New fan light kit upgrade - finally!

[Radio]

I never liked the light kit that came with the ceiling fan in our Rockwood 8280SS. I didn’t like the modern style and the fact it was 3 spotlight things no matter which way they were pointed. I didn’t like the harshness of the light. With a limited selection of bulbs, mainly CF or incandescent available in that type base, changing the bulbs made it worse with that cold blue CF light that had to warm up, to boot.

I just wasn’t happy with the light. And I tend to over think things. Especially when it comes to camper stuff. Electrical Stuff. And light.

I figured the switch plate on the bottom of the fan (which in this case also holds the 3 spot light fixtures) would be some odd ball size that could not be found anywhere. And I was right. It’s about ¼ in too small to be replaced with anything you could get at a big box store or even Amazon. I was wrong however in my assumption this was an insurmountable problem in replacing the light kit.

You just have to disassemble the old kit, reuse the switch plate, and not worry about the 3 holes that are left over from the old spot light fixtures. The holes are almost invisible once the new light kit is installed. Once the switch and light fixtures are removed from the plate the install proceeds like any other fan light kit install. Why I had such a mental block about it I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want to live with the 3 extra holes (that are nearly invisable.)

That and I tend to rant on about the quality of light in my camper.

Or something.

So at Loew’s the other day I came across a light kit that looked promising. SKU 0429786. There are several kits in this series with various finish to the metal. This kit is brushed nickel which matches the fan. It has 4 alabaster shades and takes candelabra type bulbs. The shades screw onto their bases and so WILL NOT fall off the fan while the trailer is in motion. Wonderful! The finished install produced an even, warm, bright, soft light that I was looking for. Perfect.

You’ll want to save the old fobs. The new ones are heavy and metal. Imagine a small ball ping hammer swinging around up there.

Cost $30 and about an hours time.

Pic 1 shows the old light kit disassembled and the old switch plate installed on the new kit. Note I saved the little connector from the old kit to make installing easier.

Pic 2 and 3 shows the fished install.

[NN5I]

I never liked the light kit that came with the ceiling fan in our Rockwood 8280SS. I didn’t like the modern style and the fact it was 3 spotlight things no matter which way they were pointed. I didn’t like the harshness of the light.

Just can't please some folks. My Dad was like that -- one time, for breakfast, he wanted Mother to make one egg over easy, and the other one scrambled. She did. Then he complained that, dadgummit, she had scrambled the wrong egg.

[Radio]

Yes. My internet friends aren't NEAR as excited as I am about my light kit. SO happy to be rid of those nasty OEM lights...

:cheer:

[N3LYT]

Nice having a tall camper I would be out cold on the floor first day when the fan hit me!

[Radio]

Now that I have real glass globes (shades, whatever...) on the fans light kit I wanted to get some chain fobs that weren't made out of lead or pewter or whatever.

The one that came with the kit proudly displayed the makers logo and was about 6 oz of solid metal. Like a small ball peen hammer swinging around up in there while you go down the road.

I wasn't gonna have that.

I went on the search for some string fan tassels. Went to every big box store around. They had footballs, soccer balls, baseballs, bullets and anything you could think of that could be fashioned out of glass, metal or plastic. NOTHING soft or fuzzy. Nadda, zippo. I guess there's not that many people who have a mobile ceiling fan application.

They used to have them everywhere. In all colors. They're on the ceiling fan in my daughters room. But alas, they went out of style. So did bell bottoms.

Then I went to Amazon, purveyors of darn near everything, and soon figured out tassel isn't spelled tassle, regardless of pronunciation. "Pull chain tassel" then yielded exactly one (1 each, one only) hit. In all of Amazon. One. Plain white.$8.50 for 2 tassels, "Hurry only 9 remaining!"

So I jumped on it. :jitter: The entire internet only has one of these for sale.

They arrived Friday and I joyously ran to the trailer to hang them. They look great (like bell bottoms did) and they don't ding my light kit when mobile.

The old wooden hangy-down-pull-thingies (not a tassel) are being repurposed to the light fixture on the wall by the couch (which has a proper name that I can't recall.... I think it's a sconce?) and for a future project regarding the switch on my Vortex fan.

Owning an RV is a full time job. :beer:

[electricflyer]

AND, you made the choice without a PHD in Physics or Mechanical Engineering. Amazing what common sense can do. BTW there are a bunch of them on Ebay but for a lot more money than you spent, but HD has a white one for $2.97.

[NN5I]

On eBay just now I searched tassel. Pages and pages of tassels, in every imaginable color, various lengths. Varying prices, though about seven bucks a dozen seems typical. There's a passel of them out there.

Glad you won your mobile castle tassel passel hassle rassle.

(Couldn't figure a way to get "vassal" into that sentence.)

[Radio]

HD has a white one for $2.97.

Yep, there it is...

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Westinghouse-White-Tassel-Pull-Chain-7701100/203077812

"Not in your store" it says.

How old fashioned of me to think it might actually be in the store. :whistle:

And as for E-bay, I always thought of E-bay as a giant online yard sale. Not the place to buy new stuff. But anyway, at last I have all the tassels I need.

Now that I have them, they'll start coming out of the woodwork. (Or network)

[Radio]

Not that E-bay is not without its usefulness...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/YAESU-MUSEN-FRG-7-Ham-Radio-Receiver-/292063363873?hash=item4400554321:g:NjYAAOSwTM5Y0bM Q

Since I can't find my little Ten-tec 1253...

There are several of these available, including the Sears variant. Thinking it over. :think:

[wa8yxm]

I Installed a ceiling fan on the patio for a friend of mind, She had light sensors in all the C-7 sockets that meand we could not put the difusers on.

I made two changes for her

one I installed a light sensor (Turns on the lights when the sun goes down) on the "Base" (the part that hides all the sires and such up at the top) and replaced the 40 watt C-7 Incandescent with 40 watt equivalent (4 watt) LED's

Looks much nicer and where as the OEM lamps lasted not long at all (like a month) the LED's are still working as of last Sunday when I drove past before sunup and noticed them glowing nicely.. Plus they run all night on about 1 hour's worth of electricity with the old lamps... She was very happy. And you know what a happy girlfriend means (happy me).

[NN5I]

(the part that hides all the sires and such up at the top)

With all those sires hiding up there, one wonders how many kids she has ...