Updates to our 1993 Concourse - Project Thread

[chin_k]

Hopefully there is very little parasitic draw on the electricity when the light is off. I will do some quick measurement when I got mine.

[ASaucyBurrito]

Hopefully there is very little parasitic draw on the electricity when the light is off. I will do some quick measurement when I got mine.

Agreed, let me know what you find out.

From what I saw, you should be able to program the remotes to independently control a single or multiple lights at the same time. I was thinking I would program one remote for all interior lights, and then keep the switches in place if I wanted to kick individual lights on/off. In that case even if parasitic draw is an issue, I could still kill them manually in a situation where it was a concern. What were your plans?

[chin_k]

I will need to see how the DC wiring is arranged, but my initial thought is to get one for the step/handle/rear light, and keep the remote with my key so I can turn it on when returning to the rig at night. There is a version with a key-fob that is more appropriate for the key ring.

For the second one, I will try to see if the main lights (ones down the middle) can be controlled with one remote. Hate to probing for the switch at night.... I may instead install night light (very dim type) near the floor and just leave it on all night. LED is ridiculously low power and long life if you do it properly.

As you can tell, I really have not think about it through yet, so it is just planning stage at this point.

[chin_k]

OK, the one with the credit card shaped remote arrived today, and I check the circuit, and unfortunately it control the light with the negative line. The positive is only used to power the controller, and just connect thru. It is still good if you just want to use it to control one light, however.

I think I can swap the polarity with two resistors and a transistor, but I am lazy, and will wait for the second unit to arrive and see if they do something different in the circuit design that will make my life easier.

[ASaucyBurrito]

I got my dimmers in the mail yesterday.

On the bench I measured the parasitic current at 6-7mA with 12VDC applied. Not bad. Cheap enough and with that current draw I am just going to install individual dimmers for each light and see how it works. Hoping that one remote can control multiple dimmers as I stated previously, I have not tried this yet.

Do note that these are just altering the PWM duty cycle to dim the lights, not regulating voltage. They operate at ~600hz. If you set lights to 100% brightness, you'll be giving full supply voltage to the LED's, no matter what that actually is. I suppose if you are very worried about it you could just dim them to 90% to reduce the current consumption when plugged into shore power. In reality I don't think it is really going to have a huge impact on the life considering my usage.

I'll update after I get some of these installed.

[kdarling]

The local junk yard was having a 40% off sale, so I picked up a new grill and headlights to try to spruce the front end up a bit. Total investment was $40 for these. I actually purchased both this style and the big chrome oval style. I think the dual Ford emblems look a bit silly, but I don't think it stands out too much. The oval style requires a different mount that I didn't snag, so it's this for now in any case.

Could customize one of the Ford emblems.

If you zoom in a bit on my front, you can see that I printed out "CHINOOK" on an oval drawing on vinyl printer sticker paper (though regular paper laminated would likely be okay too)... and wrapped it around the old emblem which I removed first.

Probably would be even better to cut out the same shape in flat plastic or wood.

[OutdoorGal]

Beautiful job ASaucyBurrito! I would appreciate hearing how well the subway tiles have held up now that they have been installed for almost a year. I like our kitchen area, but I am giving serious consideration to adding the subway tiles you linked to just to brighten up the walls and make the area look bigger. Thanks!

[ASaucyBurrito]

Beautiful job ASaucyBurrito! I would appreciate hearing how well the subway tiles have held up now that they have been installed for almost a year. I like our kitchen area, but I am giving serious consideration to adding the subway tiles you linked to just to brighten up the walls and make the area look bigger. Thanks!

Hey OutdoorGal,

I haven't been on this forum for a bit, sorry for the delay. The tiles have held up great. No issues with them coming unstuck from the walls, no peeling, etc. Still looking good so far.

I need to give this thread an update, lots of projects since then, hopefully I'll get around to it soon!

James

[OutdoorGal]

Hi ASaucyBurrito,

Thanks for sharing how your tiles have held up. I found a great clearance sale on a Smart Tiles pattern that will work well with our interior. I should have them installed soon and I will post pics. All your ideas, hard work and pics have been a real inspiration to me! Thanks again.