kennetht
Jet Boat Lover
- Messages
- 85
- Reaction score
- 87
- Points
- 82
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2013
- Boat Model
- AR
- Boat Length
- 19
Hey all, so the whole reason I discovered this forum is because I was researching underwater lights for my 2013 AR190 and I came across a thread on here similar to what I was looking to install. However, I could not really find a step by step guide of how to install them and wire them, so here you go. I hope this helps whoever might be considering doing this to their boat. And best of all, this entire install only cost me roughly $140!!!!
First off, I decided to wire my lights into my stern light wiring for a few reasons. One, I wanted to use an existing rocker switch that was at my dash already. Two, I am not an electrical expert, so splicing into the stern light wiring avoided me having to wire my own switch off the battery, as well as inline fuses (because the nav/stern light rocker switch has its own breaker below it).
So here we go!
Step 1 - Install the adapter and the lights into the drain
So first, I had to purchase my lights, I went with the 1200 lumen typhon (figured I can always upgrade to bigger brighter lights later on if these arent good enough). Purchased two of them since my boat has two drain plugs.
THE TYPHON
I also had to purchase a compatible adapter, because the lights are 1/2" NPT threads, which my yamaha drain plugs are not, so therefore I had to buy this adapter. For this adapter you use the same o-ring that is on our drain plugs now. Simply remove it and put on the adapter (see photo). Cool thing with this adapter is it allows the water to drain out of the hull when the boat is out of the water, all you have to do is unscrew the light from the adapter (leaving the adapter screwed into the drain).
DRAIN PLUG ADAPTER FOR PLASTIC DRAINS
I had some trouble with this adapter screwing into the drain, the threads did not line up perfectly, but eventually I got them in securely.
Once I got the adapter screwed in, it was time to feed the wire of the led light through the adapter and into the boat, and then screw the light into the adapter.
Here is what they look like both installed into the drains. Pretty flush and nice looking install. Does not protrude out very far, and more importantly is not below the hull as to interfere with the water flowing under the hull at fast speeds.
Step 2 - Connect the wires of the led lights to the led driver
A led driver is included for each led light you purchase. Coming out of the driver it has one long wire, and one short wire coming out of it. It looks like this:
Included in your order will be a directions paper that leads you to this youtube video to show you how to wire the lights to the driver using the gel connectors that come with your order (this is very simple)
Make sure you watch this video to understand the rest of this post.
So I took the wire from the led lights (the wire is about 3-4 ft) and ran that wire up and through the transom and into the engine compartment using the holes that are already there:
To understand this next step, make sure you watched the youtube video above so you know about the short wire and long wire of the led driver
From there, I took the led drivers, and put them inside my starboard side rear seat compartment.
Then I took the short wires of the drivers and ran them through the open space and into the engine compartment to meet with the wires of the led lights. Then I spliced the positive and negative wires of the led lights to the short positive and negative wires of the drivers inside of the engine compartment using the waterproof gel connectors that you saw in the youtube video above. I then wrapped them in electric tape to secure them a bit better, as well as to do my best to make sure no moisture can get in at all what so ever.
Step 3 - Wire the long wire of the led driver to your power source
So this is where you have the option to wire the long wire of the driver either to your battery directly, or to another power source such as your stern light wiring. I went with the stern light wiring as I mentioned in the beginning of this post. I wanted to be able to control the underwater lights from my existing rocker switch up at the dash.
To do so, I used Posi Products Posi Taps (thanks for telling me about these @marcham , they worked amazing!) in order to splice into the stern light wires.
I purchased them from ebay, but here is a different link to buy from:
Posi-Products™ Wire Connectors 6 tap connectors for 10- to 22-gauge wires tap into wires without cutting them at Crutchfield
Theres a video on this site of how the wire taps work. So simple. Only negative thing is these taps are not waterproof. To help in that regard, I stuffed dielectric grease into the taps to try to waterproof them myself.
From here, I twisted the two positive long wires coming from the drivers together, as well as twisted the long negative wires together coming from the driver together. From there, I used the posi taps to splice the positive wires to the positive stern light wire, as well as splice the negative wires from the driver to the negative wire of the stern light. By looking at the next few photos, you can see the wiring inside the boat is very clearly labeled which is positive and which is negative for the stern light wires. Black is the ground, and the grey/blue is the positive. (least for my boat it is, your boat may be different, but I believe it should be labeled as well if you also own a yamaha)
And that is it, you are done! Such a simple install! And all of this for roughly $140!!!
