MY LED Project

Sounder · **Posted:** Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:08 pm

Yes. I got some red and some blue LEDs for the gauges. I used the superbrightLEDs as detailed in a different thread. I used the WLED-x's. I put in a couple reds and a couple blues to see which I liked better. I think the reds give a little more visibility, but the blues are fine too. I ended up going with the blue ones all across, but my primary reason was so they would match the rest of the lighting. I haven't been out yet with all blue, but I think they are a little less "glary" than the stock white ones. They were very easy, plug and play, although it was a little tricky to get behind the multi-gauge because it has two bulbs, and they are kind of recessed in the housing.

One other thing I did was change the courtesy lights to white LEDs. This way, they are actually "whiter", and use far less energy. I left them white because the blue accent lighting gives plenty of light to get around the cockpit and see where you're going. But, if you are loading something, getting in or out, or looking for something, you can turn on the courtesy lights for a brighter light.

H250, I got the LEDs from Oznium.com. It's the flexible strips. Blue 9.5s in the cubby holes, white 9.5s in the under-seat storage areas, a 3-LED one in the small helm glove box, one each white 9.5s in the ski locker, under the helm, 3 in the engine compartment, and one in the walkway (which is connected to the courtesy light switch). I also got the remote box from Oznium, which works great and was very easy to connect. Altogether, I spent less than $200.

Thanks for the compliments! I can't take full credit though... I got my ideas from this board's other members! Props to aguyindallas and several others who did this in the past.

H250_SC · **Joined:** Wed Jun 09, 2010 9:33 pm **Posts:** 27

Thanks so much for the information! You da man!! Looks gorgeous

TacitBlueTorch · **Posted:** Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:07 pm

I just bought my boat and it's been sitting in my garage for weeks now, I cleaned her inside and out when I first bought it but I was sick of buying more diesel for the heater so I guess it'll have to sit until it gets warmer. Until then YOUR pictures convinced my fiance to let me order the LED's for the cup holders and some side neon black light tubes (which hopefully light up a white tshirt like you were in the club) all from Oznium.

Mark T · **Posted:** Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:06 pm

Damn You and your *&%#ing lights !!!!! I bought my boat October 25, and have never had it in the water and yet all I do is spend spend spend spend...

First I took the boat to a dealer/mechanic for a good going over, new bellows, gimbal bearing, tune up etc.

For Christmas, we got the kids a Super Mable Tube, life jackets, and a wake board.

Then it was an nice Dewalt dwp849 and an assortment of compounds, polishes, waxes and pads to buff and polish out the boat.

We then found a slip up in St. Joe Michigan to rent at Pier 33 and gave them our money. ( slip 53 will never run out of beer by the way !! )

Next it was an Alpine stereo and amp along with 6 of the Polk speakers everyone seems to like.

Then last week I pulled the trigger on a Swim-platforms.com platform for the boat complete with matching red along the sides ( extra $300 ) so it would look like it was from the factory.

Now I see your damn pictures with the lights, and I know I will regret it if I don't do something there as well...

As long as I am in spend mode, anyone have any thoughts on the best chartplotter combo for Lake Michigan / inland lakes ?

What else don't I need ???????????? I'm still 6-7 weeks from even trying the boat out for the first time.

Sounder · **Posted:** Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:09 pm

Haha. Welcome! B-o-a-t = break out another thousand.

I got a humminbird fish finder and it works great. It has good maps, shows fish, and even shows water temp. I've been very pleased with it. Do some searching and you'll find many suggestions.

The led project is a good one. High visual impact, and makes evening cruises much more enjoyable. Have fun with the new toy!

Paul I. · **Posted:** Wed Feb 29, 2012 8:53 pm

Thats great!!

Mark T · **Posted:** Thu Mar 01, 2012 1:22 pm

Sounder wrote:

Haha. Welcome! B-o-a-t = break out another thousand.

I got a humminbird fish finder and it works great. It has good maps, shows fish, and even shows water temp. I've been very pleased with it. Do some searching and you'll find many suggestions.

The led project is a good one. High visual impact, and makes evening cruises much more enjoyable. Have fun with the new toy!

You are right about B-o-a-t. Thanks for the tip on the Hummingbird unit, it seems like they are a little less than the Garmin's and have pretty much the same features. I like the water temp idea as Lake Michigan can have many different temps.

