Pontoon accent lighting?

flyguy767

Cadet
Joined
Jun 23, 2013
Messages
7
Looking at adding accent light to my toon? Ideas on Neon verse LED rope lighting etc, and installation difficulty. I've seen pontoons at night and the lights really make the boat stand out, seem like good addition to anchor lighting. I would need 12V set up and ideas on where to shop also for these lights. Better to buy a pre-cut set or put light set up together myself?
 

Soonercycle

Recruit
Joined
Jul 8, 2013
Messages
2
Re: Pontoon accent lighting?

I personally would go with the led light strips. 12v dc set up that you already should have. You an find everything on eBay. Super cheap and very easy to install.
 

dls322

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
380
Re: Pontoon accent lighting?

Neon is old technology when it comes to underlighting. Go with LED. You can get them cheap online. Much cheaper to make your own "kit". LEDS last longer and take less battery power than neon.
 

Wirenut8

Cadet
Joined
Jun 25, 2012
Messages
14
Re: Pontoon accent lighting?

Be careful, I read somewhere that having those LED (or any source) of underlighting is against coast guard rules. Something along the lines of any lights that can be mistaken for navigation lights are prohibited. There was a whole long sting of posts about it. I think it was ok if you were docked but not in open water. Just a thought
 

Bamaman1

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
1,895
Re: Pontoon accent lighting?

There are a number of companies selling LED lights that specialize in marine and auto use. They have a controller that is wired in that can change colors and brightness.

Many of those putting LED's will also install them under pontoon decks and even on the back end underwater. And prices are coming down.
 

Soonercycle

Recruit
Joined
Jul 8, 2013
Messages
2
Re: Pontoon accent lighting?

Thanks for the update on the coast guard rules. I'll have to look into that.
 

philmay75

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Nov 4, 2008
Messages
31
Re: Pontoon accent lighting?

I just finished accent lighting on my 26' bennington toon. Installation was pretty easy, and it looks great IMHO. We ran 25' of RGB 5050 waterproof LED strips down the inside of the aluminum trim, pointing at the pontoon. Coated the strip pretty generously with clear silicone, as much to ensure the adhesion as to ensure the water-proofing. Also, I installed the same strips under the boat couch seats, and again siliconed them in for adhesion.

My control board consisted of a "Music box" controller, 3 repeaters, a switch to turn off inside, or outside independently, and of course the fuses. The music box will beat/flash or fade with the music you are playing, or you can do some other independant stuff too, like set it to steady white or blue or a variety of diff colors. We got everything off of amazon.

We love it, and honestly, we did it as much for safety as for how awesome it looks. 4th of july tends to get crazy, and we were glad to know that we could be seen VERY well, and probably werent going to get hit. I'd be happy to post up some pics or provide any additional info.
 

philmay75

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Nov 4, 2008
Messages
31
Re: Pontoon accent lighting?

Flyguy,

Thanks for the PM, I'll post some pics up here, in case someone else happens across the thread, and shoot you a reply back with my email. These arent the best pics, because I have an old iThing. :cool:

Here's a vid of testing the control board with some small led strips. The music box has a "mic" on it that picks up the music, no need to wire it into the stereo.


This is a pic of testing the outside after we got it installed.

photo 1.JPG

Heres a pic of the inside front couches. We also installed the lighted cupholders...gotta find your drink in the dark, you know. :joyous:

photo 3.JPG
 

philmay75

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Nov 4, 2008
Messages
31
Re: Pontoon accent lighting?

iboats gently reminded me only one video per message. haha...so...

Finally, here's a vid of it on the water.


I'll try to get some pics of the installation. But basically I have a deep cycle battery and the control board underneath the console, and for the inside, I ran the wire using the existing holes where the wires to each speaker were run. The music box is run to a switch on the console to turn the whole thing on or off. The repeaters are on separate switches on the board.

I'll see if I can put together a list of parts I used.

Hope this helps.
 

WaterDR

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
730
Re: Pontoon accent lighting?

For the most part, you can't have any exterior lighting on any boat other than navigation lights. Certainly, anything that interferes with the visibility and recogniztion of your navigation lights will get you a ticket. This includes anytime you use these lights either at anchor or while underway.

As a boat owner, you probably need to understand your personal situation and where you boat and how rigidly enforced the area is. Some of us are on lakes where you don't see a conservation officer during the entire year. Where we boat, you can barely go out w/o seeing either a conservation officer or a sherif. They are everywhere. In fact, I dock right next to the DNR, Sherif and city police boat. I just asked them about these lights last week and was basically told that they are all illegal but they were going easy on them in the bay during the fourth of july. They expressed particular concern about stripe lights mounted near the water or on the same plain as navigation light as apposed to lights that might be on a fence rail.

They put it like this...."The law states that you must have the required lighs while at anchor or underway. If you have additiional lights to the point where the proper navigation lights can't be seen or interpreted correctly, you will get stopped and cited."

I like these lights....they look cool and would be really fun at anchor when swimming at night. I am just not sure if I want to take the risk. My initial thought is that staying completely away from navigation colors is probably the best bet. For example, using blue or purple lights is probably a lot safer than say green or red even if the green and red ropes are used on the correct side of the boat.

Would be good to hear from law enforcement.

Bad thing about getting stopped (as most of us know), you never want to give them an excuse. Once they stop you, you open yourself up to a bunch of other questions.
 

philmay75

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Nov 4, 2008
Messages
31
Re: Pontoon accent lighting?

Some great comments by WaterDR. On our lake the LEOs are pretty laid back, as long as you arent running underway with red or green lights on. When we prepare to go underway, we always switch to solid blue and turn the intensity down some. While anchored in party cove, we turn it back to some fun fades, or flashing with music.

Before I put my accent lighting on, I spent some time talking to other boaters that I saw that had accent lighting (quite a few of them on our lake) and asked them about their experience with LEOs on the lake. That was helpful, as most all of them said, "I've never had a problem, just dont use red or green, or super bright lights underway." I also talked to local texas parks and wildlife and local PD with the same questions, and they said the same.

Each Lake and local LE is different. So +1 for the above comment.
 

abuzzon

Recruit
Joined
May 29, 2017
Messages
2
does anyone know how to turn off the cup holder lights on a 2017 bennington pontoon boat?
 

clemsonfor

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Sep 19, 2005
Messages
1,011
does anyone know how to turn off the cup holder lights on a 2017 bennington pontoon boat?

Zombie thread!!

Would be best to start your own thread. And not hijack anothers thread. Possibly you could add a switch into the main line though .
 

abuzzon

Recruit
Joined
May 29, 2017
Messages
2
Sorry ,new to this forum thing but just couldnt find where to find a start for a new thread..thanks for ur reply.
 
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