Now my bow lights, stern light, and underwater lights are all on the same rocker switch up at my dash. Not sure how your boats are, but my boat has a dual rocker switch for my lights. I push the switch up, it illuminates my bow lights and my stern light (also will now illuminate my underwater lights due to them being wired into my stern light wires). If I push the switch down, it illuminates my stern light (as well as my under water lights). I like this option because now if I am out at the dock at night, all I have to do is remove my stern light, and put my rocker switch down, and just my underwater lights will go on.
Here is what one of the lights illuminated during the day looks like. Pretty bright I think. Ill add photos to this thread after my first night out on the water! Hopefully soon, the weather has sucked recently! Temps in the 30s and 40s today here in NYC with snow showers!!! WTFFFF lol
Note: these lights have to be submerged to stay cool, so you can not leave these lights on for very long when the boat is not in the water!!!
Lastly, I learned a lot about this stuff and what to buy from reading all 11 pages of this older thread, so thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread!
https://jetboaters.net/threads/drain-plug-led-diablo-royal.7833/
Cheers!
UPDATE 5/22/20
I decided to remove the shitty plastic drain plugs and replace with stainless steel 1/2" NPT drain plugs. Reason behind the change was the boatpluglight adapter for my drain plugs did not thread in nicely each time, and it shredded the shit out of my drains. Take a look, first picture you can see a good drain, the second one was a bad shredded drain after installing the adapters they sell. Not good, I was worried for leaks.
So I replaced with the following:
Had to drill just two new holes, as I used one of the preexisting holes that was already there from the previous drain. Used some 5200 sealant on the plug, as well as on the inside of the transom. Definitely wont be any leaks!
Also, this new plug now means I no longer need the adapters that I was previously using. The plug lights are 1/2" NPT, so they thread right into these plugs! Makes for a much cleaner looking install!
If your interested in these drain plugs, I bought them from Amazon.
UPDATE 6/21/20
Finally made it out after sunset for the first time since installing the lights. They look great! So happy with the outcome. While they aren't the brightest I've ever seen, for just over $100 I couldn't be happier!
First off, I decided to wire my lights into my stern light wiring for a few reasons. One, I wanted to use an existing rocker switch that was at my dash already. Two, I am not an electrical expert, so splicing into the stern light wiring avoided me having to wire my own switch off the battery, as well as inline fuses (because the nav/stern light rocker switch has its own breaker below it).
So here we go!
Step 1 - Install the adapter and the lights into the drain
So first, I had to purchase my lights, I went with the 1200 lumen typhon (figured I can always upgrade to bigger brighter lights later on if these arent good enough). Purchased two of them since my boat has two drain plugs.
THE TYPHON
I also had to purchase a compatible adapter, because the lights are 1/2" NPT threads, which my yamaha drain plugs are not, so therefore I had to buy this adapter. For this adapter you use the same o-ring that is on our drain plugs now. Simply remove it and put on the adapter (see photo). Cool thing with this adapter is it allows the water to drain out of the hull when the boat is out of the water, all you have to do is unscrew the light from the adapter (leaving the adapter screwed into the drain).
DRAIN PLUG ADAPTER FOR PLASTIC DRAINS
I had some trouble with this adapter screwing into the drain, the threads did not line up perfectly, but eventually I got them in securely.
Once I got the adapter screwed in, it was time to feed the wire of the led light through the adapter and into the boat, and then screw the light into the adapter.
Here is what they look like both installed into the drains. Pretty flush and nice looking install. Does not protrude out very far, and more importantly is not below the hull as to interfere with the water flowing under the hull at fast speeds.
Step 2 - Connect the wires of the led lights to the led driver
A led driver is included for each led light you purchase. Coming out of the driver it has one long wire, and one short wire coming out of it. It looks like this:
Included in your order will be a directions paper that leads you to this youtube video to show you how to wire the lights to the driver using the gel connectors that come with your order (this is very simple)
Make sure you watch this video to understand the rest of this post.
So I took the wire from the led lights (the wire is about 3-4 ft) and ran that wire up and through the transom and into the engine compartment using the holes that are already there:
To understand this next step, make sure you watched the youtube video above so you know about the short wire and long wire of the led driver
From there, I took the led drivers, and put them inside my starboard side rear seat compartment.