St. Louis Dave · **Posted:** Thu Mar 01, 2012 4:17 pm

Look at Lowrance too. I love my 522ci

Paul I. · **Posted:** Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:06 pm

St. Louis Dave wrote:

Look at Lowrance too. I love my 522ci

I would be careful of Lowrance!! I have been fighting with them for the past year. I bought a Elite-5DSI sonar, I am not getting that HD look as their web site shows. Plus, it is not outputting NMEA 0183 for depth as advertised. After talking with 5 techs, the 5th one came back & said "it was not made to out put any sonar info." So they up graded me to the same model, but with a GPS. It still will not output sonar, but will output GPS info and still no HD info being displayed. I have not even seen, one fish!! I tech out of there N.H. office said, "that model is more to see the bottom, than to find fish."

At this point, I was so upset, I bought a Garmin 541S to replace it!! It is NMEA 2000, so it should have no problems hooking it up to the boats network & sending the info out. Can you tell I am P!@#ed.

Sorry to get off the subject!! The remote for the LED lights are nice to have. More so, when returning from one of the islands in the harbor at night. We get in the inflatable & when were about 200 feet way. The remote can turn on the flood LED lights on the arch so we can see.

Someone also asked about wiring them in. On some LED, not all, you MUST go POS to POS in your connections. I would use tinned (marine) wire and wire nuts/butt connectors with a little sealant. I wired most of them off the nearest courtesy light/s. Turn the courtesy light switch, the new lights come on. The engine compartment and the arch I added. I took an unused fuse curcuit from the panel and ran it to the helm. From there I used a 2 switches. http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?pat ... id=1487723 From the switches, I then ran a ground & and the hot side of each switch to were it needs to go. One to the arch & one to the engine compartment.

Navy Dad · **Joined:** Sun Apr 15, 2012 4:29 pm **Posts:** 4

Thanks for all of the info on this thread. I just finished my project. I am very pleased with my results. I have posted my comments after having traveled the learning curve as Hints and Tips on LED Courtesy lights. I posted under the Horizon category.

viewtopic.php?p=94273#p94273

Jafo4U · **Joined:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:33 am **Posts:** 1026

That is a great project to embark on soon, I want the Polk speakers first.

LtDan · **Posted:** Thu Oct 11, 2012 4:23 pm

I haven't even seen my boat in person and I'm ready to order lights, that looks awesome!

jvthundercat · **Posted:** Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:58 pm

We have been changing the 38 Special over to LED. Another thousand is about right. I have lights laying on shelves everywhere to still put in and need the expensive underwater one's yet...ouch!

Morceri · **Joined:** Thu Oct 11, 2012 5:17 am **Posts:** 5

Sounder wrote:

Well, I've gotten ideas from people here, clicking here and got great results. So, I thought I'd share! These are the LEDs I installed. I used the Ozniums like Impulse. I got the dimming (and flashing) remote from them, too. All together, under $200 with great shipping and super high quality! These photos are with the dimmer on the brightest setting, and were taken in dark, under the cover, so in almost complete darkness. The brightness seems perfect. Not too bright, easy to see things, and see where you are walking. The dimmer works perfectly, and so do the flashers, although I'd never use them. These were very easy to install. If you try this, I have an F224, and used all of a 50 foot roll of wire. Those with good eyes will see I also installed the Polk speakers everyone thinks so highly of. I think they are an excellent upgrade, and will probably add an amp later.

Bow area cubby hole

Passenger seating area - 1 blue 9.5 under cushion on left and 1 blue 9.5 in cubby

Under helm 1 blue 9.5. Notice white showing through storage door on the left. These lights are bright!

between seats from rear Notice small (1.3) blue light in storage box

front storage area -- one 4.7 white

under deck storage -- two 4.7 white, one each side. Yes, this was taken in complete darkness and without a flash on the camera.

engine compartment 2 4.7 white

Under helm storage 1 4.7 white

rear cooler -- 2 superbright blue LEDs

Those lights are just awesome. What was the cost of installation?

Creekside22 · **Joined:** Mon Oct 15, 2012 4:51 pm **Posts:** 28

How have the Oznium lights held up? and how do you recommend attaching them? Looks incredible in the pics- I go this week to look at possibly my first Four Winns and am scheming projects already....

www.iFourWinns.com

MY LED Project

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