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Porch Light Replacement


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The plastic chrome covers on my porch lights were starting to peel and the rubber gaskets were all dry rotting, causing those ugly black streaks.  I’ve tried a few times to seal them with varying success.  New ones are about $38.  I found some on Amazon that are similar, about an inch larger lengthwise.  They have an aluminum cover that is not shiny chrome.  They were $19 each.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ODSBXB0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Light and rubber sheet.

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Cutting gaskets.  The rubber I ordered was much thicker than I needed.  Probably 1/8” or less in thickness would be fine.  The thickness I had made cutting square edges a bit challenging.

 

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Comparison of new and old.

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After removal of old lights.  There isn’t much wire to work with so I cut them off right at the solder joint on the old light.  The new lights came with plenty of wire.  The remains of my feeble attempts to seal the old rubber is  obvious!

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Cleaned up.  I used some 3M fiberglass polish to get the shine back.

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I decided to drill only one new hole.  I hate drilling into my trailer!  Since the new lights were about an inch longer it meant the lights would not be centered over the window.  I asked Carol to come out and look at the first installation and she didn’t notice the slight off center so I went ahead and did the same for the other three.  I filled the old unused hole with silicon.

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New light.

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It’s hard to see but the lights are about a half inch off center to the front of the trailer.

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Lights on.  They are about the same brightness as the old.

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Mike

 

 

Edited by Mike and Carol
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Texas Hill Country | 2016 Elite II #135 | 2020 Ram 2500 6.7L

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4 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

 

Mike,

That looks excellent, very well done sir. Your Ollie looks showroom.

-David

Edited by Patriot
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2020 OLEII - Hull #634 aka-  “XPLOR” 

2021 F350 6.7 liter Diesel Lariat Ultimate Tremor aka- Beast

 

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Great post.  Good to see the details of the install.  What do the mounting screws thread into?  Just the fiberglass? (and if so, what screws did you use?) Or is there a wooden backing block behind the fiberglass?  

Edited by FrankC

 

 

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33 minutes ago, FrankC said:

Great post.  Good to see the details of the install.  What do the mounting screws thread into?  Just the fiberglass? (and if so, what screws did you use?) Or is there a wooden backing block behind the fiberglass?  

The screws on the original lights are about 3/4” long and anchor into the fiberglass.  The screws with the new lights are probably 1.25”.  They anchor into the fiberglass very securely, just like the originals.  I used a 1/8” bit to drill the holes.   I looked inside in the upper storage areas to see if I could tell where they came through but the liner in the storage areas doesn’t appear to be easily removable.  I did not see any evidence of them inside after the install.

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Texas Hill Country | 2016 Elite II #135 | 2020 Ram 2500 6.7L

ALAZARCACOFLGAIDILKSKYLAMDMSMOMTNENVNMNYNCNDOHOKSCSDTNTXUTVAWVWYsm.jpgALAZARCACOCTDEFLGAIDILINIAKSKYLAMEMDMAMS

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