Replace your 12vdc RV fluorescent light with a

fLEDescent ™ from www.PrudentRVer.com The correct alternative to fluorescent lighting saves 30% to 50% of the power – lasts for years no bulb or ballast replacements required no high-frequency static, flicker or noise no ultraviolet light emissions no environmental pollution Uses 12vdc nexLED™ technology Part no:      

fLED6-S fLED12-S fLED-LS3 DIY kit fLEDP-LS3 DIY kit fLEDC-LS3 DIY kit LS3 and SLS3 LightSticks

fLEDescent™ is a trademark of PrudentRVer.com nexLED™ is a trademark of Neutek-USA

--- a GREEN solution fLEDescents™ – page 1

fLEDescent™ Lighting How to Modify a Fluorescent Fixture The fLEDescent lighting kit replaces the ballast and tubes in an existing Thin-Light™, Liteco, or Sun-Ray fluorescent fixture, reusing the fixture shell, switch, wiring, and lens cover without requiring major modification to the electrical system or decor. Create a pleasing lighting environment that uses only one-third of the electrical power to produce the same amount of light (or more if you want) and eliminate the heating and electrical noise problems associated with fluorescent tubes and fixtures. You may choose different lighting levels for each fixture and install fLEDescent dimmers – features not found with fluorescents. fLEDescent products are designed for an electrical system where power for lighting comes from the 12-volt battery system. DO NOT install in a 120-volt AC circuit or fixture. Models of the fLEDescent Lighting Assembly Kits Different models of fLEDescent kits replace different original fluorescent lighting fixtures in RVs and boats. The mounting plates can be modified for use in fixtures that are nearly the same size as those listed. Specific models currently supported are: fLED6-S or fLED12-S: ThinLite 612 fixture, w/12” F8T5 tubes ThinLite 162 patio fixture, w/12” F8T5 tubes Sun-Ray fixture w/12” F8T5 tubes ThinLite 616 fixture, w/ 18” F15T8 tubes Sun-Ray fixture w/18” F15T8 tubes fLED-LS3: Do-It-Yourself kits for all the above. Specify wide fixture for Thin-Light 652 wide base fixture, or Thin-Light 656 wide base fixture, fLEDP-LS3: DIY kit for ThinLite Patio fixture, w/ 12” F8T5 tubes fLEDC-LS3: DIY kit for ThinLite Circular fixture, w/ 12” FC8T9 tubes NOTE: Sun-Ray departed the market several years ago, but many existing RVs still have these fixtures. The fLEDescent kits are designed to handle modifications for those fixtures. Contents of the fLEDescent Lighting Assembly Kit The following items should be found in your basic kit (unassembled in DIY kits): Instruction Pamphlet – this document Mounting panel – 10mil Aluminum mounting panels Width may be standard or wide for rectangular fixtures Circular and Patio fixtures use specially prepared panels LED LightSticks, mounted on panel or loose WireNuts to connect LED pigtails and rig wiring

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NOTE: In the DIY kits we now use LS3 LightSticks w/three LED chips each (45 to 60 lumens) for fLEDescents . The LS3 comes with stranded copper wire (red copper is ground, tin-coated is +12v) that can be connected with wire nuts to the wiring harness. Optional product may be included in the kit box, depending upon your order. Additional LS3s if needed to add lumens The SL-SWE1 power/dimmer module

Tools Needed to Accomplish Installation You will need: Medium screw driver (Phillips head or square head, depending on your coach) Wire cutter Wire stripper (to handle 14 to 24awg wire) – may get by with pocket knife 12vdc power source – can use the wiring from the ceiling if nothing else available.

