Custom Light bar --- Finished!!

[JesseC]

Well this winter I did not have very many projects for the Mobius. I am running out of things to modify and add. It must be getting close to getting another boat! Anyway, I had to build a custom light bar since I could not find one that at least tried to hide the wires. As many of you that know me, know that I can not stand visible wires. Also I wanted lights that were simply white, not chrome or stainless or polished, just simply white to match the tower speakers. Well after about three months of creating/scrapping and tweaking, the light bar is complete and installed! I started with a piece of aluminum stock and a large can of POR-15. Here are the results.




http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar017.jpg

I removed the stock rubber plugs in the back of the lights and replaced them with rubber grommets and then ran black "tubes" that contain the wires through the grommets in the bar itself. NO WIRES!!! Well except the ones for the tower, but they will be hidden in a later step!
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar018.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar019.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar023.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar026.jpg

Running the wires through the tower....what a pain!
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar027.jpg

Man is this a hard hole to drill. I had to drink an extra beer to get my courage up!
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar028.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar037.jpg


Here is where I hid the wires betweed the tower and the light bar. A grommet was inserted into the tower as well as the light bar and a "tube" containing the wires was inserted between them.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar042.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar043.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar045.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar046.jpg


Notice the single "tube" in the center of the light bar that contains all of the wires.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q21/StarkRaven/lightbar047.jpg

[bambam26]

Jesse, those lights look so cool! Nice job!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JesseC]

Jesse, those lights look so cool! Nice job!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, I decided to build my own since I could not find any that had the mounting clamps, bolts and other items hidden. I tried to make it as clean as possible. The pictures don't do them justice. I can not wait to take some pictures outside. The basement makes the pictures kind of dark.

[ian ashton]

Looks very good! I too hate wires, and that is an awesome install!

Forgive my 'noob-ness' on this question, but is the light bar for wakeboarding at night? If it is, then wouldn't you want more lights facing the rider, instead of the front of the boat?

[JesseC]

Looks very good! I too hate wires, and that is an awesome install!

Forgive my 'noob-ness' on this question, but is the light bar for wakeboarding at night? If it is, then wouldn't you want more lights facing the rider, instead of the front of the boat?

Perfectly good question. Some people do wakeboard after sunset. On our lakes here in AL it is illegal to ride behind a boat after sunset. My lake has markers to keep you from hitting the shallow spots/ underwater trees. If we head for the boat ramp too late, the markers are hard to see. I did this more for navigation than late evening riding.

[bamaspiveys]

where did you get the lights?

I have never seen that type anywhere.... also what did you use to route the wire from the light to the bar? it looks like black conduit, or plastic.

Great job.

[tazz3069]

Jesse--
That looks awesome. I too am having a custom light/speaker bar made for me. One thing I would like to know is: Where did you get the rubber grommets and black tubes. I wanted to do the same to mine. I never liked that plastic/rubber hose that hides the wires. What size wire did you use for the lights?

Off the subject. You helped me last year with wiring up my new tower lights to my assecory switch on the boat. I now want to wire my tower amp to the second half of the same switch. My switch is a dual function switch. Up is for powering the lights and down, I want to power the tower amps. Do I need another relay for this? Do I switch the power to the amp or use the blue control wire for this process? Any help would be great.

Again, your lights and the job you did on the boat looks Awesome. You really take pride in the work you do. Great job
Tazz

[Sled491]

Jesse, very clean installation, you've missed your calling :D

[JesseC]

where did you get the lights?

I have never seen that type anywhere.... also what did you use to route the wire from the light to the bar? it looks like black conduit, or plastic.

Great job.

I do not remember off of the top of my head. I went down to the garage and I have already chunked all of the boxes. When I get to work Monday morning, I will find the receipts and post what they are and where they came from. They were really cheap, something like 25.00 a pair! I liked them because there are no external mounting brackets or "nut and Bolt" type brackets. Everything was internal!!

The "tubes" going from the light to the bar is actually some type of sprinkler tubing from Lowes. It was 45 cents a foot. It has a hard plastic look, bends really easily and did not deform. I tried three different types of "tubes" and this was the only one that would bend and not deform and had an external diameter that was the same as the internal size of the grommets.

[JesseC]

Tazz,

The grommets and tubes came from Lowes, gotta love that place. The only difficult part was having to extend the lights wires to go all the way through the tubes. The plug ends would not fit and I wanted to keep the "tubes" small. I just extended the wires pushed them through the tubes and resouldered the ends on the other side.

As to your relay question. Yes you need another relay for the amp.

Wire relay position purpose
Red wire 87a can be removed (not needed)
Yellow 87 12volt constant
Blue 30 12v output to amp remote wire
Black 85 Ground
White 86 12v input from accessory switch

I would remove the red wire from the harness. In this wiring configuration the red wire will have 12 volts when the relay is at rest (off). I always remove the red one from the harness to make sure it can not short on anything. The wire colors in your harness may be different than the above chart. Be sure to check and make sure the relay positions match the wire codes above. If they do not, just wire according to the relay position.

[tazz3069]

Thanks Jesse---
As a matter of fact, I went to Lowes this morning and found everything that you just mentioned in your reply. Thanks again for your help.
Tazz (Mark)

[JesseC]

Thanks Jesse---
As a matter of fact, I went to Lowes this morning and found everything that you just mentioned in your reply. Thanks again for your help.
Tazz (Mark)

No problem. I couldn't do half of my projects without Lowes!! Good luck with your projects!!

[04OUTBACK]

Jesse,
WELL Done.. You might could sell few of those! Very good looking.
back to the question earlier of when people use these... I think the look cool, but don't expect to get to ever use them around here... No way I am riding the Pearl River after dark.. too many trees, stumps, etc...
I could see getting out on the reservoir at night, but doubt I ever will..
I did put in some LED in the cockpit recently... Maybe for that twilight ride in.

Great Work!

[JesseC]

04outback, those trees, stumps and other things that like to jump in front of the boat are why I put them on there! We try to ride as late as possible. Then we tie up to the dock and have a good dinner at the folks place. Then it is time to pack the boat up and head about 3/4 mile up river to the boat ramp. This is why I wanted the lights. When building them I did think about the next guy that will own the boat. The light bar can be unclamped and turned 180 degrees to have 2 forward and 4 reverse lights if so desired. In any case I will use them for navigation and not for wakeboarding.

[JesseC]

where did you get the lights?


Here is the link to boaters world where I got the lights.

Boaters World - Pilot Marine Utility Light Kit (http://www.boatersworld.com/product/199170069.htm)

[deerfield]

Jesse - Nice work. You do some pretty amazing stuff. - Deerfield

[GeauxTigers]

Is it ok to navigate with these lights on? The reason I am asking is because three years ago, we got pulled over in Powell (friends boat) for having his lights on (besides the navigation lights). Ranger said we weren't supposed to have them on.

[Smrtz]

Looks awesome Jesse,

Kudos to you for the pics and the details.

Cheers
Jay

[hiqualityH2O]

Jesse - that's awesome work!

[bobwells]

Jesse your da bomb, now we gotta figure out how to cut down on the glare while riding with lights on :? great job my friend as all of your work is thanks for sharing ! bob