Using a Rivet Gun to Mount a New Scamp LED Bathroom Light

Using a Rivet Gun to Mount a New Scamp LED Bathroom Light

Warning:  always use eyewear protection when working with tools!

Having a bright LED light in the Scamp bathroom is great.  Our 2020 Scamp 13’ came with a large oval 12V light (about 6 inches long, 3.5 inches wide) by Dream Lighting.  The light is energy efficient (4.5 Watts), very bright (300 lumen) for the Scamp’s small bathroom and lightweight (less than 3 ounces).   LED lights are especially nice because they don’t require a lot of energy to run and they usually last a very long time.  That’s why when our bathroom LED light started malfunctioning (flickering, dim, only partially lighting), it was surprising.  Fortunately, this light is very inexpensive (currently $11 on Amazon) so replacing it seemed like the easiest thing to do (vs. trying to repair).  I did pop open the cover and flipped the switch a few times to see if it could be something obvious.  However, the problem wasn’t apparent and it could easily be a circuit board issue (as all the LEDs sometimes would occasionally light, but often very faintly).

Replacing the LED light with an identical light from one purchased on Amazon seemed like it would be super straightforward.  My thoughts were that I would just unscrew the existing bad light, remove the wire nuts from the black (positive) and white (negative) wires, and attach the new wire leads from the lamp to the Scamp wiring, and then screw the new one in.  However, as is often the case with travel trailers, things aren’t always as they seem.  Once I popped open the light’s opaque white plastic cover, I noticed some strange metal tubes coming out of each end of the lamps’ mounting holes.  I called Scamp and they explained that the LED lamp is riveted to the wall.  After they explained why Scamp uses rivets on their trailers, it made perfect sense.  Rivets don’t usually loosen with vibration (which happens to bolts when driving). They are also good for joining parts where there is little separation between them.  The downside is that installing them generally requires a special tool (rivet gun), some learning, and often a drill to drill out the existing rivet (if replacing something already riveted in place, like the old Scamp LED shower light).

Fortunately, rivet guns are relatively inexpensive and I thought that since so many things on the Scamp are riveted, it would be nice to have a rivet gun for potential future use (also, I don’t know anyone who has a rivet gun I can borrow!).  It’s not the most popular tool these days (unless you hang out with RV veterans who like working on their rigs).  After doing a little research, I discovered that rivets are pretty common in RVs, often used on aluminum siding, hinges, latches, and many things attached to the RV walls.  While working on this project, I took a close look at the outside of our Scamp and noticed many white plastic rivet caps!  So, it seems many items inside the Scamp are riveted in place from the outside of the trailer.

The rivet gun I ordered also comes with 200 aluminum rivets (50 of each of the four most common sizes) and four drill bits (used to drill out already mounted rivets).  The rivet gun has four different head attachments which accommodates each size rivet [3/32”(2.4mm), 1/8”(3.4mm), 5/32”(4.0mm), and 3/16”(4.8mm)].  I was told by Scamp that the bathroom LED light utilizes 3/16” (4.8mm) rivets which are also 9/16” long.  The first thing I did was remove the opaque white cover on the existing bad LED lamp, then I removed the two white plastic caps covering the rivet heads inside the upper cabinet on the opposite side of the wall of the shower, and I utilized the 3/16” drill bit to drill out the rivet heads (x2) (this size bit easily drills through the 3/16” rivet head).  I found the bit quickly cut through the rivet head with little effort (since they are aluminum) and the heads wound up on the bit.  When the second head was drilled off, the bad bathroom LED light came off the wall and dangled, supported by its wiring.

Removing the bad bathroom LED light was simple once it was off the wall.  I simply removed the two wire nuts (making sure not to let the white and black wires touch each other to avoid a short circuit).  Before installing the new LED light, it was easy to test it by connecting it to the two wires (white to white and black to black).  After verifying the new LED light worked well, I removed it and took it to the work bench.  The two plastic mounting holes on each end needed to be slightly drilled out (they are a little too small in diameter for the 3/16’ to fit through).  I first removed the white opaque LED light cover so I wouldn’t accidently drill through it from behind.  Then, I used the same 3/16” drill bit I used to drill out the old rivet heads and I drilled out the two holes from the back of the LED light so the 3/16” rivets were able to fit through the holes (the long rod, or mandrel, goes into the rivet gun and then other end of the rivet goes through the cabinet wall and then through the back of the LED bathroom light holes).

