Andy S
Jetboaters Admiral
- Messages
- 2,843
- Reaction score
- 3,302
- Points
- 332
- Location
- Chapin, SC 29036
- Boat Make
- Cobalt
- Year
- 2016
- Boat Model
- Other
- Boat Length
- 25
For the 2014 Bimini trip I decided to install some underwater LED's. I seriously thought about purchasing and installing the Abyss LED's that were being offered on the board but I wanted a larger LED in the center and I was to cheap to pay for the large Abyss. After doing plenty of research I ended up choosing Coastal Night Light LED, http://www.coastalnightlights.com/. My decision was based on price, quality and the fact that my boat does not sit in the water plus most of my boating will be done in fresh water so I did not need a stainless case with super hard glass, plastic would do just fine.
In the process of wiring for the new LED's I also installed a battery switch, fuse block, relay for the LED's, a positive bus bar, and 2 negative bus bars (one for the battery, engines, factory accessory grounds, and 2 second ground bus, the second ground bus is for all additional ground needs). During wiring I removed the factor accessory fuse holder and wired it to the new fuse block. The attached Word document has my wiring schematic. The positive bus is a dual bus from Blue Sea, http://www.bluesea.com/products/2722/DualBus_Plus_150A_BusBar_-_1_4in-20_Stud_5_Gang. Normally this is used for have one side as a positive bus and the other as a ground bus. In my case I used one side as a unswitched (direct from the battery) positive bus and the other as a switched (after the newly installed battery switch) positive bus. The blade fuse block holds 8 fuses, I only needed 6, and ordered it off eBay. I used a relay to activated the LED's so that the actual power would be a short run, from new fuse block to stern. This way I did not have to run power from the new fuse block to the helm and back to the stern. Since to energize the relay doesn't take much current I tapped the courtesy light circuit behind the dash to provide the relay firing power and installed a switch on the dash (sorry no pictures of the dash switch yet).
I decided to go with 2 model DL's on the outside of each jet and 1 DS in between the jets, http://coastalnightlights.com/Gen3-UW-Lights.html. Even though these lights are rectangular, the light pattern is focused into spot light. Prior to installing I was concerned that if I mounted the DL's directly to the sloping hull that the light would be focused downward and limit the effectiveness. I contacted Chris at Coastal about this issue and he said that direct mount to the hull would be okay. Got to give a good feedback about Chris at Coastal, I contacted him a couple of time and he was always prompt, curtious and helpful with his response, much like dealing with Will at JetboatPilot. There was another company I was thinking about purchasing from, I think @Bruce actually used them, but after reading a bunch of negative reviews on other forums about his attitude I decided against his products. Even though Chris at Coastal told me I necessarily did not need to shim my DL LED, I decided to do it anyways, I can be hard headed and over engineering at times. The shims are PVC board (used for house trim) cut at 15 degree angle. Each light has 2 15 degree shims for a total of 30 degree of shimming. The PVC was easy to cut on the table saw. I glued the 2 shims together and mounted the them to the hull with 2 stainless steel screws and used 4200 caulk around all the edges. The LED's are mounted directly to the PVC shims and again all the edges are caulked with 4200. The only thru hull hole is a 1/4" for the LED wire. After a week in saltwater and probably 200 miles of boating to, from, and around Bimini, the installation held up perfectly.
I have got to say I am thorouhgly impressed with the performance of these LED's. In our marina at Bimini there were many big boats with LED's on and my install would definitely compete for brightness.
@woodard1983
Picture of wiring
Pictures of the LED's mounted
Now the money shots of the lights in action at the marina in Bimini. Unfortunately I don't have any shots of them on with the boat moving. I also don't at this time have any shots of them on in the lake. The interior blue LED's and the ones under the swim platform seat backs where done a couple of years ago.
In the process of wiring for the new LED's I also installed a battery switch, fuse block, relay for the LED's, a positive bus bar, and 2 negative bus bars (one for the battery, engines, factory accessory grounds, and 2 second ground bus, the second ground bus is for all additional ground needs). During wiring I removed the factor accessory fuse holder and wired it to the new fuse block. The attached Word document has my wiring schematic. The positive bus is a dual bus from Blue Sea, http://www.bluesea.com/products/2722/DualBus_Plus_150A_BusBar_-_1_4in-20_Stud_5_Gang. Normally this is used for have one side as a positive bus and the other as a ground bus. In my case I used one side as a unswitched (direct from the battery) positive bus and the other as a switched (after the newly installed battery switch) positive bus. The blade fuse block holds 8 fuses, I only needed 6, and ordered it off eBay. I used a relay to activated the LED's so that the actual power would be a short run, from new fuse block to stern. This way I did not have to run power from the new fuse block to the helm and back to the stern. Since to energize the relay doesn't take much current I tapped the courtesy light circuit behind the dash to provide the relay firing power and installed a switch on the dash (sorry no pictures of the dash switch yet).
I decided to go with 2 model DL's on the outside of each jet and 1 DS in between the jets, http://coastalnightlights.com/Gen3-UW-Lights.html. Even though these lights are rectangular, the light pattern is focused into spot light. Prior to installing I was concerned that if I mounted the DL's directly to the sloping hull that the light would be focused downward and limit the effectiveness. I contacted Chris at Coastal about this issue and he said that direct mount to the hull would be okay. Got to give a good feedback about Chris at Coastal, I contacted him a couple of time and he was always prompt, curtious and helpful with his response, much like dealing with Will at JetboatPilot. There was another company I was thinking about purchasing from, I think @Bruce actually used them, but after reading a bunch of negative reviews on other forums about his attitude I decided against his products. Even though Chris at Coastal told me I necessarily did not need to shim my DL LED, I decided to do it anyways, I can be hard headed and over engineering at times. The shims are PVC board (used for house trim) cut at 15 degree angle. Each light has 2 15 degree shims for a total of 30 degree of shimming. The PVC was easy to cut on the table saw. I glued the 2 shims together and mounted the them to the hull with 2 stainless steel screws and used 4200 caulk around all the edges. The LED's are mounted directly to the PVC shims and again all the edges are caulked with 4200. The only thru hull hole is a 1/4" for the LED wire. After a week in saltwater and probably 200 miles of boating to, from, and around Bimini, the installation held up perfectly.
I have got to say I am thorouhgly impressed with the performance of these LED's. In our marina at Bimini there were many big boats with LED's on and my install would definitely compete for brightness.
@woodard1983
Picture of wiring
Pictures of the LED's mounted
Now the money shots of the lights in action at the marina in Bimini. Unfortunately I don't have any shots of them on with the boat moving. I also don't at this time have any shots of them on in the lake. The interior blue LED's and the ones under the swim platform seat backs where done a couple of years ago.
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