Entry Lights

[Jerry Winchester]

The steps on our entry way are lined with, dare I say it, what look like LED lights in some kind of plastic rope looking thing.

My wife weighs about 300 pounds and I think her big honkin feet have snuffed out some of these lights and now several of them are dead and now our entry looks like we are from Baja Oklahoma.

I have seen lots of coaches with these same lights (a Liberty must have 100' of them), so has anyone replaced these lights and if so where do you get them and how hard are they to replace?

[dalej]

We had a couple of lights burned out when we bought our coach. So I had to replace a few. We had taken some of the rope lighting out around the kitchen when we tiled the back splash so now we have a section of spare bulbs. If you can't find any replacement bulbs let me know how many I can send down south.

Replacing them isn't hard, you have to find the end and un-hook that section and pull the bulbs all out. They are soldered to bare wires so just unsolded the bad one and replace with another bulb.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

They are called (by Liberty) Tivoli lighting. I call them rope lights.

I think you can buy them in lengths, but never really checked into it. The ones in our Liberty were a rigid plastic as opposed to the flexible rope lights you can get at Lowes or Home Depot. I don't think they are LEDs.

I'll bet you can find them in a search on the internet or by calling a converter.

I'm surprised you aren't doing step lighting like Mango is doing with his Martini bar, with lights buried in the surface of the steps so they glow. He did his with fiber optics and other engineering marvels.

[MangoMike]

Jerry,

Home Depot has the flexible rope lighting for about $20, my guess it's the same bulbs as used in Liberty's hard plastic Tivolis. And for $20 it's worth a shot.

Or try these guys as I've used them in the past for a lot of lighting.

www.actionlighting.com.

Mrs. Mango wasn't happy about your comment about Rae's poundage and is searching for her email address - just a heads up.



Mike

[lewpopp]

If I'm not mistaken, I think they are 12v. I jut finished my entrance and the rope lites and it's neat. I would like the automatic switch in the front wall of the entrance to work but I guess I need a new one. It's in a very percarious location. Where are the switches available?

[lewpopp]

If I'm not mistaken, I think they are 12v. I jut finished my entrance and the rope lites and it's neat. I would like the automatic switch in the front wall of the entrance to work but I guess I need a new one. It's in a very percarious location. Where are the switches available?

I was told at Parliament the wires in the flexible rope are coated. I was wondering how the current was carried the way it lok as though there was no insulation. Rather than solder new lites in where the old ones are out, I would buy a piece and replace them en whole.

[rfoster]

JDUB: It ain't Rae- It's probably your big "A" that busted them (insert laugh here) and and since its been 18 days plus since the leans, it is probably a similar situation -(affirmative nod here) you gave that Royale a rest. Yea - those lamb fries or showing up!
Sams has got rolls of rope lite for 18.00 lew bucks Time to bling the outside of the coach - Taco Bell?
Roger that

[Jon Wehrenberg]

To prove I am suffering from old timers disease I went and looked at the coach today. Damned if it doesn't have the lighting under the nose of each step when you open the door.

Never paid attention. I wonder what else that sucker has that I never knew or noticed.

[garyde]

There are severaldozen companies making those lamps. If you can remove one or several, and take them to an Electrical Wholesale house like CES or CED, they can get you as many as you want. If you can tell them if they are 12 volt or 24 volt that will be helpful. Gary

[lewpopp]

Bull, Jon.....You had them just installed for the bling contest and you let it out of the bag.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Lew,

You weren't supposed to tell. Do you think the disco ball under the awning is a little over the top?

BTW, do you guys have any idea how hard it was to get whitewall tires in 315R-22.5 size?

[lewpopp]

But curb feelers with LEDs on them? Come on Jon, the kiddies are starting to cry.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

At what point does a bus with bling pass the line and turn into a pimpmobile?

[Jerry Winchester]

I think you and Mike are already there. :p

[lewpopp]

All Libertys are made to be Pimpmobiles with all of the bling lites.

[bill&jody]

>My wife weighs about 300 pounds and I think her big honkin feet...
soooooooooo, who was that with you at pog1............

just curious
wmm

[Petervs]

Well, this is an old thread, but I finally got around to this project so I thought I would share the "Bling".

On our 94 Marathon we have these Accent lights all over the coach, they are rope lights by another name. Seems like one out of 4 bulbs were burned out (and not evenly spaced) and they were starting to look a little scruffy so it was time for either repair or replacement.

First, here is a review of what was there:

Since you can buy them both ways, I called Marathon and asked them if they were 12 volt DC or 110 volt AC and they told me 12 volt. They were also happy to sell me replacements ( I did not ask how much) and they would happily install them too for more $$. I thought this would be a great do it yourself project in any case.

