Underwater LEDs

[daniel123]

I want to add a set of underwater OceanLED lights for night fishing to the transom of my Osprey 200. I have the lights, just not the balls to drill a 1/4" dia hole under the water line for the wiring, any idea how to run those wires from inside the transom up to the console, or what switch to wire them to, since all my stock AS rockers on the dash panel are already dedicated to something (including the separate Bilge Pump and Fishbox Pumpout switches, which both control both pumps; see my related question in the Rebuild forum). I've considered tying the U/W lights into the Courtesy Lights switch (lights which I recently upgraded to green LEDs), since I don't want to add an aftermarket switch if I don't have to, and I'd probably want the U/W lights on about any time I want the courtesy lights on too, but maybe not and am interested in some feedback from you guys.

[GoneFission]

I assume you don't have trim tabs - right?  

Do you have a depthfinder transducer mounted on the transom?  

[daniel123]

No, I don't and yes, I do. And I plan to upgrade the Humminbird transducer the boat came with (that was a break) to a side-scan transducer to match the capabilities of my Humminbird unit. I also considered adding trim tabs, but the boat rides ok without them (albeit a bit nose light/high) so I may not.

[gran398]

How about run them beside the 'ducer cable up and over the transom.

The shared circuit with the courtesy lights is good, they don't pull much draw at all.

[seabob4]

Pretty easy actually.  Installed a pair of ScarabChris' on Wes's 200 Osprey...



If the location you want has a stringer in the way, simply drill through the transom outer glass, then angle the bit to come out the inboard face of the stringer.  I have an 18" 5/16" drill bit for this, as I install a lot of these lights, you'd be amazed at how many different boat builders put stringers exactly where you want your UW lights to be...

[flounderpounder225]

How about run them beside the 'ducer cable up and over the transom.

The shared circuit with the courtesy lights is good, they don't pull much draw at all.

That's what I did, put a on-off-on switch in place of the courtesy light switch, basically the same as your nav light switch.  Up is for the LEDs down is for the OEM deck lights, works great

[daniel123]

PR: That's a good idea, following the sonar cable to avoid drilling a hole, but the lights are designed for flush-mounting with the wires jutting straight out the backside. I could get a bracket to hold it off a bit to allow me to bend the wring up, I guess, but apparently if you use enough sealant (5200?) on the backside of the light to seal around the hole, it's not an issue.  

Bob: I never even thought of looking for a stringer on the inside before drilling. Good call!

Marc: That's a great idea, using a three-way courtesy light switch. So I send the red/positive wire from the LED direct to the "top" pole of the switch and back to the fuse panel? Any advice on how to snake the wire from the transom up to the console?  Think West Marine will have the right three-way toggle switches?

Thanks, guys!

Dan