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LED Cup Holders

H2OBoy

Jetboaters Commander
Messages
278
Reaction score
154
Points
197
Location
Lake Oconee, GA
Boat Make
Yamaha
Year
2023
Boat Model
AR
Boat Length
22
I am considering adding LED cup holders to my boat. Does anyone have a dumbed-down tutorial on the installation process? I have searched this and other forums but cannot find the info. I have a basic concept of the wiring, but could use some help with the routing of the wires, where to connect to power, etc. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
12v is pretty straight forward. It is basically positive and a ground. On any installation, a switch is a good idea. You need to consider the amp rating of the circuit your creating, and make sure you don't overload the circuit. Protecting the circuit with a circuit breaker or a fuse is also a good idea. I don't know the behind the scenes routes in a 190, but they will be similar to the other Yamahas. You will have to get to anywhere you put these. So for behind combing pockets to bow to aft cockpit areas, you need to pull the cupholders, clean the silicone that retained them, and then you will have to reinstall with silicone. There are different style LED rings available or you can internally light them. The latter is a little more challenging but worth it. The turn key stuff will be an ready made ring with leads. You will need to hook the leads to your wiring via whatever switch you set up. Some guys have wired just a few extra lights into the existing courtesy lights. That worked back when they took a 15 amp circuit, and replaced the 5amp incandescent builds with led bulbs, and that gave them headroom to add more led lighting to the circuit. I added a blue sea switch/fuse panel that gave me not only a switch, but a circuit path that I could add the appropriate size fuse to. I had about 72w of led lighting on the boat by the time I replaced all the single color with RGB (red/green/blue) LED's. If you go with RGB, you will have a controller and remote for them, in addition to a switch and fuse. You can simply put an inline fuse/fuseholder, and no switch, but that is then putting power on the switch all the time, unless you have a battery switch. If you do have a battery switch, and you wire from the switch, not the battery, you can kill all drain that way and prevent possible problems with the circuit board in the controller. This is doable from several different angles as you can see. How do you want to set it up?
 
@txav8r thanks for the quick reply. The one's I am considering are standard turn-key 3 bulb units, single color. I would like to wire them in with the courtesy light switch if possible. I'm unsure of the amp draw of each unit. Just looking to make sure I have everything I need before I get started.
 
Take a look at the bulb in the courtesy lights. See what the draw is, then look at the circuit breaker and see what the amp rating is. The rubber boot screws off and you can see the breaker end...or you can look at a service manual electrical schematic and see the load protection on that circuit. You could change the breaker to allow room, but what your adding is almost nothing. You just don't want to up a circuit load over 80% of the protection.

You of course will need wire, and really, 18G is sufficient for even longer runs from each cupholder. But making it simple is one thing, making it reliable and to have some longevity, you want to make all your connections permanent and waterproof. Don't use wire nuts. And heat shrink your connections. There are connectors available that are suitable for low voltage LED lighting, but it is hard to waterproof them. I solder my connections and heat shrink them. You can make a trunk line that goes from your switch, by each cupholder, with a lead to connect to each cupholders leads. Run two trunks, in two directions, so you don't have lighting at the end of the line off sync with lighting close to the end. This really would only happen in runs that are long with multiple lights on the run. Obviously the power gets to them later. I didn't have any issues on runs less than 25-30'. Here is an old diagram I did for my 230 when I wired it up for strips in red. A single color is much easier than RGB. The RGB has 3 color leads and a control lead, and can be a tad more complicated and confusing. I changed all my stuff out and put in RGB in all the cupholders, strips where there were none, and speaker rings. I did my cupholders internally.
wiring harness.jpg DSCN2189 (Medium).JPG DSCN2234.JPG DSCN2233 (Medium).JPG DSCN2235 (Medium).JPG DSCN2174 (Medium).JPG
 
I bought mine off amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/LED-Cup-Holde...24366867&sr=8-1&keywords=led+boat+cup+holders

I installed them throughout the cabin and in the bow. I'm going to remove them from the bow or see about dimming them down. At night they are a bit to much front light for my eyes and can be distracting or a hindrance in viewing forward.

