or Register to comment.