briwy
Super Poster
VIP Member
The standard LED light in the rear is a bit dim and fairly useless for reading when sleeping downstairs so I decided to fit an LED strip across the back.
Straightforward but a bit fiddly.
First remove the light assembly, this is held in with a plastic tag each end which need to be pushed in and then the light can be pulled downwards out of the hole. T get more room I took out one of the trim connectors which allows the trim to be pulled down to ease access. A lump of wood placed between the trim and the roof holds it down to enable getting your hand in.
I then removed the plug from the light unit and extended the wires which makes it easier to work on.
The power to the LED strip comes off the switch terminal and I used a standard spade connector squeezed a bit to make it a tight fit on the terminal.
The negative to the LEDs is just connected into the negative wire using a small terminal block. This way it can easily be disconnected if required.
The LED strip is self adhesive but I found it needed a few dabs of Evostick to make it stay on firmly.
We now have some decent light in the rear.
All the wiring joints are soldered and protected with heat shrink tube. About a hours work, total cost around a tenner.
If you wanted to get really adventurous you could fit multicolured LEDs and dimmer.
Edit
One thing I should have mentioned is don't try to use Scotchlok connectors to connect the -ve or extend the cables. I tried and they cut the wire, looks OK but cut through the actual wire. Spent about an hour playing with fuses, multimeters etc before I found the problem.
Straightforward but a bit fiddly.
First remove the light assembly, this is held in with a plastic tag each end which need to be pushed in and then the light can be pulled downwards out of the hole. T get more room I took out one of the trim connectors which allows the trim to be pulled down to ease access. A lump of wood placed between the trim and the roof holds it down to enable getting your hand in.
I then removed the plug from the light unit and extended the wires which makes it easier to work on.
The power to the LED strip comes off the switch terminal and I used a standard spade connector squeezed a bit to make it a tight fit on the terminal.
The negative to the LEDs is just connected into the negative wire using a small terminal block. This way it can easily be disconnected if required.
The LED strip is self adhesive but I found it needed a few dabs of Evostick to make it stay on firmly.
We now have some decent light in the rear.
All the wiring joints are soldered and protected with heat shrink tube. About a hours work, total cost around a tenner.
If you wanted to get really adventurous you could fit multicolured LEDs and dimmer.
Edit
One thing I should have mentioned is don't try to use Scotchlok connectors to connect the -ve or extend the cables. I tried and they cut the wire, looks OK but cut through the actual wire. Spent about an hour playing with fuses, multimeters etc before I found the problem.
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