Under deck LED lights?

CGeminski

CGeminski

Well-known member
I am looking for some waterproof LED lights to put under the deck of my duckboat. I am considering those sold by Brad Taylor (a member here) at www.tollerboatworks.com, which I have heard good things about. At the same time, I want to consider all my options (no offense Brad), just to see what is available out there and may work best for my boat.

I will be installing a marine battery to run my bow/stern lights, start my outboard and hopefully power these lights as well. If anyone has any advice, web links to other LED lights, etc... It would be greatly appreciated.
 
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What more do you need....buy from Brad.​
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Like I said, I am strongly considering buying from him... One thing I need to find out about the lights he sells is if the whole assembly is flexible as the deck I will be attaching them to is curved. I plan on contacting Brad soon about the lights.

Also... this site is such a great resource for ideas. Where else can you find thousands of guys all rigging their duckboats and draw from that experience? The more ideas I get presented with, the better chance I have of finding the best one for my application.
 
I don't think they are designed to be flexible, especially if you are going to use the tape to attach them. Sure the tape is somewhat compliant, but how much curve can you have in your deck over a 3 inch length by 1/2" wide? I attached mine on a wooden boat, so I used the tape to stick them to some thin aluminum then screwed the aluminum to the boat. You should be able to orient them on the underside of the deck so that they do not need to bend. All 4 of mine run perpendicular to the line of sight, the bow and stern lights run port to starboard, and the side lights run bow to stern. They throw a lot of light, so I would advise that they be positioned so that you see indirect light from them. All mine are positioned behind something so I never look directly at the lights, your night vision will be gone if you do.

There are smaller units out there, at least in length, my neighbor has them in his boat, but they don't through half as much light and they are bulkier. He screwed them in place, though tape might have worked too.
 
Thanks for the reply Dave, I didnt realize they were only 3 inches long. I may be able to use the adhesive... or build an aluminum bracket like you did. I planned on installing them beyond line of sight so you never looked directly at the lights... I want them to shine down at the floor so I preserve my night vision.

Did you get the red, white or green ones?
 
what kind of battery are you running them off?
Will they work with a marine battery that I will be using to start my outboard?
 
Because of space and weight in my sneakbox, I just went with a sealed 12V 12aH battery, used for alarm systems and uninterupted power supplies. Cheap, $13. My navigation lights are LED too. But they are 12V so any 12V battery will power them, they draw mA, I put all 4 on a 1amp fuse because I could not find smaller! I think Brad uses one even smaller (7aH) in his boats. I just bought this one off eBay with a 2 year warrentee.
 
A while back I when I picked up a new boat (to me) and had to rewire the whole thing, I thought, gee, wouldn't it be great to have cockpit lights?!? So off to the store (Fleet Farm) and I found a variety of LED's. I bought the brightest ones they had. I figured if I was gonna do this, I would want to have it functional. So, lights went in every 3 feet up both sides and even one up in the storage compartment under the bow deck. 7 in total. Empty boat, dark night, they look kinda cool. Could maybe be a bit stronger for my tastes, but overall not bad.

Now, I added all the gear, then the 10 doz decoys, oh, then the layouts, then the guns, dog etc.......turn on the lights and well you guessed it, you never even saw them. I had to turn on the old headlamp. Back to square one. As I unload the boat, little by little, the lights somehow get brighter as all the gear is in the water!!!

Guess my point is in specific areas for specific needs they are great. By the battery, or areas of storage that are otherwise dark, but to have them throughout the boat, not so much. Not a big fan anymore. the time and trouble to wire them for what they provide does not impress me as much as I had hoped.

Andrew Holley on here built a huge boat, wired in lights, did a great job. Still, as nice as he did it, decoys and gear still bumped the lights, the wire harnesses etc. and they were in the end not as functional as I believe he had hoped.

So, just think about that from another angle. As far as sources, Brad or the internet are full of them along with your local stores.

Good luck.
 
I use the Cabela's led rope light on both sides of my Duck Invader. LIghts the whole inside great, I even left them on over night without drain the battery down so i could use my navigation lights the next day. I run then on just a jetski battery the first 2 years no alternator, the last year i run an alternator motor and still no problems with them. Here is the item#

Cabela's Marine Rope Lighting

Item:IA-016310 $14.99
 
I just bought the same seasense 4'' 6 led that toller use to use according to his website. For like 7-8 dollars a peice from iboats.com
 
Didn't mean to have my font so big like I was shouting. Didn't check before I posted and that is how it came off Brad's site. The point was that a lot of times I find something that I like and stupid me keeps on looking at similiar products wasting my time only to come back and buy the first one that I looked at. Sometimes I feel better because I know that I "looked" around and this is what I "really" want. Other times I curse myself for wasting my prescious time.
 
I put blue LEDS from Sea Dog in all my boats. Each fixture has six lights. I like them because they screw is place so they stay put and my cost is very good. Tom.
 
Here's a couple of pictures taken tonight from the NFZ I just built. There are 9 LEDs in the cockpit of this boat. The picture was made with no external lighting. I've used the seasense and even had them in my original boat up until last summer, there is no comparison. Its a different temperature of light, which makes the seasense look "bluer" and duller. On top of that, the broadcast angle is much narrower so it doesn't flood the light as well as the one's I carry. Don't worry about the adhesion of the strips, we're talking about a light that weighs fractions of an ounce and is being held on by the same tape that holds auto body parts on. Once they're in place, they're not coming off. And while its not that big of deal, the Seasense and other manufacturers of the same style light have a much higher profile at 1/2 to 3/4" whereas these are only a 1/4" tall. As for rope lighting, I'm just not a fan...the LEDs shine light in all directions so you end up with a lot of wasted light. Lastly, unlike most other products (especially LED products) these are manufactured here in the good ol' USA.

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Thanks,
Brad
 
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