Underwater Lights...again-gctid346835

[Guest]

:hor-:hor-

2002 Maxum 2700 SCR (with a brand new #$%'n outdrive)

I'm getting ready to order 2 Lumitec SeaBlaze3 lights and have a few questions (beyond the obvious about quality).

First, should I clean off the bottom kote and mount them to a clean hull?

To install, could I run the hot wire to a 5 amp fuse protected switch and then to the battery directly or should I run the fuse protected switch to a positive bus bar (if I have one) and then the neg to a ground?? somewhere?

I'm not very electrically inclined so all hope is appreciated.

[yachtman]

You should remove the bottom paint im the area. Gelcoat should not be removed.

It would be best to not attach wires directly to the battery.

[Guest]

What is the purpose of those lights?

[Guest]

There should be a +12v bus next to the main fusebox, there may even be spare fuse slots and power connection points for you to use.

The only reasons to connect directly to the battery is for very high current loads that the standard boat wiring would not support, typically this is just the engine starter system.

Also, arguably, the bilge pump system which should have short cable runs with as few connectors as possible and should not get disconnected when the main power system is shut off.

[Guest]

This was posted on another site, certainly not a scientific trial, but an opinion:

I was a big fan of these lights and had installed several on various boats that I've owned over the last couple of years. I installed seven of them on my 63' Predator, they worked fine for about a month then started going out. When we hauled the boat and inspected the lights, four out of the seven had water intrusion and had turned black.

I hate to say it, spend the extra money and get the Ocean LED's.

[yachtman]

majoma wrote:
What is the purpose of those lights?

The lights do have a certain amount of coolness factor but beyond that they attract fish at night for fishing or viewing. Also for divers its easier to spot the boat on a night dive.

[BLCarl]

I assume your going to put the lights on the transem .

Running wire all the way up to the fuse block near the helm is a along way to go.

I added a 8 fuse block near the battery box. I removed the inline fuses attached to the battery and hooked them to the new fuse block. Now there is only one fused #10 wire comming from the battery and all the fuses are in one easy to find place. I got a marine fuse block with extra spaces so that I could add acessories later without fishing wire half the length of the boat. I also added a little light near the fuse block so that I don't have to look for burnt out fuses with a flash light in my mouth. You just have to find a convienant place for the switch.

I'm also tinkering with the idea of under water lights . They look nice out on the hook . I was thinking about clamping the lights to the swim stem supports so I don't have to drill more holes in the hull. Under way the upper half of the supports are out of the water so there would be less pressure against the lights. If it dosen't work for some reason I can still move them later.