UPDATE AN AILING AWNING LIGHT

A simple exterior light upgrade turned out to be a bit more involved than Nigel Donnelly first thought!

- Nigel Donnelly

Our motorhome had an outside light, but like a lot of things in our 1998 vehicle, it wasn’t great. Age had taken its toll.

My first thought was just to replace and upgrade the bulbs, but after having a closer look, I could see evidence that the diffuser covering the electrics and the bulbs had been taped up. It was probably time for a replacement.

Assessing the task

I am no stranger to changing exterior lights on leisure vehicles, so I was fairly confident that I would be able to source a like-for-like replacement.

The old one, made by Ring Automotive, was switched on and off on the light fitting. This is acceptable, but if you come out of the ’van in the dark, you have to flail around to find the fitting, which is located just above and to the right of the door.

That said, it was there and working, so if I could have just tracked down a straight swap, I would have done so.

Sadly, I couldn’t do that. Amazon is absolutely awash with motorhome exterior lights, but a lot of them are manufactured for the global market.

This means there are loads of weird ones, designed for US RVs. Some have orange and red light modes, which I could not think of a use for.

I didn’t want anything too big, and I also wanted an LED light, to protect the batteries after prolonged use.

I decided to search a bit closer to home. After coming across all manner of things online, I chose one by Euro Car Parts (ECP).

For those who aren’t familiar with it, ECP is like Screwfix or Argos, but for automotive parts and accessories. You order from a catalogue or online, and then collect in person.