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Old 04-18-2011, 06:17 PM   #1
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Bigfoot Interior Lighting Mods

In our 1991 Bigfoot 17 we have
  • Added reading lights over the dinette and gaucho
  • Replaced dinette fixture with Circleline round fluorescent
  • Added fluorescent fixture over galley
  • replaced range hood incandescent with twin 48-LED lights
Attached Thumbnails
Reading light closeup.jpg   Reading lights over gaucho.jpg  

Reading lights Circleline dinette.jpg   Fluorescent over galley.jpg  

LEDs in range hood.jpg  
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Old 04-18-2011, 06:48 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim D. View Post
In our 1991 Bigfoot 17 we have
  • Added reading lights over the dinette and gaucho
  • Replaced dinette fixture with Circleline round fluorescent
  • Added fluorescent fixture over galley
  • replaced range hood incandescent with twin 48-LED lights
I'm curious, why not leds in the reading lamps?
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Old 04-18-2011, 07:08 PM   #3
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Good question. The LEDs for the range hood I already had. The incandescent fixtures were just $5 each at a RV supplies liquidator, and I already had a dozen replacement lamps on hand. Generally solar power provides all of the electricity we need, so I was not so concerned about the power savings LEDs provide.

Color temperature had something to do with the decision as well. Most of the LEDs I've seen do not produce what I would call a soothing light. Interestingly, the nicest light in the cabin comes from the galley combination of the LEDs, the stock incandescent fixture, and the fluorescent tube [cool white]. We like to run all three when our state of charge will allow, which at this time of year in our current location [Arizona desert] is all the time.
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I'm curious, why not leds in the reading lamps?
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Old 07-02-2011, 03:18 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim D. View Post
In our 1991 Bigfoot 17 we have
  • Added reading lights over the dinette and gaucho
  • Replaced dinette fixture with Circleline round fluorescent
  • Added fluorescent fixture over galley
  • replaced range hood incandescent with twin 48-LED lights
How did you get power to the new lights.

I would like to add a reading light in the Gaucho couch area. I sleep with my head close to the rear window.
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Old 07-05-2011, 06:43 PM   #5
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Wiring to Bigfoot Gaucho

Jane,

You could tap in to the power for the dinette overhead light or the aft overhead light. Because of the ensolite insolation between the ceiling paneling and the roof we found it easier to tap into the dinette light.

Wire was run across the over-dinette storage from the dinette light, on the bottom close to the storage door opening. From there it goes along the port wall at the wall-ceiling interface. There is a removable trim panel near the dinette storage. Then fish tape was used to get the wire behind the paneling over the entry door and into the over-gaucho storage. From there it was run along the bottom back of the over-gaucho storage then to the desired locations for the lights. We just drilled through the bottom of the gaucho storage compartment to feed the wire to the fixtures, then screwed the fixtures to the compartment. Note that our fixtures were too deep to flush mount in the 1 1/2" or so gap between the bottom of the storage compartment and the paneling that faces the gaucho cushions. HandyBob, our wonder of an installer, very quickly made attractive wood shims to allow a professional looking install.

If you are going to run 12v back to the gaucho you may want to consider installing a 12v receptacle there as well. We find it quite handy. We have one just at the pass-through and another flush mounted against the closet. The wire for the closet receptacle came from the port side dinette base, where all of our electronics are, through the outside refrigerator access panel, behind the galley, around the bathroom unit, and then into the closed from below. Sounds like a lot but only took HandyBob 15 or 20 minutes. I would take 2 or 3 hours.
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