Preparing Your Fluorescent Fixture for Modification The following steps tell how to prepare your existing fluorescent fixture for modification to a fLEDescent fixture. Some steps may be unnecessary in your particular case, but please read each step carefully to determine if anything applies to your situation. In this example the modification is being made to a 12-inch fluorescent fixture mounted in the ceiling of our slide. 1. Turn electrical power to the fixture OFF You cannot normally be injured by 12 volts DC, but you can produce big sparks and dangerous situations if you short out leads between power and ground. It may blow fuses, or even cause fires. It can definitely kill LEDs. So, be sure you have turned off the power to any fixture on which you are working. Turn power back on ONLY when you know you are ready to apply power. 2. Remove the lens cover and tubes The plastic lens cover of a fluorescent fixture is usually snapped into grooves on each side of the fixture. Squeezing the lens with both hands as you pull it to one side will pull it from the grooves on that side so you can lower it and then push it out from the other side. Be careful squeezing the lens. As plastic ages, it can become very brittle, and the lens may not want to come out of the grooves. If it is several years old, it may simply fracture into a couple of pieces, and then you have to find a replacement or do something to repair the broken plastic. I have used clear fLEDescents™ – page 3

packaging tape to repair a lens. If the manufacturer is still in existence, they may be willing to replace the lens, but don't count on it. Next rotate the tubes 90 degree and remove them from their sockets. Set them aside. You will need to find a home for them or some way to dispose of them. They are considered hazardous waste, so do not just throw them into the trash. 3. Locate the ballast and your power and ground wires Running along the center of the fixture you will see a white cover panel. It is usually locked into small slots in the top frame of the fixture, and by squeezing the cover panel much like with the plastic lens, you can pull it out of the slots and remove it. Underneath the cover is the heart of the fluorescent called the ballast. The ballast in a fluorescent fixture is a long circuit board with lots of heavy components, including a transformer and big capacitors. The center cover panel may be attached to the top of the fixture with a wire. This is to ensure that the center panel is grounded. You can cut that wire. The power and ground wires come out of the ceiling into the fluorescent fixture through a hole in the top of the fixture frame. Normally, the ground is a white wire, and the 12vdc power is a black wire. The ground wire should go directly to the ballast. The power wire should go to a spade connector on one side of the switch at the end of the fixture. A wire from the other side of the switch should then connect to the ballast. Cut the black wire from the switch at the ballast. Cut the ground wire at the ballast. The ballast in now totally disconnected from the electrical system of your rig. 4. You May Want to Remove Fixture From Ceiling If you don't like looking up to work, you can remove the fixture shell from the ceiling by loosening the four screws holding it in place against the ceiling. Save the screws somewhere safe. I usually leave the fixture in the ceiling and do all the work standing or sitting with the fixture twelve inches above my head. 6. Preparing the Ceiling and Fixture Wires The fLEDescent light panel will need to connect to the ground wire coming out of the ceiling of the coach and to the power wire coming from the fixture switch. Use the wire stripper to bare the ends of both the power and ground wires about ½ inch. You can do this with a pocket knife if you do not have a wire stripper.

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Assembling The fLEDescent Lighting Panel The fLEDescent lighting panel is a sheet of 10mil aluminum (Al) with SLM StripLights or LS3 Light Sticks on the front side, and a wiring distribution harness on the back side. Wire access holes are provided to connect the Light Sticks into the wiring harness. Panels using the SLM StripLights normally come with the StripLights already attached. This reduces your labor, but you do not have the light positioning options available with the LS3 LightSticks. The discussion below assumes you have the LS3 option. 1. Sizing The Lighting Panel Usually, the correct width of the Aluminum lighting panel is slightly larger than the inside width of the fixture, and the panel is designed to bend outward toward the lens cover with its edges just under the lips of the fixture where the lens edge fits when in place. The panel can a single sheet for the 12” fixtures, or two or three overlapping sheets for the 18” fixtures. If you find the panel is too wide, you can trim it to the correct size with heavy-duty kitchen shears or a set of tin snips. In the event you should cut too much off the edge, do not worry. The Al panel can rest on the plastic lens cover without doing any damage. In some 12” fixtures where the tube sockets come up against the lens cover, it may also be necessary to trim the ends of the panel to fit inside those sockets. There is still plenty of room. NOTE: some fixtures that are recessed into the ceiling do not have a lip to hold the lens cover in place. They use pins at each corner to hold the lens cover. In this case, the Al panel should be trimmed to fit into the bottom of the lens cover. It is okay for the LEDs to lay against the plastic – they do not get hot enough to do any harm. 2. Practice mounting the panel in the fixture Insert your index fingers into the wiring access holes from the front and push down the sides of the panel with the thumbs on one side and the other fingers on the other side. Slightly bow the panel by lifting with the index fingers, until the edges are down about one inch on each side. You should now be able to slip one side of the panel into the lens groove and then bowing the panel just a bit more, slip the other side of the panel into the opposite lens groove. Now you can release the pressure with the index fingers, and the panel will expand into the grooves. You may need to help some points along the edge that did not quite make it into the groove. fLEDescents™ – page 5

