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Post date: Apr 8, 2014 5:47:31 PM
If you have ever seen or seen pictures of tour series events of the morning's launch, you likely have seen a lot of flashy boats lit up with glowing LED lighting. As you've probably seen, LED lighting comes in pretty much any color you can think up and adds not only a very cool look to one's boat but also a lot of functionality for those who fish at night or are simply setting up the boat in the wee-dark hours the morning of a tournament. There are a number of LED lighting companies that offer great products (Rigid Industries, Bluewater LED, etc) but are usually on the more expensive end for the everyday angler. That said, there are still very affordable alternatives on the market that can make your boat glow in the night's darkness without breaking the bank.
For myself, having to setup a boat in the dark hours of the morning on tournament day was enough to get me looking at adding lighting this off season. With a little planning, electrical/wiring research, and a Saturday afternoon I was able to rig my boat with a handful of bright LED lights and light strands for under $70. If interested in doing adding LED's to your rig, here are some tips and how-to's from my experience:
Items needed:
Wire cutters/strippers/crimper
20-40feet of black & red 18ga-22ga wiring (depending on how many lights you run and how big your boat is) - $10-15
Large pack of red (18ga-22ga) wire splice connectors (2 wires into 1) - $8
Electrical tape - $1.50
Small pack of 18ga-22ga red female slide terminals - $4
Small pack of 18ga-22ga red wire butt connectors - $4
LED lights and light strips (note: white led's are very bright/blinding at night. Consider using red or blue lighting for reduced glare or blinding light. I only used white on my boat because I was able to run the lights shooting down and not direcly across the bow):
BPS 27’’ LED light strip w/3M self-adhesive backing - $15/ea (currently on sale for $10)
Optional:
Additional rocker switch(es) - $10. Only needed if you need to run a switch or wish to wire your lighting to multiple switches (i.e. run deck lighting to one switch and rod locker lighting to another)
Shrink wrap for wire connetions
How-To/Steps:
1. Test all lights using a 9v battery to make sure they all work.
2. Map out where you wish to place your lighting
3. Determine how clean you want the install to look. This may require removal of your boat’s decking or seats to run wires, drilling holes, lifting edges of carpet, etc.
a. TIP: before drilling make sure nothing is behind the intended hole. You don’t want to drill into a fuel line, tank, out the side of a boat/hull, pre-existing wires that may be behind or put holes in something you didn't intend too, etc.
4. Run your wires. Here are a few tips/best practices:
a. Use a wire fish tape. You can find these at Home Depot for $12 and will be the best $12 you spend
b. Tape wires together to keep wiring harness looking clean and easy to manage.
b. If running wires through aluminum hull/braces make sure to tape around the wires multiple times to avoid sharp edges cutting into the wiring.
c. Some boats have wiring tubes to run wires distances on the boat (bow to console, console to stern, etc). If your boat does not have this, you may want to run kite string with your wiring harness for future wiring additions. An extra step now may save you a lot of time later.
5. Start attaching lights to wiring
a. Use butt connectors and wire taps to connect lights to wire harness. Wire taps are very easy to use and simply convert 2 wire leads into one.
b. Make sure to either shrink wrap or tap all connections
c. Test lights from main wires with 9v battery to make sure each light works after attaching to the wiring harness.
d. If adding lighting to rod lockers or top of lids, make sure to leave enough wire for lid to fully open.
6. Plug wires into inline fuse or fuse box and the acc/rocker switch
7. Note: most boats have a fuse box and power (neg & pos) are already run to the fuse box. Additionally, the ACC switch and fuse panel are usually prewired. This makes powering your LED's easy; simply add a female slide connector onto your main wires, plug the pos (+) into the bottom acc switch terminal and the negative (-) into an empty negative terminal on the fuse box. Flip the switch and you should have power.
8. Put decking, covers, etc. back and your boat should now look like the pros!
Here are a couple of pictures from my recent project and wiring diagram:
Wiring Diagram:
Deck removed to keep wiring looking clean and run with other wiring access points:
After:
Google Sites
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