Fiberoptic Lights

[Joe Camper]

I was in the gen bay after dark tonight watching and listening to the aux compressor that is mounted in there after finding and fixing what I believe is a sufficient amount of aux air leaks to allow the compressor to live a while longer and I swerved into something.

For note this would be a H3 45 Vantare same bus I been lovin on for 3 weeks now.

The inverters R mounted above the gen box and in the dark I noticed a significant light on behind them I could not figure on.

I went around to the other side where the basement a/c unit is on these and shazam its the Fiberoptic Box mounted to the ceiling behind the inverterd. I happened to have them on.

It IS Fla but late after dark cool 60s and it there was an unbelievable amount of heat being generated by that thing even that said.

I would not want to be running those lights too long in the heat of the summer. That component on this conversion is mounted about as close to the back of the inverters as can physicaly be placed.

I know from experience inverters mounted in the tops of bays without any additional help get PLENTY hot on their own in the summer and they certainly don't need any help.

If I had a Vantare H with this configuration I would be putting in a blower on a thermostat to help keep the heat down in that bay. Should have had something from the start or possibly had that fiberoptic put somewhere else.

Heads up.

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Its amazing what you find or see when you take a few minutes to just lie still and take in the world around you.

[dale farley]

I'm amazed at how much current those lights and the accent lights draw.

[Joe Camper]

Dale and if that isint bad enough I'm assuming due to factors of cost or time or availability many of the runs of roap lights r used r a bit longer than nessessary. The excess is wrapped in black tape burried in the walls. This conversion has prob 10 or 15 foot its lighting burried and lit behind the walls. Lol not too good for efficiancy.

If running roap lights off inverters U R also taking 12 volts dc from house batteries turning it into a/c power with the inverter and then turning that back into dc with the rope light d/c transformer. Then running that thru a dimmer that robbs even more.

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Joe ... I presume the buried rope lights are incandescent, burn lots of electricity, and get hot.

What about the fiber optic? Are those bundles hot too? Or just the box where they start? If just the fiber optic box is hot, what kind of a light source is used is? Incandescent again? Can a LED light source be used for the fiber optic? That should cut down on electricity consumption and heat.

[garyde]

Fiber optic lighting was the go to lighting 10 years ago. Now, its LED. The fiber optic works by emitting light from the sending unit thru the fibers which create the light. There is no measurable heat on the fiber and no current draw . The Fiber box however does create heat . A dimming module is part of the fiber system .
http://www.fibercreations.com/

[Dick in Wisconsin]

I remember the first time I saw fiber optic lighting. I was at the Brickyard 400 with my friend Charlie. FeatherLite had just bought Vantare. Mike (I think he name was) from Vantare was there with Conrad Clements from FeatherLite and they had too coaches. Since Charllie was a Prevost owner we got the royal treatment. I think they had it in the carpet. It was really very pretty!

[BenC]

In later versions, fans and the illuminator boxes were moved to a cleaner location, namely bay 2, instead of the "dirty" open compartment of bay 3 where air is constantly being drawn in for gen radiator and rvac cooling. These illuminators in all cases except the small dedicated illuminator for the fiberoptic carpet option, are metal halide bulbs, 150-watt, and generate quite a bit of heat to do the job of lighting up all that fiber cable.

Also, the 120v rope lights in the ceilings, corian tops, and toe kicks are "cuttable" at 18-36" increments, which is why, due to where it was installed, it was necessary at the time of installation to "hide" the excess rope behind the area where the wiring terminations were made.

Fiberoptic lighting is actually "on the way out" as far as most manufacturers are concerned. The two "good" manufacturers of the product and illuminators both stopped manufacturing it in order to concentrate their efforts on LED lighting solutions and products.

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Ben:

1. is there a LED retrofit for the fiber optic like in the carpet or ceiling (I presume I'm looking at fiber optic in the ceiling once in a while)?

2. How hard is to retrofit the rope lighting in the Corian with LED? Possibly? Possibly but not worth it? or Impossible?

Thanks!

[truxton]

Last June I was in Coburg and I asked one of the techs what they were building. Cabinets, drawers, table, counter tops laying everywhere. He said that's the inside of the H right there, were converting it to Led. Alot of work.

Later
bv

[TerryM]

Our original illuminator died so I had to find a replacement. I found a 200 watt LED illuminator for around $200. Changing the illuminator was easy - 4 screws secured it. It plugs into 110 outlet. The existing fiber optic bundle fit right into the new illuminator. The entire process took less then 20 minutes. Hardest part was cleaning out the bay to get to the unit.

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Terry ... 200 watts seems like quite a bit of wattage. How many watts did the original illuminator take?

[TerryM]

Hi Dick,

I mixed up my watt numbers. Original illuminator was 200 watts. New LED illuminator is 45 watts.

The model I purchased is on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Wiedamark-Watt-Fiber-Optic-Illuminator/dp/B00AFJXOR2

thanks for catching

Terry

[Dick in Wisconsin]

155 watt difference between the two; that is lots of watts and BTUs! I presume that much of those 155 watts went into creating heat which you won't have to get rid of or deal with in warm weather and the draw on the batteries will be substantially less. Good move.