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Perimeter L.E.D lighting

I mounted mine from the front to rear weld seams and had to cut a couple of feet off of each side...seems like more than 16 ft considering it's a 24 ft boot. Might use the scrap for another project but will take some soldering/splicing?
 
Lights ordered from EZACDC.  Thanks for the advise, I realize I can do my own, but the simplicity is what sold me.  And it's essentially the factory upgrade so it should look nice.
 
I hope this is easy enough to install while its in the water!  I'm on a sandbar so only 2' deep. 
 
I just bought IP68 rated strips. I'm guessing the tubes will be hard to get your strips into. I did smear clear silicon on the seams and ends to add some protection. Two seasons and I am still running strong!

Kells said:
Thank you..

It seems the best would be to get to IP68 which allows submersion... 

Has anyone looked at these silicone sleeves?  IS this what is on the factory LED side lights?

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/waterproofing/st10-10mm-silicone-tubing/869/

or

http://www.ledstripbright.com/10mm-weatherproof-silicone-tubing-1-meter-length-p-779.html

I might just use these to make mounting easier as well.and they come as a complete tube, so I could connect the 2 strips then feed it into this...
Click to expand...
 
So are we going to have some more pics after this weekend PDX? LED photos would be ok too!
 
I tried to read through all 13 pages of this post so I hope I didnt miss anything but what did you guys use for your LED switches?  I have a 22 SSX so I have an extra I can use for my underdeck lighting, but I also have LEDs on my speakers I need to light up and I am going to install 2 underwater LEDs on the back of each toon.

I don't want to put them all on the same switch so I am looking for options and some creativity.  Thought about a 2-way rocker switch but there are times I may want them all on at once.  I am thinking I may mount a switch to my livewell in the rear for the underwater LEDs...could use the spare switch for the speaker LEDs but not sure what to do the the underdeck LEDs.    I like how  Bennington did the push button switch for the Bimini LEDs..something like that might work..thanks in advance for the help.
 
I originally tied them into my "cupholder lights" with no issue.  I was told they only draw 1.7 amps which is amazing, because I bought the ones from ACDC and they are MUCH BETTER than anyone else's DIY on the lake,  in brightness and the fact they are actually over 16.5' in length which is the limit of most consumer LED strips, and seem to be brighter as well...

Assuming you bought the same ones you can tie probably tie them into your existing mood lighting switches, or an extra switch which is what I ultimately ended up doing after a few cruises.  I like being able to turn on the Speakers / Cupholders / Side Lights seperately...
 
I re-read the post and stick with original suggestion of putting the side LEDS on a separate switch, however I did not address the "Underwater LEDs.  I would definately include them on the same switch as the Side LEDs...  Seems like they belong together :)

Are you going with the 5" attwood underwater LEDS?  if so where are you getting them, and at what price?  I'm going to add them in the future.

Thank you,
 
Kells...good suggestion...I thought about putting the underwater and underdeck leds together...just wasnt sure.  I guess I will use my spare switch for the speaker LEDs which are already there but just waiting to be wired.  So my question still is where can I install a switch for the underdeck/underwater LEDs?...there is no more room in the switch panel on the 22SSX...I just want it to look nice whever I decide to install it...really need it to be somewhere close to the helm.

Haven't decide on the underwater LEDs...really havent done much research on those  yet....going to do underdeck first then the underwater.
 
brentah, I bought my Benny with both sidelights and underwater LEDs; I love having both but if I had to choose I can assure you that the sidelights are much more impressive than the underwater
 
Link..good to know because the sidelights seem to be a little cheaper...trying to figure out how to get this done before the 4th of July and not miss any boating days.

Kells...after doing some more research I think I am going to get my underwater LEDs from http://www.coastalnightlights.com/

Found other quality lights at these sights as well:   Perko, Ocean LED, Aqua Lights and Dr. LE
 
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brentah said:
Kells...after doing some more research I think I am going to get my underwater LEDs from http://www.coastalnightlights.com/]http://www.coastalnightlights.com/[/
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I may have posted this before in another thread but I've had the chance to see these lights first hand and they are really strong. One of my old fishing buddies has them on his CC. They were powerful enough to light up 15' behind his stern in the St. John's River. Keep in mind, this is brackish water that is so silt ridden that you can't see anything more than 12" down.
 