Everything seemed to be going very smoothly.  I even tested a sample 3/16” rivet on the bad LED light (I had to drill out the plastic hole like on the new one).  To operate the gun, just place the long metal rod (mandrel) into the front of the rivet gun, put the rivet through the items that you want to join, and then squeeze the trigger multiple times until the rod breaks off (it takes some strength) (watch my attached video).  When squeezing the trigger, the head of the rivet compresses the rivet’s body (shortening and widening it) and pulls tightly together the two items being joined.  It’s here that I encountered an issue.  The 3/16” (4.8mm) diameter rivets I was using, which came with the rivet gun, were too short!  They didn’t have enough length to go all the way through the shower wall and plastic LED light mounting holes.  I reviewed my notes and found that Scamp mentioned that the length of the rivets they use for the LED shower light are 9/16”.  The ones that came with the rivet gun are the same diameter, 3/16”(4.8mm), but only 5/16”long, not counting the rivet head.  And, they would be even shorter once compressed by the rivet gun.

I couldn’t find 3/16”(4.8mm) rivets with 9/16” length on Amazon, so I ordered ones advertised as 3/16” x 5/8”since 5/8” or 10/16” is very close.  They showed up the next day (got to love Amazon!) but things were not as they seemed!  The rivet body on the new ones looked really long and I measured them to be 13/16” long!  The label on the package was clearly printed showing 3/16” x 5/8”.  Dumfounded, I searched online and found that the first measurement of the listed rivet size is the diameter (which is what I expected), but the second measurement is the “maximum grip range” and not the rivet length (despite what some of the Amazon sellers show on their charts).

The story thickens.  As it turns out, the “grip range” is the range of thicknesses that the rivet can hold together once it is compacted by a rivet gun.  For example, if one is riveting two pieces of material together and the two pieces together will be 5/16” thick then you will need a rivet with a grip range that covers that thickness. A rivet with a grip range of 4/16” – 6/16” would be a match since 5/16” thickness falls in the middle of the range.  A rivet with a smaller grip range would be too short to hold the pieces together and one with a larger grip range would hold the pieces together, but would be too loose (allowing separation of the parts).  The thickness of the materials for the LED bathroom light and Scamp wall is around 6/16” (I measured by inserting a wire rod through the cabinet wall hole and all the way through the thickness of the LED lamp as it was held against the shower wall.  I used a marker to mark the length of wire which I then measured with a ruler, see video).  Upon speaking to Scamp a second time, I was told that the industry number of the rivet they use for the LED bathroom light is a #6-6 rivet.  The first number is the diameter in 32nds – so, 6 is equal to 6/32” or 3/16” diameter.  The second number refers to the maximum grip length in 16ths – so 6 is equal to 6/16”.  This is the maximum length to which the rivet body will compress.  So, the #6-6 rivet Scamp uses has a maximum grip length of 6/16” which will accommodate the thickness of the LED shower light materials I estimated at 6/16”.  So, it would make sense then that the first rivets I ordered on Amazon which had a maximum grip range of 5/8” (or 10/16”) would have been too long for the thickness of the materials (around 6/16” thick) and the LED bathroom light would probably have just dangled from the wall if those were used.  I ordered the #6-6 rivets and they worked perfectly — just the right size to hold the LED bathroom light tightly against the bathroom wall.

The hardest part of a rivet project is figuring out the correct size of rivets to use.  Once that is known, then actually using the rivet gun and attaching the rivets is very easy.  I positioned the LED bathroom light wiring behind the light so that the wiring nuts were tucked inside the recessed area in order to get the light body to sit flatly against the wall.  Then, I inserted each rivet into the hole, squeezed the handle on the rivet gun several times until the mandrel fell off, and that was it!  The LED bathroom light attached really tightly against the shower wall!  Of course, there are many other items in the Scamp 13’ that use rivets, and armed with this new knowledge and a new rivet gun, we look forward to the next riveting project!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly.