Underwater Lights in fresh water

[Too Young]

Has anyone installed or messed around with underwater lights on the great lakes that might have any pointers? I'm on lake Erie so the water can get some algae on occasion. I was curious what colors work/look best in fresh water. I was also concerned with bugs and may flies if anyone had any trouble with them when the lights were on. And what are some good brands, I see a lot of stuff for OceanLED.

 

[DougLas]

Green or white are best for Lake Erie. Remember you are only lighting the water for ambiance nothing else. So how much does one need to spend to light up the water. $50 or $1000.

 

[tc410]

I have super bright xenon's on my Sea Ray and SeaBlaze X LED's on my Scout. Nothing beats the xenon's as far as brightness - they light up the entire area around my slip and all the way across the "fairway" to the other slips. I have had other boaters ask me to turn them off a few times because they were glowing through their portholes. The LED's are bright too, but they don't project out as far as the xenon's. With all this said, we boat in northwest Michigan where the water is crystal clear and as blue and beautiful as the Caribbean. Lake Erie is a different story so your results will likely vary. And I will tell you this - they DO attract bugs.... LOTS of bugs. Especially during hatch times.

 

[boater4life]

HID lamps will aid in keeping the algae from collecting on the lens, if you turn them on. LED's will not.

 

[Pachanga Boy]

best bet is blue or green, the white ones I've seen have a funny greenish brown haze and red just looks plain brown. I ran a set of these which in the day (3 years ago) were the best bang for the buck. I think there are better and cheaper versions out now that pump out a little more light.
http://www.coastalnightlights.com/
at my marina the light only projected back maybe 5-10 feet. it was little better at the islands.
Picture from middle bass. if I had to do it again I would have saved my money:/

 

[DougLas]

Boater4life if the LED's have the marine coating on them they will not grow algae as bad. The plus to LED's they take way less power to run.

 

[Too Young]

Thanks, I've been thinking about it for a few years now and keep talking myself out of it. Between the bugs and the cost not sure its worth the money. It does look nice at the dock though.

 

[DougLas]

As a manufacturer of LED underwater lights I have found that high dollar lights are high dollar lights they do the job of lighting the water behind the boat. Less expensive lights light up the water behind the boat. Question here: does one really want to pay to light up the water under the boats docked across the marina and pay the extra money to do it. Underwater lights are just like any other new item on the boat they are really fun when new, after a few months comes the question were the high dollar ones really worth it. Now that they are not as much of a unique item as when new and ones interest has went elsewhere.

 

[trit21]

The problem with inexpensive lights from what I have seen is that they burned out more frequently than lights that are engineered a little better. When light burns out (goes out) the problem is not the warranty as most will replace the light in a given time period. The problem is for those of us that keep our boats in the water 365/24/7. It is costly to have the boat pulled, blocked, someone to change the light and relaunched. For that fact, I like to use something with a little better track record and a manufacturer that has engineered the correct housing and not something cheap. I am not saying the expensive lights don't go out but from what I see at our marina, the cheap one seem to go out more often than the more expensive 'name brand' lights. We are all proud of our boats and have a lot of money tied up in them and to spend a couple more thousand dollars on lights (if that is what you want) should not be an issue. If it is, then maybe you shouldn't get lights at all. IMO>

 

[TheWolfTC]

I have super bright xenon's on my Sea Ray and SeaBlaze X LED's on my Scout. Nothing beats the xenon's as far as brightness - they light up the entire area around my slip and all the way across the "fairway" to the other slips. I have had other boaters ask me to turn them off a few times because they were glowing through their portholes. The LED's are bright too, but they don't project out as far as the xenon's. With all this said, we boat in northwest Michigan where the water is crystal clear and as blue and beautiful as the Caribbean. Lake Erie is a different story so your results will likely vary. And I will tell you this - they DO attract bugs.... LOTS of bugs. Especially during hatch times.

Great to see a fellow boater from Northwest Michigan on here! I am the Commodore for the Elk Rapids Yacht Club and our slip is 184. Stop by if you get down this way next summer!

 

[DougLas]

I fully agree. Problem you are seeing with the ones burning out they are generally ones that were not meant to be put behind a boat. These were just underwater lights. Another point to look at: If one were to check into the high dollar lights they are mostly made overseas for a lot less money then what they sold for. I get e mails all the time from oversea manufactures wanting me to retail their units. Amazing a lot of them are just like the ones being retailed for a high dollar. Just saying high dollar as we all know in today’s world does not equate to better built as much as better advertisement.
Last but not least not cutting any units down just bringing out some points, it comes down to as I said before it is up to the customer as to what they want.

 

[tc410]

Great to see a fellow boater from Northwest Michigan on here! I am the Commodore for the Elk Rapids Yacht Club and our slip is 184. Stop by if you get down this way next summer!

Hey Wolf - thanks for the invite! We will definitely be down next summer. We usally come down at least once or twice each season to fulfill the Siren Hall craving and are typically in slip 2 over near the ramp. Tough to beat the shoreside slips since we have a dog!

And likewise, look us up if you venture up towards Charlevoix. Blue hulled 500DB usually on the end of B dock - Miss T. Look forward to seeing you next summer!

 

[tc410]

It is costly to have the boat pulled, blocked, someone to change the light and relaunched....

Here's a few thoughts to that point. First, I didn't initially pay for the high dollar lights, the PO did. Second, if I were doing it myself, I would've got the same lights the PO did - I agree on spending more the first time to do the job right. Third, because the PO spent top dollar on the lights (around $2k each plus install - http://www.deepsee.com/products/hid.html ), there is no need to pull the boat for bulb changes or repair. All serviceable components are inside the hull. The lights were installed in 2006, and they have never needed a bulb changed or any other service. These are not stick-on low end LED's or other modified garden lights, these were developed by a company that specializes in underwater lighting for submarines, oil rigs, and other commercial applications.