LED Light Project

[jpetty3023]

Can someone help me out with a link or two for led lights. I am fixin to tackle this project and my search on amazon just yielded more confusion. I'm being a tad lazy here I suppose but I want to make sure I do one order and have all the proper parts to do the project right the first time. Thanks in advance maniacs!!


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[bergermaister]

www.superbrightleds.com

www.oznium.com

ebay.com (good for the smd strips)

[ian ashton]

I used eBay for all 3 boats I've done.

3528 SMD are smaller, 5050 SMD are a little larger, and a lot brighter.

[jpetty3023]

Berg or Ian, could I bother y'all just a little bit more and get a link. eBay and amazon are filled with a ton of different styles. Also, will I need any pigtails? I just run the wire to my acc switch?


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[jpetty3023]

Disregard Berg. I have the lights in my cart, what else do I need besides the 28ft of leds


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[mparker2997]

Berg or Ian, could I bother y'all just a little bit more and get a link. eBay and amazon are filled with a ton of different styles. Also, will I need any pigtails? I just run the wire to my acc switch?


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Interested to hear answers on this as well. I am thinking of adding a few LEDs to help at night. Nothing special...just some lights over cupholders and under drivers' area.

[jpetty3023]

I need to know what other items I need to purchase besides the lights themselves. I have an extra acc switch or I can use the courtesy switch but besides the piggy tail connectors what else. I'm seeing power sources, are those required?


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[jmvotto]

Should be able to tap in the accessory lights or the seperate acc switch. There should be matching pigtail crimps to match the roll of LEDs if you go that route or tie the black and red wires into the power loop of the existing wiring.

[MLA]

LED = Light Emitting Diode and come in many forms. What are you trying to accomplish? LED's come in waterproof silicone encapsulated strips that can be cut every 3 LEDs and leads soldered on, they come in pods, surface mount, flush mount that are all 12v ready, as well as raw LEDs in which you have to calculate the necessary resister to use. Knowing what you are trying to do will help.

Personally, I prefer to wire interior and above the deck LEDs to a separate switch from the courtesy lights. Most boats have white courtesy lights and most people go with LEDs other then white. Having the white courtesy lights on at the same time, kills the ambiance of the LEDs.

[mmandley]

looking at those kits, it has a wall adapter power plug.

Is this just stepping the 110 AC to 12DC? Would you just wire the end of the LED strip right to a normal 12V source to light it up?

[parrothd]

Inspiration..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX1OPtZ1dew&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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[jpetty3023]

I'm not looking at doing anything in the water. just wanna throw some strips in the interior along the sides, bow, foot well where sub is and maybe the drink holders


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[KG's Supra24]

Oznium seemed to make a pretty good strip. I've been happy with mine but haven't looked at anything else.

Dusty replaced our courtesy lights with single matching bulbs and tied it all into courtesy. Simple but effective.

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[MLA]

I'm not looking at doing anything in the water. just wanna throw some strips in the interior along the sides, bow, foot well where sub is and maybe the drink holders


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The thin silicone encapsulated cut to length every 3 LEDs are great for speaker and cup-holder rings, but are not robust enough IMO, to do along the floor or anywhere that they might be contacted by occupants or gear. I would suggest a more rigid strip or pod.

[txnight]

KG, do you have a supplier for the courtesy light replacement led's? I want to pull those dingy bulbs and getting something that is brighter.

Bill D.

[rdlangston13]

KG, do you have a supplier for the courtesy light replacement led's? I want to pull those dingy bulbs and getting something that is brighter.

Bill D.

What he said ^


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[jmvotto]

times 2 ...........

[KG's Supra24]

We used the prewired super flux. Just spliced the factory wire and put these in its place.

http://www.oznium.com/prewired-superflux

Some pics from ours that got archived

http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i401/kwgarner24/DSC_0130.jpg

http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i401/kwgarner24/DSC_0149.jpg

http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i401/kwgarner24/DSC_0168.jpg

http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i401/kwgarner24/DSC_0158.jpg

"I've had a few PM's from people asking about the LED's and what all we did, so I figured I would just post my process. Everything is powered by the factory courtesy light wiring, off of that switch, even what we added. For above the cup-holders, the Supras already had a small 3 LED unit above them, I removed this and just replaced with flexible strip. Wired directly in place of the old. Same for rear lockers, behind the driver seat locker, and the rear transom light. The only change to the wiring for the lockers was the ground wire was ran to the switch, and another ground from the switch back to the LED so when closed, the ground was interrupted and they shut off. "

[KG's Supra24]

I can't remember if there are 1 or 2 superflux in each of the factory housings in the floor. Dusty, remember?

If you are considering doing RGB at all .... just do it up front.

[jpetty3023]

so KG your entire LED system is on/off by the acc switch. you have no remotes or power sources etc. just the lights and the pig tail connectors?


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[KG's Supra24]

Pretty much correct. We went ahead and added what I'd call door jam switches but they definitely weren't necessary. We put them on lights in the cubby's that way they weren't on when the cubby wasn't open.

These .... http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=060-794&source=googleps

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v235/dusty2221/2011-01-05202422.jpg

[parrothd]

We used the prewired super flux. Just spliced the factory wire and put these in its place.

http://www.oznium.com/prewired-superflux

Some pics from ours that got archived



"I've had a few PM's from people asking about the LED's and what all we did, so I figured I would just post my process. Everything is powered by the factory courtesy light wiring, off of that switch, even what we added. For above the cup-holders, the Supras already had a small 3 LED unit above them, I removed this and just replaced with flexible strip. Wired directly in place of the old. Same for rear lockers, behind the driver seat locker, and the rear transom light. The only change to the wiring for the lockers was the ground wire was ran to the switch, and another ground from the switch back to the LED so when closed, the ground was interrupted and they shut off. "

I used the same LEDs, plus the spots LEDs. For my setup a added a new circuit and switch so I could still have the courtesy lights. It was a fun project but we only used the LED's 2 or 3 times. One of those times was while the boat was in the back yard.. :)

[bergermaister]

I copied KG and Dusty on some of their stuff - I did not use interrupt switches on the compartments though, they're always on but you can't really tell unless you open them. LEDs draw so little I wasn't worried about it. Glovebox gives a faint glow under the lid but no biggie.

I've had some of the SMD strips off eBay fail before I even installed, and noticed one string is half dead now or at least a loose connection I need to fix. Can't expect too much for how cheap they were. All mine are also off a spare acc switch.

If I go transom spots/floods I will run those to a separate switch. Also if I do anything on the tower I'll go to a separate switch so I don't get busted with blues up there impersonating the popo or something stupid. Plus I'm starting to like the idea of different switches for different zones, but that adds to the wiring required.

If you don't have a good spot for strips, these little guys are bright and pretty rugged if you can find a spot for them. About 1" long, 1/2" tall or less. They can be almost too bright if mounted up high though.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-light-modules/alm-chrome-rectangle-accent-light-module/23/

http://d114hh0cykhyb0.cloudfront.net/images/uploads/ALM-C-x6-led-accent-light-store.jpg

These are nice to project out or down too.
http://d114hh0cykhyb0.cloudfront.net/images/uploads/ALM-RC-x3-led-accent-light-store.jpg

[Beejwest]

I just ordered some superflux's and a couple of strips. How did y'all wire these together? Did you run the wires all over to the switch, or daisy chain through the boat?

[bergermaister]

Daisy chain - definitely. I'd suggest leaving some loops/slack in the line at your connection points and even a few open terminals because if you're like the the rest of us after you think you're done you'll find you want to add a couple more here. Maybe another here. One there. Few up here. And, and...