If you have the two-piece panel required for the 18” fixture, you can do one with one hand and the other with the other hand. You may need to aid your thumbs with the thumb pad of your palm to spread the pressure. Once both panels are in place, you can move each toward their respective end plate to get them into position. 3. LightStick Layout (for LS3 DIY kits) Determine what kind of LightStick layout you want on the front of the lighting panel. The simplest pattern is a row on each side of the holes. If you are adding lumens, you can either put another row down the middle and/or pack the sticks closer together. Try looking at different patterns to see what you like. It helps to use a ruler to measure the position and keep the spacing uniform. You will want to keep the LightStick wires from being pulled too tight, so the LightSticks should be oriented with their wires pointing toward the hole where they fit and close enough to the hole to reach the wire nut on the other side. At this point you should thread the pigtails of four LightSticks through each hole in the panel. The sticks should be on the convex side of the panel, so that they will point down when the panel is mounted in the fixture. Strip the cover wire off the end of the LS3 pigtails. You will see that one wire is copper colored (the ground wire) and the other is silvery (tinned copper which is +12v). Bring the ground wires together and twist with your fingers so they hold together. Do the same for the power wires. 4. Checking Connectivity At this point it is a good idea to check connectivity and polarity of your wiring. Attach the ground wire bundle to house ground and the black wire to power. All LightSticks should light. If nothing lights, be sure you have +12v on your power line. Then check if you got the wires connected backwards. If one or several of the LightSticks fail to light, either you have wired them backwards or the connection inside a wire nut is incorrect. Do not worry, you cannot hurt the LEDs if you wire them backwards, but if you touch house power and ground together you can get a big spark and blow a fuse. Now wrap that bundle around the bared white ground wire and twist the entire set of wires together. If the tips are uneven, cut the excess off, leaving at least 3/8” of bare wire. Place the wire nut over the bundle and turn clockwise to screw it down over the wires. Tighten it firmly but not enough to break the wire bundle apart. Now bring the four power wires together and repeat the process using the black wire.

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Once you have tested that the LEDs are all functional and are satisfied with the pattern and spacing, peel the blue tape off the back of the LightSticks and glue them in place. The glue has a very good stick, so be sure you have them where you want them before pushing them down. 6. Final installation Next you need to reattach the fixture to the ceiling. Be sure the wiring from the ceiling comes through the hole in the top of the fixture. Use the original screws to mount the plate back onto the ceiling. Attach the ceiling wire power lug to the fixture switch. It is now time to connect the harness into the house wiring. You may want to connect with wire nuts or with wire taps. If you are connecting to the ends of the house wiring after the switch, the wire nuts are best. If you are attaching a second harness before the switch, you will want to use a wire tap. All this time the panel with the attached wiring harness has been hanging down from the fixture. Carefully insert it into the groves and allow it to expand. Follow that with the lens cover, and the light is finished.

Now you can admire your work. Turn the light switch ON and see the light shine! Congratulations.

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