Boat lighting

[bmk]

Going to add some deck / accent lighting on my 16' tracker deep v. I would like to see pictures of what some of you have done.

 

[Steve91T]

Here's mine. I love them. Blue LED's in the factory interior "courtesy" lights. And a recently added blue boat plug 8000 lumens led light with remote. It's so fun at night to go swimming.

 

[bashr52]

No Title

Hard to take a clear picture at night with a cell phone camera, in the dark, at a glowing object, but you get the picture. LED rope lighting along the entire length of the interior, can change to any color/pattern/flash/fade, etc. Single LED strip light on canopy, can be either white or blue.

 

[bruceb58]

This is on a pontoon. They sell these metal extrusions on Amazon. Just put the strips inside.

 

[further]

LED strip lighting kit from xkglow that I can control from my phone in a metal channel similar to Bruce's setup and a Diablo LED drain plug

 

[manitobaregal]

I'm hoping to do some accent lighting similar to this. How are the led drain plugs to install? Is this possible on a boat that is pulled out of the water after the weekend? How usable is the drain plug if it has the led light?

 

[Steve91T]

I'm hoping to do some accent lighting similar to this. How are the led drain plugs to install? Is this possible on a boat that is pulled out of the water after the weekend? How usable is the drain plug if it has the led light?

I think "further" and I have the same led plug. I just installed mind last week and the pics I posted was the first time using it. Right now mind is hard wired to the 2nd battery with a $12 IR remote. I can be in the house with my boat in the driveway and turn the light on and off. It works well. Right now, as a temp solution, I unscrew the LED and zip tie it to a hydraulic hose. It'll still drain while on the trailer and it's secure. When I use the boat again, I'll just snip the zip tie and screw in. I'd like to install some nice connectors to allow me to remove it.

 

[manitobaregal]

I think "further" and I have the same led plug. I just installed mind last week and the pics I posted was the first time using it. Right now mind is hard wired to the 2nd battery with a $12 IR remote. I can be in the house with my boat in the driveway and turn the light on and off. It works well. Right now, as a temp solution, I unscrew the LED and zip tie it to a hydraulic hose. It'll still drain while on the trailer and it's secure. When I use the boat again, I'll just snip the zip tie and screw in. I'd like to install some nice connectors to allow me to remove it.

I'm definitely going to try one of these out. Thanks for the great idea!

 

[further]

Ive had mine since last season and it works well. Definitely not as bright as permanent transom mount lights but good enough for me I wired mine to the navigation lights since they're only used at night anyway so when I turn them on the drain plug light goes on. I trailer my boat so when its parked the plug just hangs by the wire. When im ready to head to the lake, I put the plug in and leave it in until I get back home.

 

[s.hadley81]

Here's my little thundercraft that I used two 6" waterproof LEDs I think there is 8 LEDs in each enclosure. I primarily fish at night so I wanted a true white light not the blue, I can tie rigs and land fish without even really using my headlamp.

 

[s.hadley81]

I also put one in the bow that I switched separately from the back because it is a bit bright (the pic makes it look worse). I also don't run with them on because they really screw up your night Vision.

 

[90stingray]

No Title

I didn't have any good place to hide lights under the sides so I removed the speakers and added led speaker ring lights. They are the RGB LEDs so they will do any color you want. Pretty cool at night.

 

[Ned L]

I wired mine to the navigation lights since they're only used at night anyway so when I turn them on the drain plug light goes on.

Hmmmm,....I hope they wouldn't in any way be visible from another boat.

 

[Redrig]

Dang . Great thread and awesome looking lighting guys !

I love the drain led idea , never seen those before .

Does anyone know if they attract fish ? Do they make them in green like the fishing lights Made specifically to attract fish ?

 

[Baylinerchuck]

No Title

I installed these in my Bayliner and more recently in my Chaparral. These are water proof led strips that I put in clear plastic tubing and attached to the side pads so the light comes out the pockets. This is a really cool effect. I control this with the included remote. Believe it or not, it cost me less than $20.00. I ordered the roll from Banggood and an extra controller since I had to cut the ribbon in half, one half for each side. The little controller is not water proof, so it needed to be mounted out of splash range. I chose to cover my controller circuit board in epoxy, (just in case). These LEDs are extremely bright. The color combinations is almost endless since you can control the intensity of each color. You really can't beat the cost for a cool DIY project.

 

[further]

Hmmmm,....I hope they wouldn't in any way be visible from another boat.

Do you mean as a distraction? Not bright enough. It's in the water beneath the Outdrive so really not much to distract other boaters if that's what you were inferring.

 

[further]

Dang . Great thread and awesome looking lighting guys !

I love the drain led idea , never seen those before .

Does anyone know if they attract fish ? Do they make them in green like the fishing lights Made specifically to attract fish ?

They do make them in green and I've heard they do attract fish.

 

[Ned L]

Do you mean as a distraction? Not bright enough. It's in the water beneath the Outdrive so really not much to distract other boaters if that's what you were inferring.

Nothing about "distraction". When operating your boat at night (with the navigation lights on) ONLY the navigation lights should be visible to other boats. Showing other lights can be very confusing to other boats. They can't figure out what you are or what you are doing. It is also illegal.

Green lights (also mentioned) could be even worse. ..... Imagine you are out at night and see a green light (expecting it to be another boat's Stbd running light), so you properly hold coarse and speed, only to realize (hopefully) before you run them over that it was some sort of "accent" lighting.

 

[Steve91T]

Nothing about "distraction". When operating your boat at night (with the navigation lights on) ONLY the navigation lights should be visible to other boats. Showing other lights can be very confusing to other boats. They can't figure out what you are or what you are doing. It is also illegal.

Green lights (also mentioned) could be even worse. ..... Imagine you are out at night and see a green light (expecting it to be another boat's Stbd running light), so you properly hold coarse and speed, only to realize (hopefully) before you run them over that it was some sort of "accent" lighting.

The light is below the water. Nobody, especially from a distance, can see the light. I asked the cops doing safety checks and he said it's fine, even under way, as long as it doesn't interfere with the nav lights.

When underway, the water is churned up and reflects the white nav light. You can't see any blue at all. And that's us looking from inside the boat.

 

[Ned L]

I asked the cops doing safety checks and he said it's fine, even under way, as long as it doesn't interfere with the nav lights.

Sounds fine. ....seems I wasn't the only one with the concern. Lol