LED lights!! LED lights!!-gctid815893

[eddya]

Hey everyone...I cannot rest until I have blue accent led lights all over my deck and cabin!!! I need it!! :-) Problem is I am new to boating (first boat 2855 ciera), and never messed with Led lights before. I'm wondering about the technical aspects..,how they are run, how they are powered, and the general ins and outs. I've searched for a how to on it, and haven't been able to find any. If someone could point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it!! Happy Independence Day All!!!

[Framedtrash]

i replaced all my stock lights with blue led bulbs in my 3055

very quick and easy and i didn't have to rewire any thing up and best of all only cost a few bucks

[video width=425 height=344 type=youtube]0QdJPa5T_MM[/video]

[img ]https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/JdAAAOSwWxNYwkof/s-l500.jpg[/img]

[Omega]

Hey there Eddya,

There are a ton of ways to approach leds on your boat. If you are looking to use 12vdc for power, you can do it well with various strips that are available on line. I've used many and they work very well... they are available in various lengths and can be cut at certain intervals for your application. The cheaper strip lights do tend to be susceptible to failure over a few months if they are exposed to the elements constantly. If they are sheltered a bit from being directly in the elements they tend to last pretty well, I recently installed some new silicone incased led lights on Omega that are 120v . I installed over 100 ft around the pilothouse and salon exterior and they look good. The really nice thing is I can change the colors depending upon my mood..... Having an inverter, they work well and don't seem to consume much power.

As for colored bulbs for your existing fixtures, they can be found on eBay or AliExpress for very reasonable prices.

I hope this helps. Let me know if I can help any further ...

BJ

OMEGA

5788

[RobMick]

Easy swap out on dash lights...




Attached files

[richardson]

Hope you never have to run at night. With all that light on the dash you will never be able to see where you are going.

[eddya]

Would blue lights not be better than white as far as blinding goes? In the Army, we used red lights at night...wouldn't blind you, but harder for the enemy to see. We had blue lenses also, but never used them. Wondering how big of an issue it would really be with the blue lights.

[eddya]

I like that idea. There has already been too much custom wiring on my "new to me" boat. Simply changing out the bulbs may be perfect. I would like some on the outside though, to light up the surrounding water blue. I've seen it before and love the effect. I know there are a couple of lights below the water line on the back (transom) that I could change out. I'm not sure about around the rest of the boat. But for the inside, looks perfect. I don't want a bunch of led rail lights coming loose and hanging down everywhere around the deck and cabin. I've used them before in my game room at home, and not had good success.

[eddya]

So these T10 5050 blue led lights fit in all of the light outlets around your boat? really that easy?

[richardson]

My concern on the dash lights is the intensity as much as the color. That dash is way too bright for night navigation regardless of the color.

[Framedtrash]

"eddya" post=815974 wrote:
So these T10 5050 blue led lights fit in all of the light outlets around your boat? really that easy?

For my boat and my lights it was that easy.

i am not sure of the lights that are in your boat but its not hard to check.

There was a slight mod to the new lights that needed to be done so they fit correctly as shown in this pic of a broken led globe i replaced, i just had to cut off some of the blue housing on the globe so it made a good connection with the light fitting.

[attachment]38671 wrote:
IMG_20170412_095638.jpg[/attachment]

[HueyCrew]

"eddya" post=815971 wrote:
Would blue lights not be better than white as far as blinding goes? In the Army, we used red lights at night...wouldn't blind you, but harder for the enemy to see. We had blue lenses also, but never used them. Wondering how big of an issue it would really be with the blue lights.

eddya, red will be the most night nav. friendly. Very little glare. I regularly boated after dark when I lived at the coast and can testify. It can get mighty dark past the railings. I ran dual GPS on my C/C and would actually turn the 383 off and dim the 585 as low as it would go and still strain to see sometimes. I got a LED red/clear rechargeable spotlight and would suspend it from the T top until I got to the markers. Then it went to white/clear to pick my way through the ditch between the sounds spotting markers I'm pondering a LED remote control spot for the pulpit and will mount it on the underside to eliminate any chance of reflection from the boat. I plan on ending up back in Salt water and those day markers can sneak up on ya if you can't see far enough out/ ahead. I actually found 12V, 2" round fixtures on eBay that are white/ red. I'm mounting them in the top upholstered panel in the arch. You turn them on and they come on white. If you go ON-OFF-ON, they come on red!

You leave Ft Lewis and start at SEA-TAC? I did a 2 week training there back in the late 80's. Was assigned to 9th CBT AVN in the IRR.

[HueyCrew]

[quote]"Framedtrash" post=815990 wrote:

"eddya" post=815974 wrote:
So these T10 5050 blue led lights fit in all of the light outlets around your boat? really that easy?

For my boat and my lights it was that easy.

i am not sure of the lights that are in your boat but its not hard to check.

There was a slight mod to the new lights that needed to be done so they fit correctly as shown in this pic of a broken led globe i replaced, i just had to cut off some of the blue housing on the globe so it made a good connection with the light fitting.

