In this guide you will learn how to wire 12v Campervan lights (campervan LED strip lights, LED puck lights, and LED lamps). You will even be able to control the campervan LED strip lights on your phone via bluetooth! By the end you will have a beautifully illuminated van! I'm Shane, I've been teaching people to convert campervans for many years, I'm the author of The Van Conversion Newsletter, the van conversion instructor at Udemy, and the proud owner of a beautiful self-build campervan called Beans. So let's jump in and see how to wire 12v campervan lights!
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Index
Note: Before we hop in, you will definitely want to grab yourself a wiring diagram which you can get for free by signing up to The Van Conversion Newsletter (how to wire LED lights to a switch is included in the diagram 🙂 - it gets sent out to you straight away).
Supplies list 🛒
 | |
 | |
 | For connecting wires |
 | For splicing one wire into another |
 | For protecting wire connections after crimping |
 | For compressing heat shrinks on crimp connections |
 | |
 | Dimmer switch for the roof lights |
 | |
 | Roof lights |
 | Bluetooth-controlled LED lights |
 | For wiring strip lights in your van |
 | For crimping wires |
 | For stripping wires |
 | Cable ties and adhesive mounts For sticking wires to roof |
 | To connect puck lights together |
What is an LED light?
An LED (light emitting diode) is a semiconductor that emits light when electricity flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor combine, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light is determined by the energy required for electrons to cross the band gap of the semiconductor.
LEDs have many benefits over traditional incandescent lights, including: lower power consumption, longer lifespan, robustness, smaller size, and faster switching. However, for all their benefits, LEDs are generally restricted to low voltage and DC. This makes them perfect for van conversion lights!
Recap guide: Electricity (including voltages and direct current).
What types of LED lights are used in campervans?
There are three types of LED lights typically used in campervans, those are:
In this article we will look at wiring led lights to a 12v battery for each of the three types above. We will also examine how to wire the campervan LED lights to a switch and the 12v light switch wiring diagram.
Wiring 12v campervan lights in series vs. parallel
This is an LED puck light👇
And we're going to look at how to wire campervan LED lights to a 12v battery and install them in the roof of a campervan. So you're campervan can look like this👇
An LED puck light is a DC appliance with two wires extending from it: a positive and a negative. You are going to want to purchase some dimmable LED puck lights as this guide will show you how to wire campervan LED lights to a switch that is dimmable.
How to wire LED puck lights in parallel AND series
There are many different ways to wire up LED puck lights, and while there is no one right way, wiring LED puck lights in parallel is generally preferred over wiring them in series.
There are two problems with wiring puck lights in series (daisy chained):
If one LED light breaks, every LED light after that one will also turn off.
Wiring LED lights in series can cause different lumens to be output from the puck lights. The first LED light will be the brightest and the last light will be the weakest. The effect is amplified as we add more lights.
One nifty device you can use to wire up all lights in parallel is a DC 8-way splitter (if you have 8 puck lights. It connects 8 wires into 1. You can just snip off the heads and wire it up to the lights.
However, while wiring campervan LED lights in parallel is preferred, it can cause a lot of extra wiring to be needed. It is generally considered overkill and most people will opt for a mixture of parallel and series wiring.
Here is the 12v light switch wiring diagram for a system set up in parallel AND series.
In the above wiring diagram, the two LED puck lights in each set are wired in series. But the sets themselves are wired in Parallel.
For example, if light 1 of the first set blows, the last two sets will still stay ON, but light 2 in the first set will turn OFF.
As we can see from the diagram, we will be installing a switch (dimmable) for the puck lights. We install this after the fuse box. Learn all about fuses and fuse sizing.
How to wire 12v Campervan lights to a switch
Step 1: Lay the cabling
Laying wiring is one of the first things you do in a van conversion; before any insulation or carpentry.
Before laying the cable you need to know where in the van you are going to put:
The 12v Fuse box
The switch panel
After you have decided where these things will go, go ahead and lay the wire. 18AWG wiring should do the job just fine. Some people choose to run the wiring through conduit / split looming to keep it neat, others will keep the wires exposed. You can attach the wires to the metal surface of the van with cable ties and cable tie adhesive mounts.
Given the wiring diagram provided before, we will be installing 6 LED puck lights in the roof of the van. We run a Positive (red) and Negative (black) wire out to all the lights.
We will have to use T-tap connectors in two places to wire the pucks lights per the wiring diagram provided. This allows us to wire the first two sets of campervan LED lights in parallel.
You can learn all about how to cut, crimp, and use T-tap connectors in this article on crimping.
Step 2: Attach the LED puck lights to the wire
We can attach the puck lights to the wire using crimp connectors.
Strip back the wire insulator and inch on both the puck light and the wire
Add a male crimp connector to one wire and a and female blade crimp connector to the other wire
Crimp the connectors down with a crimping tool
Add a heatshrink on top of the connection to insulate the connection (Only do this after you have cladded/panelled your van are ready for the final installation)
Note: In a set of two puck lights in series, the negative of the first puck light runs into the positive of the second puck light.
Step 3: Wire LED lights to a switch
How to wire LED lights to a switch?
There are two options for wiring LED Lights to a Switch:
Wire up a switch panel
Wire up a dimmer switch
Most people will want a dimmer switch (normally the one shown below), so that's what we will look at here.
12v light switch wiring is quite simple: Negative and Positive IN (from the battery) are on the left side of the dimmer switch, the Positive and Negative OUT (to the puck lights) are on the right side of the dimmer.
Again, ensure you have bought dimmable puck lights!
Step 4: Wire LED lights to a 12v battery
From the switch, the Positive and Negative IN will run to the 12v fuse box, which in turn runs to the 12v leisure battery. Here's a guide with everything you need to know about fuse boxes and fuse sizing.
Wiring Campervan LED strip lights to a 12v battery
The second type of LED light we can wire in are campervan LED strip lights. I have two sets of LED strip lights in my van, wired to turn on in unison. I also have a bluetooth dongle that allows me to control the color and brightness of the campervan LED strip lights from my phone. So, let's look at how to wire that system up.
Like the puck lights, we will run positive and negative wiring from our fuse box out to where we expect the campervan LED strip lights to be.
Step 1: The strip lights will have an adhesive strip along the bottom which allows us to stick them to almost any surface. I chose to install mine under the overhead cabinets.
Step 2: We install a switch (non-dimmable) after the fuse box and then wire up the strip lights in parallel.
Step 3: You will need to cut the campervan LED strip lights to the desired length, which you can do at one of the cut points on the strip.
Step 4: After you have cut the LED strip you will need to add an LED strip connector to the end of it so that we can wire it up. Add this👇 type of connector to the end (running towards the battery)
Step 5: We will be adding a bluetooth dongle to the end of each campervan LED strip light so that we can control the color and brightness from either a remote control, or from our phone. Plug the bluetooth dongle into the connector we just added at the end of each LED strip.
Step 6: Snip the end of the bluetooth dongle off and rewire it. Run the Positive end to the switch, and run the negative end back to the fuse box. We can splice our positive together with T-tap connectors, and we can do the same with the negatives; this means the campervan LED strip lights are wired in parallel.
How to wire LED lamps
I installed two LED lamps (12v campervan lights) in my campervan; one in the kitchen, and one by the bed. These are very straight-forward to wire up.
Run wire from the switch panel /