Tower Lights

[jkendall79]

I'm thinking of adding a light bar to my tower, and I was wondering if anyone could give me a ballpark figure on what the cost of installation might be. Also, I've heard you need to add a second battery for the light bar, is this true?

[tazz3069]

Not so much a second battery. If you are going to use one of yor accessory switches on the dass, you will need to use a Relay.

[jkendall79]

Is it difficult to install, or should I have a professional do it?

[JesseC]

You just need some patience and some careful planning. You will possibly need to drill a hole in the hull which bothers some people. You will also need to drill holes in the tower to run the wires from the tower tubing into the light bar. The actual work is not that hard, but if you are not handy with a drill and can not plan projects well, let a professional do it. Again it just depends on your skill with mild fabrication, this is not rocket science, but once you have drilled a hole in the wrong spot, you are now left with just that. Let me know if you want to attempt this yourself and I will walk you through the process I used. I will put the URL below to my custom light bar install.



https://forum.moomba.com/viewtopic.php?t=5359

[jkendall79]

There's already holes in the tower for the anchor light. I can just run the wires through those holes right?

[TPomeroy]

Jkendall79, very glad you started this post. I'm doing the same thing. I decided it is time for a light bar. I've been researching the internet way too much now it's time to do something.

JesseC - Very cool project, your images help show some of the details. I was going to take the route you did until I saw the www.diywake.com Light bar parts. I like the approach of building my own and saving some cash. It seems you can purchase some quality parts and with some know how build what you need.

With that said my approach is to purchase the light bar and clamps at diywake and possible purchase the lights elseware. Only problem is I need to see how the bar is set up prior to buying the lights. If I can't find any I may just get them from diywake. They have some really cool Chrome lights. I guess that is my question does anybody know a good light supplier - these are Chrome 70 Watt Halogen Lights, look like typical Fog/Driving Lights. I researched these on the internet and can not find any 70 Watt Lights most are 55.

As far as my approach. I want to switch the 3 front and 2 back as seperate so I plan to use 2 relays and hook them up to the dash switches. I only have one battery (that may be my upgrade after the lights) and I'm pretty sure it will be ok as I'll use the lights while the engine is on most of the time. My tower has holes from the speaker wires so it's just a matter of getting more wire to feed and fit in the holes.

The Rack and Clamps arrive this Friday. I'll try to take some photos to help show the project.

[drewdwn]

What are you going to use for a tru-hull connection? Mine can't be run through the tower.

[JesseC]

TPomeroy, very cool website for parts. I went ahead and built my own since I could not find anything that hid wires and had simple lights. Everything had external wire, exposed nuts :) and over the top light housings.

I have wired mine just like you stated. I can turn on forward,reverse or all of the lights with the factory switches running through relays. Good luck with your project.

[Razzman]

New guy here, maybe I can help out a bit here with the wires through the hull issue. I did the same thing on my old Tigé a couple years ago. The challenge was finding a clean way to have the wires enter the hull and have it watertight as well. I didn't just want the wires going in surrounded by silicone so I found these, nylon liquid tight strain relief fittings.

http://www.sealconusa.com/nysrf_red.htm. Select the size you need based on the diameter of the cable running through the hull. It's a two piece fitting that once installed seals out water completely. I used a wood forstner bit in the correct diameter to drill the hole. It can't slip and makes a perfect hole. Tape the area, run the bit backwards until it goes through the gelcoat and then drill forward. Simple and clean. Here's a shot of it on my old Tigé, not the best but you get the picture.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2140/2441218206_f80875ce0d.jpg?v=0

[drewdwn]

What kind of wire did you use. Looks like it has a colored cover as well. Where did you get that?

[Razzman]

The best i can remember i used standard automotive 16ga wire. I used custom colored braided wire loom to cover approx. two feet where it exits the tower and enters the hull and then used heat shrink on both ends to secure the braided cover. Each circuit has a relay for both front and rear lights. I had made a custom panel to replace the existing one as i added switches, bass knob and pioneer remote. See below.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2134/2441976858_476f6ae91f.jpg?v=0

[Spicer318]

As a nice graduation present from college I just bought 2001 Mobius that gets picked up this weekend. One of my first additions is going to be a Roswell 4 light light bar. My main concern is connecting it to the accessory switch. What kind of relay should I get, does anyone else have some additional tips they would like to add.

Thanks guys, I’m excited to join the Moomba family. I've watched the site for a while, and it really helped me choose a Moomba.