www.iFourWinns.com

Show Off!

(Or in other words....... WOW!)

_________________
Brett DiMichele

Cool pics. And cool lightning!!!

_________________
Richard - FL - 2005 Vista 248

Just a few questions, can you post a close-up daylight picture of how the lights look in the rail? Did you run one wire for each one down the nearest stanchion, or did you pull them back to only a few points? How did you wire them back to the helm? Are those LEDs capable of accepting fluctuating voltages, or did you use a 12v power supply?

Some LEDs cannot handle anything other than a fixed 12vdc level and will burn out much sooner if they get too much or too little voltage. Boat voltage, like that of a car, varies based on whether a charging circuit is active (the engine alternators or the shore power charger) or due to the batteries getting drained (like after all afternoon or overnight).

_________________
-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

I'm headed back up to the boat on Thursday so I'll take some daylight pic's to post.

I used the 22ga speaker wire from West Marine and ran from hole to hole (14 in all) starting on the port side and ending up on the starboard where the rail meets the deck (you can run dozens of these on the same circuit). After drilling, be sure to deburr the inside of each hole or else the burrs will snag the wire casing. To fish the wire from hole to hole I used a 1/4" earth magnet with a small hole in the centre, tied some monofiliment to it, pushed it up into the 3/8" hole and pulled it along to the next using a 1" earth magnet. Because the rail is stainless it won't interfere with the magnetic attraction. Then simply connect the mono to the wire and pull through.
I connected (soldered) each LED in parallel and then used heat shrink tube to seal. The grommet supplied with the LED is then inserted in the hole and the LED carefully pushed up until it seats in the grommet. Its a bit tricky getting all the wires and connections back into the rail but a little patience and the promise of a cold beer at the end worked for me.

The wire exits the rail just above the deck and is then run below through a small hole drilled in the deck and then sealed. Below deck access to the wire is gained by removing the horizontal cabinet in the aft berth. It can then be easily run up to the helm where I installed a matching rocker switch from Mouser in one of two open switch holes. Power and ground wires were already there.

Like I said in a previous post in this thread, the hard part was drilling the 14 holes in the stainless tube. Although expensive, cobalt bits are the way to go here as regular bits will burn out in seconds. Just go really slow, use cutting oil and step drill in small increments.

These LED's are available through Bosun Supplies and are advertised for marine use so my guess is that the voltage fluctuations found in a 12 volt charging system aren't a problem. Heres a link to their page on Microstar LED's:
http://www.bosunsupplies.com/products2. ... =MicroStar

In the end even though it took me 3 months to finish it... , it actually was only about 8 hours in total start to finish and the end result is a really cool lighting effect. You'll be surprised at how bright these single guy's are.

Now I'm starting to think of other places to install them.

_________________

"ROCKHOUND"
2005 Vista 298
Georgian Bay, Ontario.

I'm guessing your chose to go out the side of the stanchion to avoid trying to lift it to drill from underneath? How accessible was the area in the cabin below? I'm wondering that if you could see the underside of the mount whether it might be possible to drill upwards and into the cavity of the stanchion post. Or is there backing material that would make that too difficult?

_________________
-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Drilling up into the end of my railing where it meets the gunwale was my first choice but upon further investigation, that particular mount is a single bolt into the end of the railing from below making drilling for a wire impossible.
Another option was to run the wire back to the last vertical stanchion which is held to the gunwale by machine screws through a base plate. I saw 3 problems with this method. The first and most important which was pointed out to me by brett248vista earlier in this thread in that the machine screws have nuts on the other end which would only be accessible by removing a substantial portion of the cabin interior. The second is that there may not be (and probably isn't) a connection between the cavities in the railing and stanchion. Thirdly, unless you removed the entire railing, the stanchion base plate to be drilled would have to be pulled out and away from the gunwale approximately 6" to allow enough room to work on it thereby risking damage.
The only option left (for me) was to drill one last hole in the railing (approx 4") from the gunwale and another in the fiberglass in order to get the wire below decks.
It actually looks not too bad and it certainly wasn't a deal breaker.
Your situation may be different allowing you to obtain a cleaner installation.... either way, go for it. They look great!