I brought a wire up from a house battery to a terminal block under the dash, added a switch then distributed them similar to the way Mel defines. My fuse is at the battery out-put. Some folks have connected to the courtesy lights.

the switch I used: in blue was:
http://www.amazon.com/Green-Rocker-...=1424367095&sr=8-3&keywords=led+toggle+switch

I'll upgrade to this beauty someone here pointed out a while back:
http://www.adafruit.com/search?q=weatherproof+metal+switch&b=1
 
It is pretty easy to do. I did all my cup holders and some of the speakers. Used the rings that go under the speaker or cup holder. Don't think supplier i ordered from exists anymore. It is simple 4 wire low voltage wiring, I used cheap plastic terminal screw kits and it was easy for multiple wires. Shop around for price on the rings. I will look for more info when I get a chance. I think it was like $400 for all the items and wife was happy.

If you get a remote make sure it is RF (radio frequency) so you can wire the module under the seat. I had a IR (infra red?) unit and just swapped it out.

I also has an extra 15' of ribbon in the garage, so I have it tied up like a cord next to the engines and throw it all in the water when we anchor at night.
 
@txav8r, what did you do inside the cup holder?

Is it a ring of rope leds?

I like the pattern.
 
I'm in the boat at the moment wrapping up running the Garmin cable along with the speaker wire for the new JL MX 650's on the transom at the moment @Bruce , and more descriptive pics are inside on the computer. I will get them in a bit on the cupholders. All I did was use the IP66 waterproof ribbon strip, cut and waterproof the ends, solder and waterproof my leads, drill a hole oblong to allow a gentle curve into the holder, and use the adhesive already on the backing to install. The illumination was much nicer and less blinding than exposed LEDS. I won't do all the speaker rings again...they were too bright even with the dimmer. A note because I think @Jim Robeson me ruined not being able to see to navigate at night. Zones are indeed nice as @Detonate showed
me, but trying to drive wth any light on at night is very difficult. I only ran nav lights when underway. But I may use some 4 zone controllers I bought and see if just aft cockpit works ok.
 
Here are the pics @Bruce . The bottom lip just on top is out of the way of a large 32oz cup, a tumbler, wine glass, beer can, or even beer can in a koozie. Although a beer can in a koozie isn't as well lit and nice, but it still illuminates around it well enough you can find your beer! I have a total dislike for the rings now that I have had them. They are just too bright inside the boat. The would be fine on the tower speakers, but even then, if you are in the boat and glance that way, you get blinded. LED'S are intensely bright, and even dimmed, they are not suitable IMHO, for direct lighting, but indirect is Perfect! Good luck on the install, it is a fun project.
DSCN2212.JPG DSCN2193.JPG
DSCN2190.JPG
 
Thanks @txav8r.

I agree 100% on avoiding bright lights at night.
 
That's perfect @txav8r . Nicely done sir.
 
A note because I think @Jim Robeson me ruined not being able to see to navigate at night. Zones are indeed nice as @Detonate showed

Yep, that would be correct. I have the bow and stern on two separate switches so that I can leave the stern lights on while under way. Couldn't believe how bright those are when there isn't much of a moon out. But they are definitely very cool at night!!
 
Thanks for all of the info. Very helpful.
 
To figure the correct size fuse to use, use this formula- Totals Watts Divided by Voltage= Amps. ie- If you have 6 lights on the circuit and they draw 6 watts a piece, that's 36 watts total. 36 divided by 12v= 3. This circuit would require a 3 amp fuse.
 
Be careful using a formula to figure the amp requirements for fusing LED lighting. You need to know exactly which LED chips your using, how many chips per 5 meter (16.4ft) spool, in order to figure correct wattage, and in turn the correct amperage circuit protection. But you also need to know the maximum amount you can use on your controllers and you may indeed need a power supply or a line booster for longer runs if you extend them. The following link will help you determine much of that, however you may actually have to inspect the individual chip to find out what it is, as all "kit" manufacturers don't tell you. A 5050 chip is rated different than a 3528, and there are new chips coming out all the time, that are sized and rated differently. RGB (red/green/blue) is commonly a 5050 chip, and is 0.24 watts per individual chip. But in that small square chip, there are actually 3 individual chips, and when run white color, that is approximately 100% of the chips power. When any other color is controlled, it will be less than 100%, but that is because it is a mix of the 3 primary colors to get the selected color, and it will be less than 100% of each of the three colors to get any other color. The below reference is also a website that sells the lights, but you can find them cheaper as well as more information online at other sources. I list this one only as reference for figuring your draw and needed protections.
http://www.ledlightsworld.com/page.html?id=38
 
This looks good. I am have to explore this more. Thanks for sharing.
 
Mel...if you never set your beer down you wont need a light to find it!!:winkingthumbsup"
 
In my case, it is usually a glass of vino...I generally have to set it down to get the bottle to refill the glass! lol
 
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