[attachment]38671 wrote:
IMG_20170412_095638.jpg[/attachment][/quote

Framedtrash, I went LED and had to do the same thing to get them to fit the sockets. Well worth the price since I'll never have to replace them and they'll be easy on the batteries and keep the cabin temps down in the summer.

[eddya]

"HueyCrew" post=815997 wrote:

"eddya" post=815971 wrote:
Would blue lights not be better than white as far as blinding goes? In the Army, we used red lights at night...wouldn't blind you, but harder for the enemy to see. We had blue lenses also, but never used them. Wondering how big of an issue it would really be with the blue lights.

eddya, red will be the most night nav. friendly. Very little glare. I regularly boated after dark when I lived at the coast and can testify. It can get mighty dark past the railings. I ran dual GPS on my C/C and would actually turn the 383 off and dim the 585 as low as it would go and still strain to see sometimes. I got a LED red/clear rechargeable spotlight and would suspend it from the T top until I got to the markers. Then it went to white/clear to pick my way through the ditch between the sounds spotting markers I'm pondering a LED remote control spot for the pulpit and will mount it on the underside to eliminate any chance of reflection from the boat. I plan on ending up back in Salt water and those day markers can sneak up on ya if you can't see far enough out/ ahead. I actually found 12V, 2" round fixtures on eBay that are white/ red. I'm mounting them in the top upholstered panel in the arch. You turn them on and they come on white. If you go ON-OFF-ON, they come on red!

You leave Ft Lewis and start at SEA-TAC? I did a 2 week training there back in the late 80's. Was assigned to 9th CBT AVN in the IRR.

Thanks for all the great info. I always get the best results from this forum!! I love it! If I were to search for those lights you mentioned, the red/white 2" round fixtures, what would I search for? Did you have a name brand? I like the red/white option. I retired from the Army at Fort Rucker, AL, home of Army Aviation, and then moved up here just for the Job at SeaTac. I was an Air Traffic Controller for the Army for 23 years, and now work as a controller at SeaTac Ramp Tower. Several of my coworkers came straight from Fort Lewis/Mchord after leaving the military. Where you Active Army then? Thanks for the Great info!! Happy Fourth!

[RobMick]

Agreed that my dash is bright.....but it is a 185 not cabin cruiser and I think I boat at night 2x a year for fireworks. We stay on our inland chain of lakes. Has not been a problem for me personally, but surely if you need to boat at night with any regularity red would be the "proper" color choice.

I will say that the 2" gauges used a smaller bulb that couldn't light up the 4" gauges enough.

[HueyCrew]

"eddya" post=816005 wrote:

"HueyCrew" post=815997 wrote:

"eddya" post=815971 wrote:
Would blue lights not be better than white as far as blinding goes? In the Army, we used red lights at night...wouldn't blind you, but harder for the enemy to see. We had blue lenses also, but never used them. Wondering how big of an issue it would really be with the blue lights.

eddya, red will be the most night nav. friendly. Very little glare. I regularly boated after dark when I lived at the coast and can testify. It can get mighty dark past the railings. I ran dual GPS on my C/C and would actually turn the 383 off and dim the 585 as low as it would go and still strain to see sometimes. I got a LED red/clear rechargeable spotlight and would suspend it from the T top until I got to the markers. Then it went to white/clear to pick my way through the ditch between the sounds spotting markers I'm pondering a LED remote control spot for the pulpit and will mount it on the underside to eliminate any chance of reflection from the boat. I plan on ending up back in Salt water and those day markers can sneak up on ya if you can't see far enough out/ ahead. I actually found 12V, 2" round fixtures on eBay that are white/ red. I'm mounting them in the top upholstered panel in the arch. You turn them on and they come on white. If you go ON-OFF-ON, they come on red!

You leave Ft Lewis and start at SEA-TAC? I did a 2 week training there back in the late 80's. Was assigned to 9th CBT AVN in the IRR.

Thanks for all the great info. I always get the best results from this forum!! I love it! If I were to search for those lights you mentioned, the red/white 2" round fixtures, what would I search for? Did you have a name brand? I like the red/white option. I retired from the Army at Fort Rucker, AL, home of Army Aviation, and then moved up here just for the Job at SeaTac. I was an Air Traffic Controller for the Army for 23 years, and now work as a controller at SeaTac Ramp Tower. Several of my coworkers came straight from Fort Lewis/Mchord after leaving the military. Where you Active Army then? Thanks for the Great info!! Happy Fourth!

I'll look and get you the info on the lights soon as I figure out what box I put them in. Was active 81-84 Ft Jackson for Basic and Ft Eustis for AIT. Huey and Blackhawk mech/ crew chief Fligerhorst Germany and Ft Benning and reactivated for Desert Storm Jan 91-6 May 91 Did you know Will Choate? He was ATC too and one of my Huey pilots at Benning. My career's come full circle. I'm back crewing fire fighting Hueys for the NC Forest Service.