Drilling NeedOne

[dawgie34203]

I would like to add some lights/fans inside my NeedOne’s. I was thinking of popping a small (1/2”) hole in the side, down low and towards the rear. I could drill a hole in a rubber stopper to run the cords through, and then seal up the hole with the stopper. My thought is that since it’s thermoelectric, there are no cooling components or electrical wires anywhere except on the back. Is that true? Has anybody else done this?

 

[{tpc}]

I have not done this but I imagine you’re correct. All the thermoelectrics have seen are pretty much self contained. So much that you should be able to just pop the whole piece right out and replace it if you needed to. But all units are different.

I’d look for where the thermocouple is located and see if it has its own run into the inside or not.

I guess the only thing else is the power switch/led panel runs from the front to the back?

I would guess that there are some wires that run through the hinges to the controller stuff in the back. That’s where you want to be careful. You can probably identify the run of wire, but I’d stay away from the hinge side of the unit.

Or just get some inexpensive battery operated motion led “pucks” and place them inside, surely someone has to make those.

 

[CigarStone]

^^^^^ Plus one

I would look the unit over really good to see if you can find wires already going in and see if you can add yours.

I also think USB rechargeable stuff might work. I put one of these in my bourbon bar so when you open the doors it comes on, and the other one on the bottom of my tonneau cover so when I open the tailgate it comes on.

 

[MX]

^^^^^ Plus one

I would look the unit over really good to see if you can find wires already going in and see if you can add yours.

I also think USB rechargeable stuff might work. I put one of these in my bourbon bar so when you open the doors it comes on, and the other one on the bottom of my tonneau cover so when I open the tailgate it comes on.

View attachment 93946

how is the on in your truck holding up

 

[CigarStone]

how is the on in your truck holding up

The battery was dying and I found out that there are two straps hanging down which made the light constantly come on. I velcroed those down and it's great now.

 

[dawgie34203]

Thanks for the ideas! As far as the lights go, I’m looking at something that’s always on, to be used as accent lighting. I originally tried the “pucks”, but since they never shut off, it seemed like I was constantly pulling them out to recharge.

This is what I have now. I ran the strip light from inside to outside down by the bottom hinge, but I had to leave some slack to be able to open the door all the way. That slack flexes and pinches every time I open and close the door, and that’s where the one in my other unit failed.

 

[rbbrock]

Thanks for the ideas! As far as the lights go, I’m looking at something that’s always on, to be used as accent lighting. I originally tried the “pucks”, but since they never shut off, it seemed like I was constantly pulling them out to recharge.

This is what I have now. I ran the strip light from inside to outside down by the bottom hinge, but I had to leave some slack to be able to open the door all the way. That slack flexes and pinches every time I open and close the door, and that’s where the one in my other unit failed.

View attachment 93948

Interesting thing with the always on, and though certainly quite anecdotal and probably not applicable to the type of lights you're using anyway:

Last night Noel Rojas did a Q&A livestream and when asked about cigar storage he talked about how he had left/forgotten a box of cigars under his sink for something like six months to a year, and when he found them he felt they smoked noticeably better than others of the same cigar that he had. He attributed that to them being exposed to zero light. YMMV, FWIW, grain of salt, etc.