LED rope lights in the boat

[dudeness]

I remember seeing a post by HugoBox (I believe) about rigging some of these lights in the boat. I was wondering where to get these lights that use 12v? I can only find lights that plug into 120.

If I remember correctly they were wired to the battery with a toggle switch. Just wondering how ya did it. Thanks.

[JimBuck]

What about snipping off the receptacle, locating the +/- wires and making your own? I purchased some HK Best LED's for my fish house that work very well and are waterproof. Those were ready for 12v straight out of the box. The company has had some very mixed reviews by other FM members however so buyer beware. I'm looking at installing some LED's in the boat this year for night fishing. It's pretty straight forward in terms of installation. Good luck.

[dudeness]

I am not a great electrical mind. Obviously I could figure that much out but if something is wired for 120 I was just wondering if it's cool to hook it up to your battery and if it's gonna drain the thing.

Where'd ya get the HK lights? - Thanks

[JimBuck]

Dudeness, the LED's consume very, very little power. I've never actually converted 120 to 12v but have heard of many people doing so without a problem. I think you'll be fine since the LED's are so efficient in terms of battery power. If you use the G----e search engine and type "HK's Best LED's" it should be the first result. I purchased the Flexible and Waterproof LED Tube. Good luck.

[HugoBox]

I know some reviews on Best HK are not so hot but had good luck (a few years ago). I believe you can also get 12V ropes through the main catalogues. I think JimBuck is right on though, if they are LED lights conversion to 12V should be easy enough and the power draw would be pretty low.

[RK]

Hiya -

Adding interior lights was my main boat project last spring.

I looked at rope lights, but with the layout of my boat the rope lights weren't going to work all that well where I needed the lights to be. What I ended up doing instead was using several small 10-led fixtures I found at Cabelas, plus some puck-style surface mount fixtures here and there.

The flat fixtures are about 1/4" thick - an oblong plastic wafer basically - and you can drill holes in the ends to mount them with small screws. When they're tightened down they are basically flush with the knap of the carpet. I mounted them right on the bulkheads pointing where I wanted the light, and ran the wires through the compartments behind them. I have 4 of these running down each side of the main floor area behind the consoles, about 4" off the deck, one on the front of each console lighting up the front deck, and one at the bow pointing back toward the front deck.

For under the consoles, I added a 6 LED puck (they're about the size of a 50-cent piece and maybe an inch high) on each side, and a large round surface-mounted LED in the centerline rod locker.

I wired all the lights into a separate fuse panel which I attached to my boat's wiring harness and mounted under one of the consoles. I already had an interior lights circuit on my switch panel so I didn't have to add a new rocker. The separate fuse panel is pretty easy to access, so I can add more lights elsewhere on the boat if I feel like it. I may add some livewell lights this spring, for example.

All in all, it's pretty slick. The interior lights up like an amusement park. I think if I wanted to get real clever I could wire half the lights to one circuit and half to another off the fuse block, then add in a rocker so I could turn of 50% of the lights if I wanted to, but I really only turn them on when I'm rigging up or looking for something, so the bright lights aren't a problem. All in all, mounting the lights and running all the wires took me 8-10 hours. But - most of that was working with a very curious 3-year old climbing all over me and swiping my tools, so that slowed me down quite a bit

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[FishinChad]

You can order them off of the big E if you know what I mean...biggest auction site on the web! Many to choose from at a good price.

[TomWehler]

RK....who knew you would know how to do anything but write?

Amazing............!!!

We just start a small fire in middle of boat...works fine since we quit drinking 21 years ago.

Keep on rocken!

Tommy

[dudeness]

Yeah, when I search for Hk led's all I get is some wholesale [PoorWordUsage] from king Kong. I don't need to order a minimum of 100 meters. I checked out one of the big box hardware stores yesterday and wasn't overly impressed with their selection.

I guess if it's not a sponsor of this site nobody can tell me where they get em'. No prob I'll go shopping. I still need to get about fifty things to mount my new graph. That is quite the project, wiring it was okay but hiding the wires is proving to be quite difficult. I hate drilling holes in the boat, trying to do that as little as possible.

[TomWehler]

Dude

Hunt up some ice shack lites.

Drain little, work ok so ya don't trip up.

Simple to hook up with gator clip.

Easy to find at site where they make Clam fish shack or like that.

Cheap...but a small fire is warm an cozzy...the GREEN way to go.

Tommy

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I think it was posted in the boats/motors section, rings a bell because the guy posted pics and there were to cans of PBR in the photo so I had to ask if they came with the light set or was an deluxe model kit

[dudeness]

Cool thanks guys. I think I'll just go the fire route... and probably the PBR route as well.

I'll get er' figured out, and when I do look out. Cause I'm gonna look like the 4th of July comin down the lake. I might even go with a disco ball right in the middle. Actually, does anyone know where to get a good deal on a lava lamp?

[TomWehler]

Dudeness.

You got it now.

Humor an the good old do the best ya can way of living is way to go. Top shelf, spend, spend, spend way is no fun...save money..buy STEAK!

You will find what works for you an have fun doing it...rock on!

Good stuff.

You ever up my way in summer give a call...I bet we could have some laughs an maybe find you a big fatty to photo up with..or not.

Tend the Fire!

Tommy

[pinkfloyd4ever]

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1602966/interior_boat_lights#Post1602966

Here is the link, complete with PBR comments LOL if it helps

[dudeness]

Nice, I'd probably have to spring for the deluxe package myself.

Tommy, I'm telling ya, when my boat is done it's gonna look like freakin Las Vegas man. The real deal.

I gotta get up to Vermilion one of these days. I have an aunt and uncle that have a huge shack up there. I'd probably be a bad guest though, I'd be in the boat the whole time. Gonna try to get up there this year though. I'll have to look ya up.

Maybe have a steak or a fire or something.

[Bigguyone]

I think the easiest way if you already have a 12v source is to just buy a cheap inverter at a big-box store that is the largest in america for about 10-15.00 and then plug your lights directly into it and no hassle or cutting wires or anything...also inverter can come in handy for other things at times as well.