The first picture shows a section of the old lights. The bulbs are regular incandescent and are spaced every 3 inches.The second picture shows there are two coated wires that run the length of the rope, the bulbs are soldered to each wire at intervals where the coating on the wires is removed. You can solder in new bulbs to replace the burned out ones if you have some spare bulbs. I have lots of old ones if anyone wants some for spare bulbs just let me know and I will send you some.

Each bulb uses 0.004 amps so they are 0.05 watt each. A foot of rope has 4 bulbs, so the rope uses 0.2 watts per foot. My bus has about 100 feet of rope lights, so 100 feet uses 20 watts of power ( when all the bulbs are working that is). The ropes give off a nice warm amber/yellowish light.

My first approach was to buy some leftover christmas lights that were 12 volt, 30 feet to the roll, for about $12 each. I have 4 rolls of those, problem was, they were 1/2 inch diameter ropes, and just too fat to fit in my coach. They had bulbs spaced 2 inches apart. If anyone wants them, just let me know.

The next post will describe the replacements.

[Petervs]

So I ordered a roll of 150 feet of new lights from an internet company, paid about $110 total. here is a similar item: http://www.christmaslightsetc.com/productdetail.htm?productid=17357&CategoryID=633

These ropes are made slightly differently. There is an outer sleeve that is a solid tube. Inside is a smaller diameter sleeve that fits tightly inside. This one is slitted the full length, and 2 wires are embedded in the inner sleeve. The bulbs are in groups of 4, connected in a little chain, with each end of the chain soldered to one of the wires.

The bulbs are really 3 volts each, but by making a chain of 4 they run on 12 volt DC. The outside diameter of the rope is 0.395 inches, so they are just a little fatter. The bulb spacing is 1 inch. These bulbs draw 0.0017 amps each which is 0.02 amp. a foot of these uses 0.25 watts, so the 100 foot total for the bus uses 25 watts. pretty close to the old ones.

Since you can only cut the rope between every 4 bulbs, the rope is clearly marked where to cut. Cut the rope 2 inches longer than the cut mark, and you have some room to strip the wires to make the connections.

To install them, first pry out a section of the old ropes, they are held in with a little clear silicone seal every here and there. One end will be free, the other will have two wires. Pull it gently to make some slack, cut the old one out. Use the old one to make a new one of the same length. Use a butt splice or solder the new one in. Then stuff the new rope into the groove , it may be a tight fit since it is a little fatter, but you can put an amazing amount of force on the tube to squeeze it in there with a pair of pliers even. If you have to, you can remove the outer sleeve in some sections, then the rope will be thinner than the old one. Put a little dab of clear silicone on the places where it droops, hold it in place with masking tape. That's it. I did the whole coach in about a day. The results are terriffic. These ropes give off a whiter brighter light than the old.

Another option is to buy LED rope lights. They come in several colors including white. They are much costlier, like $350-$700 for a 150 foot roll. The are more energy efficient and cooler, but at that price the energy cost will never pay back. They use less electricity so your house battery bank will last longer, but at 25 watts for the whole coach how much can you really save? The real drawback to the LED design is they are only able to be cut every 36 iinches, and since we need so many specific lengths, that would not work out at all.

[BUSTER]

Anyone who showed up with them would be an odds on favorite for Fast Rogers' bling award !!!...I heard Bluevost was trying to find California Woodie paneling in 45' lengths...now that would be something !!!

See you all soon

[Ray Davis]

Peter,

Interesting post. I've got same lights inside, which probably will need some work some day. Previous owner like this stuff, so he wired it up in a couple of the bays too, but not a real good job. Might be worth replacing.

[rfoster]

Peter Nice touch. I am impressed and looks great. I like Bling ya know.:cool:

I wish A1 had them on the outside of his engine compartment instead of all over the inside. That way I could enjoy them while following for the next 3 or 4 days and help me stay awake!

[garyde]

Roger, Ya gotta wonder if people are thinkin the carnival is coming to town. i would maintain a low profile. Keep the bling inside.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Roger, Ya gotta wonder if people are thinkin the carnival is coming to town. i would maintain a low profile. Keep the bling inside.

Or leaving town?

[rfoster]

Peter: Jon and I are enroute to POG3 thru LA (that's lower Alabama to you yankees) and had an opportunity to view a truly talented individual who is very creative with the rope lites. He was able to accentuate the flying W in such a way as I would have never imagined and in addition he complimented the bottom of his coach with the infamous concrete block (cinder blocks to some folks) I thought you might enjoy the frame provided by Jons coach and toad. Notice the nice Aluminum foil blinds, bet you can get that a Prevost Service Center!
1111
America ain't it great!

[Toy Box]

Roger that, Roger. I know exactly which bridge you are going over.... Very spookey at around 3 am in the clear full night.. I can't spell it, but we have been across too many times to count. Hope you have a super trip. T B.