www.iFourWinns.com

With knowledge and encouragement from this forum I recently installed blue LED courtesy lights in my 2006 Horizon 240. As everyone has posted, it is an easy project but I thought I would share my hints… having just traveled the learning curve.

1) hardest part is threading or fishing the wire around the boat. A plastic fish tape would be best… in a pinch, I used a tape measure. Not ideal, but it worked. A second pair of hands would have been really nice, but I got along solo.

2) I bought wire from SuperBright LED, but next time I would use run of the mill speaker wire… the kind that comes on a spool and is copper color on one side and silver on the other. You want to use stranded wire, and speaker wire is typically stranded and should easily carry the current for your LEDs. I had to take my two tool spools of wire, one black and one red, and tape them together every foot or so.

3) Start by running two wire pairs (one for power, the other ground) around the boat, past each place you intend to light up. One going forwards from the under the help and around the bow,and then back down the port side. The other going aft along the starboard side. Your wire does not need to be too close to each light location as the LED strips have about 30" of their own wire.

4) The ideal way to make make connections would be to use an automotive splice that crimps on to the one wire, and adds a second (the lead to the LED). The problem I ran into is that these two wires are quite different in size, with the LED wire being much smaller. A solder connection would have been easy, but generally speaking solder connections are not advised in this environment as they are quite brittle and tend to break with excessive movement. I found some connectors that worked… you will need to figure that out depending on what kind of wire you are using.

5) Polarity is important. Each LED has a pos and a neg lead.

6) I had some issues with the 3M double backed tape. It did not want to hold on the smooth fiberglass -- under the helm. It seemed to work fine above the cup holder well, where the fiberglass was raw, unfinished. My install is only 2 days old, so I can't vouch for how long the tape will hold.

7) I found a switch from Great Lakes Skipper that exactly matched those in my panel -- made by Carling. I removed one of the unused switches (wiper switch) and installed the new one. It lights when the circuit is in use. Cost is $10. Here is a link: http://greatlakesskipper.com/product/86 ... witch.html

8 ) Wiring connections….. the switch I used has three lugs. There was no wiring information with the switch. Your can get diagrams at Carling's web site (the switch manufacturer). Or you can just figure it out. One lug is for ground. Take it directly to the boat ground. The other two are for power… one to the the fuse panel and the other to the positive LED leads. The remaining LED leads, the negative leads, go to the system ground. System ground, BTW on my boat, is on the side of the fuse panel. If you wire the switch wrong, the switches internal light will be on permanently (not good). If this is the case, simply switch the two power leads. I used a "Spare" fuse slot on the fuse block and installed a 5 amp fuse.

9) I added a LED lighted cup holder. I think I got it from a Formula dealer. It was easy to add to my system, and I may order a few more, to light those cup holders that are not situated in lighted wells.

All in all I am happy with the installation. I do have a something that I'd like to try but have not yet. The original white courtesy lights (marked as deck lights on our original switch) are quite bright… too bright to use and then have any night vision left. But they are well located. I am thinking about trying to install a single or possibly two individual blue LED bulbs in that same housing by drilling the back and inserting the new LED -- using silicone to secure it in place. I am not sure if there is room, or if the plastic will survive the drill and not shatter or crack, but it is worth the try. Replacement light assemblies are readily available. It would be nice to have them on the same courtesy light circuit as the other blue LEDs. So… those light fixtures would serve two different circuits.

I'll post a few photos that I took… these were shot with my iPhone under the lighted dock. The exposure is not that great. They do look much better in person, especially when out on the lake away from the dock lights.

Hope this info is of some help. See photos below.

Navy Dad

tl;dr

_________________
1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

Nice write up. The only thing I would like to suggest is that whenever I need wire for 12V mods such as this I always use "bell" wire. It's attached like the speaker wire, but is designed to carry 12V's.

As far as posting pictures......Just open yourself a Photobucket account. Upload the pictures there and then when you open them in Photobucket they'll give you a link to the picture. You can then just copy the "IMG" link and paste it into your post.

Here's a screen shot of the Photobucket link I mentioned. (see arrow)

_________________
2010 H190 4.3VP
Tow Vehicle:
2007 F150
Previous boats:
2009 H180 3.0VP
1996 Horizon QX 3.0VP

Thanks for the short course on photo posting. I followed your instructions and edited my initial post with five photos. They are not the greatest, as they were done with my phone, under the lights of our boat dock. It looks better in person, trust me.

As far as bell wire goes, the bell wire I am thinking of uses a solid copper conductor. I really think you want to use stranded wire here, as it is more flexible and carries the current very well.

Looks great!!

I would use marine wire, it is tinned and will not rust up as copper wire will. I have used both crippling & soldering the connections. In soldering, you have a connection that will not fall apart. The tin and lead in the solder will not rust up. We are only talking about 22 to 16g wire, as long as wire ties are use ever 2 feet or so, there should be not strain on the solder joint for it to break and the wire is supported.

As to the "automotive splice that crimps", there not air or water tight, which you want in a very moist environment.

Paul: in an ideal world, you are probably correct. Marine grade wire would be better, and so would water tight / air tight connections. My boat will never see salt water, however, and these wires will probably never get wet. Even so, the connectors I used are actually weather proof. I used the round button type connectors often used in the phone industry. They have a gel inside that protects them from water and air intrusion. To use these in a splice (to add a wire to an existing conductor) you need to cut the wire that is continuing through. You then insert those two ends and the end of the lead to the LED, into the connector and compress the button until it snaps. I would have preferred to have used a splice that didn't cut that conductor. I was prepared to use solder and heat shrink tube, but was informed by a mechanic that crimp connections were actually preferred. In a salt environment, I would agree that the automotive spices are probably not the best choice.

If it works, GREAT! I do boat in salt water and the moist air can do is wonders on wiring. The cooper turns green. Thats way I shake my head at the wire FW uses.

In any event, on the light wires, I do find soldering works best for me and then shrank tubing. The tubing will also stiffen the joint too.

Really cool set up, like the color. I just put an underwater light on my pontoon, its blue as well.
I also like your cup holder lights, nice job!!

_________________
2011 Bennington 2075 GLi
2012 Key West 211 DC
2005 Four winns 180 Horizon LE
1997 Horizon QXsold
2000 248 Vistasold
2002 Key West 2020WA sold