Post by jayjay on Apr 19, 2008 9:01:34 GMT
Had this florescent light at the rear of my van and after hitting my head on it for the umpteenth time, I decided it just had to go! It was situated just over the step inside the van where you go up to the seating area.. what an absolute pain. Couldn't be a worse place to have a hard square thing on the ceiling.
So I asked around and it seemed quite easy to do. I thought I'd repair the little spotlight which as been faulty at the same time.
I am so proud of myself! ;D
First I had to disconnect battery - couldn't remember which terminal first, so go back into house and look up on t'internet.
Disconnect battery, check that the light I wanted to take out (and also the spotlight I wanted to fix) no longer worked, i.e., not connected to any electricity.
Unscrewed the light, two wires, left dangling. Cut them off in the middle. These were covered in what looks like masking tape and sellotape over that.
Take it off, put on little blocky things (girly techno talkee) stick them to roof, pointing in opposite directions so they will never meet again. Tape to ceiling. Only a small amount of insulating tape there now - not something you can bang your head on!
I had to borrow some little precision screwdrivers from man next door as mine didn't work as they were out of a christmas cracker and just bent when I tried to undo little screws on blocky things. (Note to self, buy more expensive crackers next year.
)
This light had been put on over the top of carpet (unsafe?) which covers practically every surface in this van, even the ceiling. I used to call the previous owner Carpet Man, now I fondly refer to the blighter as Sellotape man.. read on..
Next fix the little spotlight.. now I know this is a loose wire from the way it behaved before it finally ceased to work altogether. Take it off left-handedly, very awkward. The wires were held together with blocky things, but the one I'd picked first was actually the one that had worked loose, so I bared a bit more wire (eek, wasn't that much to play with, less than an inch and a bit) and wired it up with new blocky thing. Put it all back together, took another 20 mins to find the screw holes within the 'wall' carpet, then fix it back on the wall using left handedly again with a lot of bad language..
Vowed if it fails again, take it out completely and just have the one at t'other side. Rarely use both, never use the florescent.
Next, turn my attention to relay switch attached to battery, quick check reveals.. three out of four little pluggy things are covered in sellotape. Replace sellotape with insulating tape and plug back in carefully, one plug at a time, I hope I got that bit right, or guess who'll have a flat leisure battery next time I go out?
Next, clean battery terminals (just dusty, no deposits) so dust and lubricate with vaseline, Baby-wipe the rest of the case, leave to dry off completely, then reconnect the battery wires using reverse order as detailed at beginning. I've never actually disconnected a battery, but I've watched someone else doing it - and watched the electricity arcing as he disconnected the terminals in the wrong order!
Connected the battery back up - spotlight still didn't work
. Examined the bulb (which I had previously replaced in case that was the problem) and I had broken it whilst fixing the wires. Quick search, couldn't find the spares I had bought, so went down the shop for another one.. and then it worked! ;D
What a fiddly job! However, at £25 an hour for someone to do it for me, I decided to have a go myself. Apparantly if you can wire up a three pin plug, it's easier than that to disconnect a light.
So if anyone wants a redundant 15"Lx2.5"Wx 1.5"D florescent 9v light strip, give me shout!
So I asked around and it seemed quite easy to do. I thought I'd repair the little spotlight which as been faulty at the same time.
I am so proud of myself! ;D
First I had to disconnect battery - couldn't remember which terminal first, so go back into house and look up on t'internet.
Disconnect battery, check that the light I wanted to take out (and also the spotlight I wanted to fix) no longer worked, i.e., not connected to any electricity.
Unscrewed the light, two wires, left dangling. Cut them off in the middle. These were covered in what looks like masking tape and sellotape over that.
Take it off, put on little blocky things (girly techno talkee) stick them to roof, pointing in opposite directions so they will never meet again. Tape to ceiling. Only a small amount of insulating tape there now - not something you can bang your head on!I had to borrow some little precision screwdrivers from man next door as mine didn't work as they were out of a christmas cracker and just bent when I tried to undo little screws on blocky things. (Note to self, buy more expensive crackers next year.
)This light had been put on over the top of carpet (unsafe?) which covers practically every surface in this van, even the ceiling. I used to call the previous owner Carpet Man, now I fondly refer to the blighter as Sellotape man.. read on..
Next fix the little spotlight.. now I know this is a loose wire from the way it behaved before it finally ceased to work altogether. Take it off left-handedly, very awkward. The wires were held together with blocky things, but the one I'd picked first was actually the one that had worked loose, so I bared a bit more wire (eek, wasn't that much to play with, less than an inch and a bit) and wired it up with new blocky thing. Put it all back together, took another 20 mins to find the screw holes within the 'wall' carpet, then fix it back on the wall using left handedly again with a lot of bad language..
Vowed if it fails again, take it out completely and just have the one at t'other side. Rarely use both, never use the florescent.
Next, turn my attention to relay switch attached to battery, quick check reveals.. three out of four little pluggy things are covered in sellotape. Replace sellotape with insulating tape and plug back in carefully, one plug at a time, I hope I got that bit right, or guess who'll have a flat leisure battery next time I go out?
Next, clean battery terminals (just dusty, no deposits) so dust and lubricate with vaseline, Baby-wipe the rest of the case, leave to dry off completely, then reconnect the battery wires using reverse order as detailed at beginning. I've never actually disconnected a battery, but I've watched someone else doing it - and watched the electricity arcing as he disconnected the terminals in the wrong order!
Connected the battery back up - spotlight still didn't work
. Examined the bulb (which I had previously replaced in case that was the problem) and I had broken it whilst fixing the wires. Quick search, couldn't find the spares I had bought, so went down the shop for another one.. and then it worked! ;D What a fiddly job! However, at £25 an hour for someone to do it for me, I decided to have a go myself. Apparantly if you can wire up a three pin plug, it's easier than that to disconnect a light.
So if anyone wants a redundant 15"Lx2.5"Wx 1.5"D florescent 9v light strip, give me shout!
