Adding LED Lights TO Engine Room

L

Lazy Daze

Well-Known Member
TECHNICAL Contributor
Apr 21, 2009
18,930
PA
Boat Info
Various
Engines
Various
Well, this is nothing new... it's all been done before (a little BNL there!). But, this was a relatively cheap mod and just took a little time to plan things out. In the end, it made a nice addition to be able to actually see where I'm going or what I'm working on in the little engine room. The lights and the switch were both bought from Oznium dot com. Anyways, here's my shaky video!

[video=youtube;yW_Vp5Z1wZw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW_Vp5Z1wZw[/video]
 
Last edited:
I did this on my last boat, very cheap but well worth it.
 
Good idea and an excellent job. I've been wearing my "Snap On" head light when I'm down there but it does have a tendency to get in the way. Nice clean bilge too. Questions; Roughly how many feet of the LED tubing did you use, and, Is the milk crate on the port side actually mounted to the deck or does it stay there on it's own?
 
Love it! .......I will be doing this in the spring....thanks Dennis.
 
Mark posted a link I started in Sept. The only problem I see with the lights I found is , I believe they have a transformer. We have the same brand in our truck at work that's where I found them. The truck has a giant inverter so the lights may be wired directly to it I have to check Monday. Still Dennis nice find
 
I added LED strip lighting around the entire circumference of my engine room - it really is a great thing to have on board. There are some details and a pic or two in my blog. I also changed the 4 existing ER lamps to LED bulbs, so those are still in there too. No more shadows, and I can even see under the engines when they are on.

Dale
 
Thanks, guys. I used (3) 18" long tubes and (3) 9" long tubes, attached at key areas.

The milk crate is screwed down to the bilge "shelf". Makes a great place to keep extra oil/fluid/tools/supplies/etc.
 
That looks really nice. What lights did you use at Oznium? White? Did you wire all to a common point or do the lights give you the ability to daisy chain?

Thanks for the video - Mark
 
Mark, I used the Tri-Chip LED tube (look under the "home" section). I think I used the "warm white" ones. And, yes, they daisy chain together. I had to get some extensions, depending on the distance between the lights.
 
While LED lighting in the bilge may seem like a great idea just remember that most of these LED strips do not meet SAE J1171 (ignition protection). The ones in a tube may be a little better but those ones in an exposed strip are definatly not something I would have in my bilge. It you get a load dump those LEDs are going to all be popping off with a small bang. If youre lucky they won't casue a lager bang but be very aware that LEDs and the resistors on that srip can fail under overvoltage surge conditions.
 
Westie said:
While LED lighting in the bilge may seem like a great idea just remember that most of these LED strips do not meet SAE J1171 (ignition protection). The ones in a tube may be a little better but those ones in an exposed strip are definatly not something I would have in my bilge. It you get a load dump those LEDs are going to all be popping off with a small bang. If youre lucky they won't casue a lager bang but be very aware that LEDs and the resistors on that srip can fail under overvoltage surge conditions.
Click to expand...
While I have not done much searching yet, I have not come across LED strips specifically for engine room. I have found a light fixture stating they are specifically for the ER but at some significant high costs. Do you have a better choice? I was going to mention this earlier but after looking/studying the original fixtures, I cant imagine the LED are less safe....
 
Last edited:
I lit my engine room with waterproof LED rope lighting, and couldn't be happier. I simply ran the "rope" around the entire hatch opening, and tied the wiring into the existing light fixtures. To reduce current draw, I replaced the conventional light bulbs in the factory fixtures with LED bulbs. My total current draw now is less than before, and total light output is far higher, with no shadows or dark areas.
 
matt79 said:
I lit my engine room with waterproof LED rope lighting, and couldn't be happier. I simply ran the "rope" around the entire hatch opening, and tied the wiring into the existing light fixtures. To reduce current draw, I replaced the conventional light bulbs in the factory fixtures with LED bulbs. My total current draw now is less than before, and total light output is far higher, with no shadows or dark areas.
Click to expand...
Do you any pictures of your installation? Which lights on that website did you go with? If no pics how did you adhere them?

Westie - did you have any suggestions to my earlier question?

Thanks - Mark
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,192
Messages
1,428,271
Members
61,103
Latest member
RealMarineInc
Back
Top