So PDX...is this what you ended up going with when all said and done?

1.  3 - 5M 5050 RGB IP68 LED strips

2.  44 Key remote and 2 output controller

Here is the link assuming I would need to get a 3rd strip and solder a piece on to each end of the 5M strips:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/151195716321

3.  2 amplifiers like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/181015573529

Jim...did you end up deciding that the 12A controller was enough to power the approx 21.5 ft of LED strips without an amplifier?  How do you like the RF remote?

I am going to pull the trigger tomorrow on some LED lights...need to have them in place by July 4th you know :)

Just in interested in what the two of  you finalized on and are happy with since  you had this back and forth dialogue here...can't seem to make up my mind between all of the great info that was provided here - do I really need to control each side of lights independently?  Thinking about the TaoTronics kits as well..thanks in advance.
 
I bought 20 m worth of LED strips. (4) 5m sections. I also bought the 44 button controller, and (2) 12 amp amplifiers. my controller had two outputs, to which I plugged in one amplifier each. Then I figured out the total length of strip that I would need on each side of the boat, and divided it by two. Did not want one 5 m length of strip and one 2 m like the strip, for example. Off of each amplifier I ran two lines to the strips on each side, where they met in the middle. So essentially I had four supply lines total going from two amplifiers to my sidelights. I did this because I did not want to run the risk of having one section of strip be dimmer because it was longer than the other. And by running two separate power feeds, you also prevent one and of the strips potentially being dimmer as well. Everything works great, I am curious whether or not I even need the amplifiers, I'm thinking about trying it. The only thing I would worry about is that it would burn out the controller faster. In reality the amplifiers draw so little power that it's negligible.
 
so just to clarify, I never soldered strips together. Each side had an equal length of strip that ran from the outside to the middle, where there was a connector for each section.
 
Hey PDX,

Think I am going to do what you did..just to make sure after looking at the picture of how you wired your 2 amps and the controller together, I am assuming you plugged a splitter  into each amp so you could feed 2 strips off of each amp?

Assuming then you ran some 4 conductor wire from the splitters to the strips on each side of boat.  How did you connect the LED strips to the 4 conductor wire and how did you waterproof it?

Also, did you put the LED lights on a switch on the helm or just use the IR remote to turn it on and off?  Thanks again for the help.
 
I did go with inline amplifiers on each side.  So each side has the short LED section first, then an inline amp.  Works great.  I initially used separate amps for each side so I could run red/green like nav lights, but found that the IR controllers were too sensitive, trying to change one side often changed the other, so I dropped back to one controller for both sides.  The RF controller works well - I am currently using that for the speaker rings as it also has a music controller function.  Although I gotta say, I have found that way too distracting to run while underway, so I mostly just set it up for a single color and dim it down somewhat.
 
after listening I am impressed with what you guys can do. I am ordering a new boat and you have convinced me to pay and have them factory installed. I can only imagine the trouble I would get into aside from not having any guarantees. I do admire your ability to attempt this project Good Luck.
 
Gabbiano, I am in the same boat, can't do it myself and impressed by what some of the others do. I wanted to let you know I have the underwater and the sidelights on mine and if I could only choose one I would take the sidelights over the underwater hands down
 
Jim_R said:
I was thinking about mounting them facing downwards against the L shaped lip of where the pontoon attaches to the crossmembers. Not the best pic, but you can kind of see what I am talking about.

288wcvo.jpg


Although it does make access easier, flipping the pontoon to install perimeter lights is not required. LOL
Click to expand...

I was reading through this thread, and almost spit out my coffee when I came to this!  OMG!

And won't this cause the prop to ventilate, making it less effective.
 
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