Then I took the short wires of the drivers and ran them through the open space and into the engine compartment to meet with the wires of the led lights. Then I spliced the positive and negative wires of the led lights to the short positive and negative wires of the drivers inside of the engine compartment using the waterproof gel connectors that you saw in the youtube video above. I then wrapped them in electric tape to secure them a bit better, as well as to do my best to make sure no moisture can get in at all what so ever.
Step 3 - Wire the long wire of the led driver to your power source
So this is where you have the option to wire the long wire of the driver either to your battery directly, or to another power source such as your stern light wiring. I went with the stern light wiring as I mentioned in the beginning of this post. I wanted to be able to control the underwater lights from my existing rocker switch up at the dash.
To do so, I used Posi Products Posi Taps (thanks for telling me about these @marcham , they worked amazing!) in order to splice into the stern light wires.
I purchased them from ebay, but here is a different link to buy from:
Posi-Products™ Wire Connectors 6 tap connectors for 10- to 22-gauge wires tap into wires without cutting them at Crutchfield
Theres a video on this site of how the wire taps work. So simple. Only negative thing is these taps are not waterproof. To help in that regard, I stuffed dielectric grease into the taps to try to waterproof them myself.
From here, I twisted the two positive long wires coming from the drivers together, as well as twisted the long negative wires together coming from the driver together. From there, I used the posi taps to splice the positive wires to the positive stern light wire, as well as splice the negative wires from the driver to the negative wire of the stern light. By looking at the next few photos, you can see the wiring inside the boat is very clearly labeled which is positive and which is negative for the stern light wires. Black is the ground, and the grey/blue is the positive. (least for my boat it is, your boat may be different, but I believe it should be labeled as well if you also own a yamaha)
And that is it, you are done! Such a simple install! And all of this for roughly $140!!!
Now my bow lights, stern light, and underwater lights are all on the same rocker switch up at my dash. Not sure how your boats are, but my boat has a dual rocker switch for my lights. I push the switch up, it illuminates my bow lights and my stern light (also will now illuminate my underwater lights due to them being wired into my stern light wires). If I push the switch down, it illuminates my stern light (as well as my under water lights). I like this option because now if I am out at the dock at night, all I have to do is remove my stern light, and put my rocker switch down, and just my underwater lights will go on.
Here is what one of the lights illuminated during the day looks like. Pretty bright I think. Ill add photos to this thread after my first night out on the water! Hopefully soon, the weather has sucked recently! Temps in the 30s and 40s today here in NYC with snow showers!!! WTFFFF lol
Note: these lights have to be submerged to stay cool, so you can not leave these lights on for very long when the boat is not in the water!!!
Lastly, I learned a lot about this stuff and what to buy from reading all 11 pages of this older thread, so thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread!
https://jetboaters.net/threads/drain-plug-led-diablo-royal.7833/
Cheers!
UPDATE 5/22/20
I decided to remove the shitty plastic drain plugs and replace with stainless steel 1/2" NPT drain plugs. Reason behind the change was the boatpluglight adapter for my drain plugs did not thread in nicely each time, and it shredded the shit out of my drains. Take a look, first picture you can see a good drain, the second one was a bad shredded drain after installing the adapters they sell. Not good, I was worried for leaks.
So I replaced with the following:
Had to drill just two new holes, as I used one of the preexisting holes that was already there from the previous drain. Used some 5200 sealant on the plug, as well as on the inside of the transom. Definitely wont be any leaks!
Also, this new plug now means I no longer need the adapters that I was previously using. The plug lights are 1/2" NPT, so they thread right into these plugs! Makes for a much cleaner looking install!
If your interested in these drain plugs, I bought them from Amazon.
Amazon.com : Mxeol Boat Garboard Drain Plug Marine Stainless Steel W/Screws Pair : Sports & Outdoors
Amazon.com : Mxeol Boat Garboard Drain Plug Marine Stainless Steel W/Screws Pair : Sports & Outdoors
www.amazon.com
UPDATE 6/21/20
Finally made it out after sunset for the first time since installing the lights. They look great! So happy with the outcome. While they aren't the brightest I've ever seen, for just over $100 I couldn't be happier!
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