Engine room lights on my 356

[Rich W]

Thanks for the reply, Midnightsun. I understand the benefits and general safety of LED lights. However, I can't put anything in my gasoline engine room that isn't Ip 67 rated for ignition protection. That rating implies that the electrical devices having that rating have been tested to comply with the standard. Too much to lose if something goes wrong....the manufacturer you reference sells fixtures that have met the requirements of the standard. The standard comes from the US code of federal regulations,183 which covers marine industry.

Of course, this means that they can charge me greatly for it. Oh well!! Thanks again.

Rich W

[Bentone23]

Is that what the switch that has the green lamp below it is for? My green lamp lights up when the switch is switched on. My manuals say nothing about engine room lights.

[Viper]

Source of the post Is that what the switch that has the green lamp below it is for?....engine room lights

Yes, engine room lights.

[tomschauer]

Rich, I believe IP 67 is a water proof rating and not an ignition rating. The original halogen lights were not ignition proof rated either.
Unfortunately, I believe many items such as the water pumps, a/c pumps and battery chargers on these boats from the factory were not ignition proof.

[Viper]

It's not always a single component of a piece of hardware that needs to be ignition proof, sometimes it's the assembly itself. A light bulb for example may not have an ignition proof rating but under the right conditions could cause a fire or explosion hazard. In this example it's the fixture the bulb is in that should be ignition proof. Sometimes it could be an ignition proof component but the way the connection is made may allow for movement that could cause a spark. Again, in such a case, the assembly or enclosure should be the first line of defense, not just the component inside.

Engine room lighting falls into a special category IMO. It's not enough for them to be simply ignition proof in a gasoline bay, they must be robust and not easily broken or damaged even in a diesel application. When I'm crawling around in an engine compartment with the lights on and working on a gasoline related issue or anything else for that matter, I don't want to have to worry about bumping into a flimsy fixture or live wire that could put me in a dangerous position. Even if ignition proof ratings aren't required for a given application, a non-marine assembly that comes with wire pigtails for example don't use marine wire and aren't built/assembled with the same considerations in mind. ALL engine bays require marine wire for more reasons than just their anti-corrosion properties. An unnoticed accidentally broken fixture, bulb, LED, wiring, etc. in a circuit that gets powered up later is an explosion hazard in a gasoline application and a fire hazard in ANY application.