_________________

"ROCKHOUND"
2005 Vista 298
Georgian Bay, Ontario.

As promised, here are some photos showing what they look like in the daylight.

_________________

"ROCKHOUND"
2005 Vista 298
Georgian Bay, Ontario.

Thanks for the pix and the explanation. Good point about it not being likely to have an inside connection from the rail to a vertical stanchion. I mistakenly assumed your exit point was in a vertical stanchion, thus my question. That and I didn't recall Brett's comment. My only concern about the exit point would be avoiding any line being pulled down against it. It'd be a real shame to have something pull too hard against that wire and fray or cut it. Granted, you could probably just re-thread the wire back up to the nearest light and splice in a new length.

On the 348 the rail meets the gunwale on the side, not the top. And I have had to use that short section of rail (between the deck and the safety line) to attach a line for a fender.



If I were to implement this sort of thing I'd probably craft some sort of "block" to wedge in there to avoid having a line crush the wire. While I personally would know to avoid it, you never know what someone else might do, especially when trying to be 'helpful'. I suppose the same thing could be said of the lights too.

I recall seeing this option on a Doral. But I didn't think to look more closely at how they embedded the lights into the rail.

It's a nice mod you've made. Thanks for the pix and info!

_________________
-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Bill, have you checked to see if you can gain access to that point where the rail meets the gunwale? Depending on how it's fastened there, you might be able to run the wire straight through the end to below deck.
Failing that, as a safe guard you could fashion a 2 piece 'stop block' out of nylon or similar that could clamp over the rail just before the bend and the point where your wire exits the rail thereby stopping any lines from sliding down too far.

_________________

"ROCKHOUND"
2005 Vista 298
Georgian Bay, Ontario.

I suspect that the rail terminates in a single bolt. That's the only obvious way I could see getting it fastened. So I'd also have to exit the rail somewhere ahead of that point. I'm not sure how accessible that area would be. Getting up inside the gunwales is tough from the engine compartment. I think the fuel tanks (on either side) would make it difficult to reach the area. But it might be accessible by removing the mid-cabin storage cabinet (on either side). I wouldn't mind replacing the fan in the head with something quieter. I've no idea how to get to it, but that cabinet might be key to getting back there. But I don't hate the noise level ]that badly.

An easier route would probably be to drill the hole from the outside and then fish around for the wire from inside. Feed enough if it into the hole and you're pretty likely to be able to snag it somehow. I'd just make sure to not leave any wire dangling and secure it.

Your stop-block suggestion is right on the mark. Some sort of block, possible even straddling the existing wire, would be a good way to prevent anything from yanking the wires out.

_________________
-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Thats how I did mine. Then sealed the hole in both the railing and fiberglass with a good quality sealant. I also added a tie wrap to secure the wire to the railing to eliminate any movement.

Anyway, sounds like you have a plan. Let us know how you make out.... with pic's of course!
Cheers.

_________________

"ROCKHOUND"
2005 Vista 298
Georgian Bay, Ontario.

Damn photo bucket, would love to see the pics to this project. This would be bad ass!

Anyone else do it?

The links actually work for the LED lights

_________________
Current:
2000 Sea Ray 380 Sundancer "still Livin the Dream"

Past
2002 268 Vista 5.7 GXI "Livin' the Dream"
1996 Rinker 192 Captiva. "The Simple Life"
1999 Yamaha XLL 1200 Waverunner.
1976 Mercury Marquis tri hull 120 hp

I've seen it on another boat. It does look really cool. I would recommend using a drill bushing or a block clamped on the rail tube with a drill bushing to help guide the drill bit.

_________________
Surface Interval: A scuba diving term for that time between dives to relax and prepare for life's next great adventure.

Current boat: '02 FW 268 Vista
Previous boat: '95 FW 190 Horizon

Huh my 01 298 has cherry cabinets. What LED's are you going with?

_________________
2001 Four Winns 298 Vista
Twin 5.7 Volvo Penta GSI DP

Sorry didn't read old post before commenting.

_________________
2001 Four Winns 298 Vista
Twin 5.7 Volvo Penta GSI DP