Superlucky
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2018
- Messages
- 37
- Reaction score
- 0
I needed to make some upgrades to my new Gregor Alaskan 16. I bought it stripped because I thought I could save some money and I could also outfit it exactly as I wanted. After spending months on this forum reading various modifications, I found a common idea was to use LED lighting instead of energy-hogging incandescent.
My first step was to tackle the red/green navigation lights. I found a lot of stuff for sale on the Internet, but most of them were just stick-on strips of colored LED's. They offered no protection from docking "bumps" and I felt that they would be easily damaged. Other lights required massive holes to be drilled in the side of the boat.
I decided to buy some waterproof LED's and I then installed them into some 1 inch aluminum channel. I tapered the ends and riveted the units to the boat. The wires are extremely small so I only needed to drill tiny holes to route the wires. Here are the results:
Coast Guard approved, probably not, but they more than exceed the visual requirement.
Next up was the interior lighting. I frequently launch in the dark and I am always looking for stuff in the boat. I noticed that a large number of people have used red lights to illuminate their boats and not burn out their night vision. Although I think it looks a little like "Pimp my Ride", the red floor lighting provides sufficient illumination. I placed these lights below the package tray. The glare you are seeing is a reflection. You cannot actually see the light strip.
The photo has a lot of glare. In person, they are very soft without glare.
I then got a string of white LED's to light up the interior when you really need illumination. I placed these under the gunnels.
I then needed an electrical panel to switch everything up. I built a plate out of aluminum, added the rocker switch assembly and added individual circuit breakers for each circuit. I placed this panel on the Port side, near the floor at the back of the boat.
I am pretty pleased with the results. I hope that the LED's last and provide years of service.
All of the LED's were purchased through superbrightleds.com
Best regards
Bill
My first step was to tackle the red/green navigation lights. I found a lot of stuff for sale on the Internet, but most of them were just stick-on strips of colored LED's. They offered no protection from docking "bumps" and I felt that they would be easily damaged. Other lights required massive holes to be drilled in the side of the boat.
I decided to buy some waterproof LED's and I then installed them into some 1 inch aluminum channel. I tapered the ends and riveted the units to the boat. The wires are extremely small so I only needed to drill tiny holes to route the wires. Here are the results:
Coast Guard approved, probably not, but they more than exceed the visual requirement.
Next up was the interior lighting. I frequently launch in the dark and I am always looking for stuff in the boat. I noticed that a large number of people have used red lights to illuminate their boats and not burn out their night vision. Although I think it looks a little like "Pimp my Ride", the red floor lighting provides sufficient illumination. I placed these lights below the package tray. The glare you are seeing is a reflection. You cannot actually see the light strip.
The photo has a lot of glare. In person, they are very soft without glare.
I then got a string of white LED's to light up the interior when you really need illumination. I placed these under the gunnels.
I then needed an electrical panel to switch everything up. I built a plate out of aluminum, added the rocker switch assembly and added individual circuit breakers for each circuit. I placed this panel on the Port side, near the floor at the back of the boat.
I am pretty pleased with the results. I hope that the LED's last and provide years of service.
All of the LED's were purchased through superbrightleds.com
Best regards
Bill
