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New Benningtone owner question...

bwilson120

bwilson120

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Snyder County Pa

Just bought a 2021 Bennington 20 SSRCX at our local dealer yesterday. Will take delivery in the next week or so. We are so looking forward to taking our family out on the local river and making some memories this summer! I do have a question for all of you veteran owners out there. We bought what they had for sale at the dealership so we didn't get on the boat what we wanted to have on it had we ordered it. I would like to get interior lighting for it and we could go through Bennington but its around 1200 dollars installed according to the dealer so can anyone recommend a good brand of aftermarket to buy? and also side lights? Are they worth looking in to? And bimini top lights? Do they make these and are they a great idea? I will take any opinions.. I appreciate anyone's help and have a great day!​

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Congrats on the new boat! I have the Bimini lights but they’ve only been used twice in 7 years since we don’t boat at night. Use the search tool though here as this has come up numerous times including members who found the exact brand Bennington uses.
 
Mine came with the boat from the factory.
 
I rarely boat at night, and have only used the bimini lights once aside from testing them at our initial inspection. My 2 cents: don’t bother. When boating at night our bimini is never up. It is down. Thus, the bimini lights are unused. The one time we used them we had the bimini up because it started raining. Since it was up at night, I turned them on for the heck of it. I could have went without them just fine with my dash lights. I’d save your money for other things unless its a big deal to you to have them.
 
I have and love all the optional lights from Bennington factory and added more interior floor LED strips as well under the seats. We do a lot of moonlight cruising on our lake.
someone from our lake saw mine and pulled alongside to chat. He ended up adding all the light options himself including fishing the Bimini to install. Saw him once afterwards and his Bimini lights looked like they were installed at the factory. Wish I had that kind of talent instead of the ability to lift heavy things
 
I installed RGBW LED Strip lights on the side of our old pontoon and shortly after, everyone on the lake started getting them. If you are relatively handy with electrical and zip ties, its really simple AND CHEAP. I think IP67 lights and controller with connectors can be had for around $100.

Our old boat was a 2005 and just a mess electrically. I installed dual batteries setup, one for the motor and one for the rest of the stuff. I also ran a larger wire and a distribution panel under the helm to wire all the lights, radio, etc.

If you do not have underskin, running wires is SUPER simple. The hardest part is making sure your connections are water tight.

I did not run interior lights on old boat but i thought about it. Again, same process, just need to figure out mounting them under seat edges. They make aluminum and plastic U-channel that the lights can slide into.

Bimini lights could get tricky with fishing wire though the frame but with a little patience, is definitely doable.

Let me know your skill level and I can point you in the direction or parts I used a couple years ago.
 
Here’s one post to get you started on your do-it-yourself adventure. CLDave did his own lighting using the factory parts. He would be a good resource. Just use the search bar.

DIY color-changing LEDs for pontoons - for $50

Here's a fun project to add exterior Pontoon RGB (color changing) LED lights. I did a ton of research and saved over a grand - total cost was under $50. IF your boat is pre-wired for external lights (mine had the external package for the Swingback, but no pontoon lights installed), this is an...
club.benningtonmarine.com club.benningtonmarine.com
 
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