LED side lighting wireing

DeeNDean

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Can anyone that has the factory led side lights tell me if the wiring connects at the stern or does it go to the console (helm) from the center of the boat, meaning the leds would be connected at the middle of the pontoon and run fore and aft?

   The reason I ask is that the 2013 RCW we just bought used had the exterior lighting when built in 2013 but someone has removed it for whatever reason. I verified this with the factory.   I am trying to locate the original wiring so I can put it back on the boat.

   Thanks, Dean
 
Can anyone that has the factory led side lights tell me if the wiring connects at the stern or does it go to the console (helm) from the center of the boat, meaning the leds would be connected at the middle of the pontoon and run fore and aft?

   The reason I ask is that the 2013 RCW we just bought used had the exterior lighting when built in 2013 but someone has removed it for whatever reason. I verified this with the factory.   I am trying to locate the original wiring so I can put it back on the boat.

   Thanks, Dean
Do you know where you are going to get the lights from?  
 
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I'm thinking about this for my 22 SSL, just not sure how hard it will be to run the wiring.
 
I just took delivery of my 2017 22 SXP Swingback and have the interior RGB Toe Kick lights and the built in ITC controller.  Wondering how hard it would be to add the exterior lights.  Assume it could connect to the same controller since it seems to be a 4 channel controller with unused channels. 


Anyone with a newer Benny with factory exterior RGB able to take a pic under the helm and let me know what the controller looks like for that set up?  Here is mine

Controller.jpg
 
It looks like this controller is using low side switching for each zone. The strip lights have several red/green/blue LED's in one package and they drive each one at different PWM levels to get the various colors. I have noticed the controller can be left on when not in use and the individual switches are off which drives me crazy. I plan to use one of my unused switches to control the +12V feed to the controller it's self that way I no it's all off. I see no reason why you couldn't add another set of strip lights to an unused output of the controller. You would just need to run four wires from the controller to the new strip and I would put a switch in-line with the +12V (Red/White) wire for the new zone just as the factory ones are wired. Of course make sure you have a fuse or breaker in there if you are adding an additional switch and don't exceed the max current rating. See link for installation info.


http://www.itc-rv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/10/ITC-Zone-Controller-Install-Instructions.pdf
 
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Thanks.  I crawled under the helm again and traced the wires coming out of the controller.  I found two unused connectors that look like they would be the zones connected to the outside lights if they were installed..  So hopefully that makes it an easy plug and play.   See below.  If anyone has the factory deck lighting on the outside of their boat, would appreciate if you can confirm that these two plugs under the helm are connected to them.


These two plugs seem to have the 3 RGB wires and one power wire.  The White/Red power wire from the controller goes to an extra ACC toggle on the dash (next to the Mood Light toggle that is used for toe kick lighting) and then leaves the switch as a Blue/Red wire going to this plug.  Which seems to address the point about having the power toggled.


Gotta say I am not overly impressed with the quality of the wiring wraps and bundles under the helm.  Looks like they just grabbed a handful of wires and wire tied them, w/o too much organization.


FullSizeRender.jpg
 
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Hey Robotpedlr, Were you ever able to ever install the outside light strips? I am looking to do the exact same thing, I have the toe kick lighting and speaker lighting but no outside illumination.


Thanks. I crawled under the helm again and traced the wires coming out of the controller. I found two unused connectors that look like they would be the zones connected to the outside lights if they were installed.. So hopefully that makes it an easy plug and play. See below. If anyone has the factory deck lighting on the outside of their boat, would appreciate if you can confirm that these two plugs under the helm are connected to them. View attachment 1704
 
Yes, I installed it and it works great. Was not a complicated process and we love the results. This is especially easy if you have the inside lights as you mentioned, because the controller and toggle switches are already in place.

I ordered the LED lights from http://www.itc-us.com/ as that is where Bennington buys them and I wanted OEM, there are other options that would work, but I didnt mind paying a little more for quality and the factory look.

Let me know if you have any questions or need contact info for the person I ordered them from at ITC.

Here is what I ordered as far as the ITC components:
2pcs RBLL1208-55012-12 18’ Roll RGB Reduced Power $134.11 ea.

6pcs RBLL12-7T 6’ Aluminum Channel, Tape Mounted $16.90 ea.
 
Quick question before I dig into this, where did you find the connectors with a under the helm and you had to run wires to the sides of the boat, or the connectors already located at the front/back sides of the boat that made it easy to plug into?
 
The connectors were a pain to find. But again I wanted the OEM instead of splicing. So after searching I found out that it was an Amphenol SINE connector part number AT06-4S-KIT01 which I ordered on a site I found mouser.com I ordered a couple to have an extra. There are no wires or connectors pre-run for the lights. It ends with the connector behind the toggle switch and controller as I illustrated in my pic. You have to start from there.

As far as wire access, you will need to remove the aluminum skirt along the helm side of the boat to gain access to route the wire. Not hard and allows you to have room to easily feed the wire up into the helm through the wire access hole already there and to zip tie the wire loom correctly along the frame to the front of the boat where you connect to the leads from the LED strip.

I used a 1/2” loom an good quality 16 gauge individual marine rated wires I ordered on amazon. They have 4 wire RGB bundles but they all look very cheap and are much thinner than their actual rating (cheap Chinese wire), I ordered one and returned it. Then I went with individual “Anchor Marine” cooper tinned wires which was very high quality. As I said I ordered 16 guage but 18 would have been fine also because the Anchor wire is true to the size. Ordered those on amazon also.
 
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