Review: Auxbeam Rock/Underglow Lights (as campsite lights)

[jscherb]

Review: Auxbeam Rock/Underglow Lights

I spent some time with my friends at Auxbeam last November at the SEMA Show and one of the new products they had on display was a set of rock/underglow lights. Lighting up the road below the Jeep with lots of colors and effects isn't really my style, but the design of the lights led me to a different idea - what if they were mounted on the roof rack to serve as campsite lights? You probably wouldn't use the strobe or color cycling effects in that application (well, maybe if you were running a campsite disco?), but the white lights would definitely be useful, and perhaps some of the colors, perhaps red to enhance night vision, yellow to serve as bug lights? Here's a quick photoedit concept image I did with the roof rack on my JKU:



The Auxbeam web site features the product this way:



There are two sizes (I asked for and received the larger ones):



The lights can be controlled either with the included remote control, or from a smartphone through a Bluetooth app:



The package comes with everything one would need (more on that later):



When the lights arrived, here's what was included... it came in two boxes because I asked for six lights. The base package has four lights, and each additional two lights comes in a separate box. Lights can be daisy-chained together and they sell packages with up to 8 lights.



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[jscherb]

The control unit has power connections and two feeds for the LEDs - presumably one feed for one side of the vehicle and one feed for the other.



Each LED unit has two connections; as I said they're intended to be daisy-chained together, one after the other.



The lights come with mounting hardware and two rubber pads - one pad has a flat back for mounting to flat surfaces and the other has a curved back, for mounting to things like roll bars. I've shown the back of the curved back pad to illustrate the curve.



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[jscherb]

Initial Testing

To verify that everything worked properly and to learn how the various options and controls work, I connected everything on the floor of a spare room and powered the system with my benchtop power supply.



They lit up right away when I pressed the "On" button on the remote control.



I downloaded the Auxbeam "Cool Motor" app to my Android phone from the QR code in the manual and quickly and easily connected it to the control unit using Bluetooth. Operation of the app was obvious and I was able to choose colors and strobe patterns easily. More on the remote and the app later.

For a quick test on the Jeep to see how these might function as campsite lights, I installed two lights to the roof rack using zip ties. For more permanent use, the supplied screws may or may not be long enough to install through holes you might have to drill in your roof rack, depends on your rack. I also used zip ties to secure the wiring routed from light to light. And for now I'm running the cable from the light string to the control unit through the barn door opening, to be more or less sealed by the closed barn door.



The first light in each of the two possible daisy chains is connected to the control box; for this test I've set the control box on the floor in the cargo area of the Jeep and connected the power leads from the control box to a fused output of my auxiliary battery, which is mounted over the rear inner fender (it powers my fridge/kitchen when that's installed, so it's mounted close to the kitchen).

So might these be useful as campsite lights? Since I just moved into a new home I don't have much time for camping I took this video in the driveway. Imagine we're in the deep, dark woods, camping in the Jeep and sitting enjoying the fresh mountain air in the near complete darkness. Then someone wants to read a book... this video starts in darkness, then the rock lights go on in white (and it becomes bright enough to read by), then yellow lights (some people say that yellow lights deters bugs), then red lights (some people say red light improves night vision), back to white and finally off again.


For this video the lighting intensity was set to full but the camera didn't quite capture the brightness and clarity of the "campsite", it was a bit brighter than the video makes it appear. Also the LEDs can be dimmed with either the remote control or the app if less light is desired.

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[jscherb]

Controlling the Lights and Effects

The included remote control is very small (3 1/4" x 1 1/2") and functions very well for turning lights on and off and selecting colors. It's an infrared device, so needs to be pointing at the lights to work, which probably limits its usefulness while driving.



For use as campsite lights, the I/R remote is perfect because all you're likely to want to do is turn lights on or off and perhaps select a color, but for more advanced use as underglow lights, the app with Bluetooth control is much easier to use.

The screen on the left is the main screen of the app and provides color selection, both with preset colors and an RGB color wheel as well as turning strobe mode on/off and controlling the speed of the strobes. The screen on the right duplicates the strobe controls and also provides a list of strobe effects to pick from:



A demo of just a few of the strobe modes available:



Choosing your favorite strobe mode is much easier in the app than with the remote - in the app each one has a name and you can scroll the list to find the one you're looking for. With the remote there are left/right arrow buttons that move between the modes.

Two strobe features I haven't experimented with yet are audio sync and music sync. You can either have the lights dance to sounds picked up by your phone's microphone (right screen below), or sync the lights to the beat of any music you might have on your phone. About two dozen tunes come with the app, topping the list is Delacey's Dream It Possible (left screen):



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[jscherb]

Summary

Like all Auxbeam lighting products I have tested and used over the years, these lights are well engineered and they are built to withstand the environment underneath a vehicle. They're easy to mount (depending, of course, on where you decide to mount them), and easy to wire. All that's required for wiring is a fused 12v source; they could be wired into one of the excellent Auxbeam switch panels (https://auxbeam.com/collections/switch-panels) or connected to a fused source with a switch. Reviews I've done on Auxbeam switch panels:

Auxbeam’s RA80 X2 Dual Panel Switch System in a Camping/Overland Vehicle: https://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/barn-door-for-jk-factory-hardtops.127687/post-3104431

Auxbeam 6- and 8-gang Switch Panels: https://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/barn-door-for-jk-factory-hardtops.127687/post-3043232

I have one small suggestion for Auxbeam: Since the LED units have two connections so they can be daisy-chained together, the last unit in the chain will not have one of its leads connected. I thnk it would be a good idea to cap off the unused connector to protect it from dirt, etc. so I used thread protectors, intended to cover expsed screw threads. They come in a size that fits perfectly and can be found at most hardware stores, here's they are at Lowes: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-3-Pack-0-313-in-x-0-63-in-Yellow-Plastic-Screw-Protectors/3012664. I'd suggest Auxbeam include a two of these in the package, one for the end of each daisy chain.



The lights can be found on Auxbeam's web site: https://auxbeam.com/products/vibrant-series-rgb-led-rock-lights-kit-with-bluetooth-app

 

[MCX]

Great review and looks really nice! Thanks for sharing!

 

[ZONE ZERO]

do you know if the aux beam switch panel can have one switch set up to operate as a momentary switch?

 

[jscherb]

do you know if the aux beam switch panel can have one switch set up to operate as a momentary switch?

Yes: