Underwater LED Light Install

W

WTP07

New Member
Jul 16, 2008
219
Southwestern Ontario
Boat Info
1985 Cruisers Inc
Ultra Vee 336
Engines
T454 Crusaders - 700HP
So, I installed these this afternoon as well...

IMG_8629.jpg

IMG_8630.jpg

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Not sure how bright they will be underwater at the dock, but I can guarantee you that if you look into them, you will see nothing for quite some time. Ask me how I know. :smt021

Anyhow, these were a very inexpensive alternative to the the thru-hull ones I have seen online.

I got them from Oznium: http://www.oznium.com/marine-led-light

I will take some pics once I dunk her in a few weeks.

Cheers,

Randy.
 
Does anyone have any experience with this setup? You just have to wonder how long those wires are going to last out in the open like that. Good luck Randy, but I think that I will opt for the thru-hull lights.

~Ken
 
WTP07...

These are the exact same lights I used beneath my swim platform... Just in blue....

I chose to go the "thru-hull" route... Small hole, sealed up afterwards and have never had any leaks!

They are not submerged beneath the water line though...

I agree with you about looking directly "Into the light".... Almost burned out my retina's! Ha!

Would like to see pics of the lights "under water" if you have some!

Here's a pic of my set-up!

BlueLEDs003.jpg
 
Hey Merge... Do these lights get hot? I would be concerned they might burn out without some cooling? Have you had issues and how long have you had these installed?

I was thinking about the red ones for my 185 sport.
 
These are LED's, do they don't get hot at all. No cooling required. I actually put them in my kid's Jack-o-lanterns at halloween, they ran for 4 days on the little booster pack battery I had, that was at 1/2 charge and wouldn't hold a good charge anyway. Safe to say the draw on the 2 27-series batteries on the boat will be minimal. :grin:

Will have to see how the wiring holds up under the stress of the water at speed.

May end up moving them right on to the hull if it's a problem.

R.
 
MarkD...

I did A LOT of research before buying... I couldn't see spending $300-$1000 for lights... I ran across these at oznium.com...

They DO NOT need to be water cooled like some of the bigger lights that are available...

I've had them 4-6 months with ZERO problems... No heat issues, burn out, etc...

I've been very pleased with them... They give the "mood lighting" that I was looking for....
 
papogator24...

Installation was a breeze... Took about an hour to install the 3 lights, and that was with clean-up....

But, understand, all i had to do was tie the 3 lights into a wiring harness that I had made and installed in my boat a few years ago. That wiring harness is for all of the LED's in the the boat (click on the link in my signature for more pics).

I have them wired to their own toggle switch.. Actually two... One toggle for all of the interior blue LED's... Another toggle for the Blue LED's "outside" the boat... Under the swim platform, in the rear engine compartment vents and the 6 LED speaker rings I have on the wakeboard tower.

At one point they were ALL on one toggle switch, which turned EVERYTHING on... But while underway, blue lights (and red, for that matter) are frowned upon on the water, unless you are law enforcment. I didn't want to draw anymore attention to the boat while underway, so I installed another toggle for the "outside" lights... Now, while underway, I can run with the interiors on, no problem... When we get anchored in the evening or while stationary at the dock, I'll turn the "outside" lights on....

While at the docks I have gotten several compliments on the lights.... I think the best one yet is (and I've heard it several times, from children....)

"Mom, dad.... Look at that boat! It looks like a UFO! Can we go see it!"

Kids think it's "Cool" to be in the "Blue Light"....

Didn't mean to rant... Hope I answered your question... Very easy install....
 
Looks good, Merge. For the swim platform lights - you say small hole and sealed up afterwards... are the lights mounted from the inside and only the light is visible or is it just the wires going through the transom?
 
tdappleman....

The "small" hole is for the wires only... 22 gauge at that.... So, the hole is pretty small! I've gotten over the whole "Gosh, I'm a little nervous about drilling or cutting a hole in the boat" syndrome!

I've cut so many holes in my boat it's crazy! Let's see....

2 holes for bow speakers...

2 holes for radio remotes...

2 "Huge" holes for the aft seat coolers.... (those two made me a bit nervous!)

I live by "Measure twice, Cut once".... But more so than often.... I measure 6-7 times, then cut....

It makes me feel better!

Drilling the 3 "small" holes in the transom for the wires was easy!

As you can tell from WTP07's pics, the housings that the LED's are mounted in are "Easy on the eye's", so I had no problem with them being out in the open... You don't see them anyway because they are tucked so far beneath the swim platform!

Hope this answered your question!
 
do you have a picture of your boat in the water showing the lights? How bright are they in the water?
 
No, not yet....

I installed the lights right at the end of last season and didn't get any pics but...

We're planning on being out on the water this Monday... In the evening.... I'll snap some pics and get them posted up for all to see....
 
Just got some pics last night of my latest project... The 6 LED plexiglass speaker rings on the tower... I fabbed them myself and saved a ton of money (you wouldn't believe what custom audio shops are charging for these things!)...

Enjoy!

Boatmods007.jpg


Boatmods005.jpg
 
I'm curious. How did you make them?

BTW, you sound system must pound big time!
 
Thanks for the compliments on the system! Yes, it does sound pretty good.. But, I'm biased...

Not trying to win any audio sound-off competitions... So, it does it's job... I'm lacking a sub at the moment (looking for some space to put one)... As soon as that's done, I'll be in good shape...

The plexi rings... I made myself.... I cut the rings from 1/2" sheet of plexi/acrylic that I ordered online.... I had already made a template from posterboard, traced the rings onto the plexi and started cutting them with my trusty jigsaw....

I thought I would have better luck with a fine tooth jigsaw blade, 18-24 tpi, but that was just not the case... The plexi/acrylic would melt back together as the blade cut thru it! All the research I did before hand stated to NOT USE a rotary tool (dremel/rotozip) because the high speeds would melt the material back to itself....

I didn't think this would be the case with a jigsaw! I ended up using a 12 tpi blade, roughed out all of the rings and then sanded them smooth to clean them up and give them a "frosted" appearance....

I already had the 6 blue LED strips from a totally different project (not boat related) and they were waterproof, so I used them...

I then drilled some holes in them that lined up with the mounting holes in the speakers, bought some longer screws, and mounted them!

We won't get into the wiring harness that I built for them... That was a whole different beast in itself!

It was a little time consuming (took about 4-5 hours to get all of the rings cut out... and that was with the "melting" problems I had!) and saved me about $350.00! I'm very pleased with them... I'm proud to say that their "Home Made"....

Again, I'll get pics on the water so you can see all of the lights in action!
 
Thats pretty cool. So how did you "finish" the outer edge of the ring? Sand it?
 
Jim...

Thanks for the compliments!

Surprisingly enough, the "finish" on the outer edge of the ring was A LOT cleaner than I ever thought it would be, being cut with a jigsaw and all!

I don't think I could have gotten a cleaner outer edge unless I would have used a router and jig or had them machined somewhere...

The jigsaw cut them very well, and I simply finished them up with a few rounds of sandpaper!
 
Damn, this thread just gave me a ton of new ideas. Very nice!
 
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