Underwater lights

[Lyndon670]

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Feez suggested I post this, had to wait until I was up and on the hard for pics.

Last winter I installed 4 Ocean LEDS. I bought the highest lumen rating they had at 1400. They are all aluminum castings with 5 bulbs inside. The great thing about these lights is that they are quality made in USA. These are by far the brightest lights I have seen in any boat. Anchored in the clear water at Beckwith Island, Georgian Bay, I throw light an easy 100ft behind my boat.

Super easy install, an hour for mounting and running the wires and about 2 hours to do the actual electrical side. But I complicated this part by adding a new power bus in my master cabin bilge for the power supply AND added a 12v motorcycle alarm remote control - which gives me the ability to turn on/off the lights and dim/brighten them from 250ft away.

This winter I am adding 2 more, as Ocean LED just came out with higher output ones at 2800 lumen each.

[feeez]

Nice job Lyndon!!

Fraser

[Lyndon670]

Thanks buddy, with the new ones installed, I can probably light your boat up in Beacon Bay lol

[Viper]

They look great Lyndon. I'm curious, how long have you had them installed, and is the metal casing showing any signs of corrosion? I ask because I've replaced many an aluminum underwater light for that reason. I'll only do stainless or plastic now. When you add anything aluminum under water in the same proximity as stainless steel (shafts), your aluminum will give up some metal over time. I see the Diver's Dream anode on your transom which I suspect is magnesium, that would help protect the aluminum as long as it's replaced regularly.

[Lyndon670]

Regarding the aluminum, I am very far away from my shafts (relative terms) and have the anode right by the lights. According to logic and the dissimilar metal decay chart, it is so far (measured by a dropping a tape measure down and then from that point to the closest metal and entering the factor) it would almost never happen. Plus, that timeline is based on a boat that is in the water all the time. We are extremely lucky if we get 6 months in the water. They were installed last March.

I used plastic ones on my Silverton but was not happy with their performance.

[Viper]

You're closer to stainless than you think, in fact, you're really close! Those trim tabs are SS! Look, not trying to convince anybody of anything here, just putting my personal experience out there and I've replaced a lot of them on both small boats and large yachts. I can tell you with absolute certainty that the aluminum ones were acting as anodes. A few OEMs have moved away from aluminum for this reason and moved to plastic or SS. As far as performance is concerned, that's an LED thing not a casing issue. There are plastic units out there in excess of 3000 lumens each and networkable if that's what you mean.

There are many variables dictating how long before aluminum shows signs of giving up metal. Everything from water conditions, marina conditions, even your neighbor's boat will influence that. Some boaters have caught on at the first signs of problems and started painting the casings when anti-fouling in an effort to delay the process. Yours may last a long time, let's hope they do, but it's something folks should be aware of when considering a purchase IMO.

[Lyndon670]

There is mathematical calculations available for dismilar metal destruction available at any quality metal supplier. The calculations give you a baseline for the destruction based on distance measured multiplied by a specific decimal value. This is a baseline based on constants. You are correct on your variables - water conditions, marina conditions etc - but the baseline can be easily calculated. Marine engineers, boat builders and equipment designers use these calculations for design and construction.

My statement was that I am very far away from my SHAFTS which I am.

When I spoke of the performance of the plastic ones, I wasn't speaking of their lumen output. The heat generated by the LEDs caused the plastic lens to go somewhat hazy.

You are correct, if a purchaser properly does his research as I did, you can come up with data that can help you make an informed decision. My research resulted in the satisfaction that mathematically these lights (casing) will probably outlive the life of the boat. That is true for my boat as equipped, but may not be true for others.

Quite frankly, boating in Canada with our limited season - even the anodes typically live a long, long time. I just replaced the anodes on the 506 last March - and they were original. I only replaced them because I am very particular, and they still had more than 50% life in them.

[Viper]

When I say plastic, I'm talking about the housing or casing only, not the window if you will where the light shines through. I agree if you buy cheap all moulded plastic units like some I've seen mounted on trim tabs, eventually the "window" will cloud over.

Don't even get me started on anodes, they are meant for one purpose only, to give themselves up (sacrifice) instead of the more expensive hardware. If they are lasting for years, it's likely they are not doing their job or they wouldn't last that long. There are a few reasons for longevity but the most common is simply using the wrong ones.

Not going to get into a pissing match so I'll end it by saying this; Marine engineers also designed the aluminum ones I've replaced. You are right, calculations and mathematics are great and serve as a baseline but I'm talking about real world conditions here. My world is also only about 6-7 months longs.

So we'll just agree to disagree!

Anyway, I love the picture with them lit up