Does anyone have the led drain plug lights

bry1429

aero3113 said:

bry1429 said:

I was considering the drain plug lights for my jet boat but was a bit nervous on how far this very bright model protruded away from the transom

@bry1429 I’ve been doing some research and it looks like that company makes a good product, and they stand by it. I saw a video on YouTube earlier of them taking an aluminum baseball bat to their “Vega” light. Hitting it as hard as they can multiple times. Minimal dents to the housing, no damage to the resin lens and it powered right up when he put power to it.

That's my findings also, they are bad a$$ lights, well built

mattie

bry1429 said:

@mattie your right how crazy BRIGHT ( and pricey) OceanLED are. I do think the prices will be coming down in the coming months.

Yepper, OceanLED’s are the way to go. Pricey - but beyond excellent product. I had a great experience with them.

putting them on our current boat when I get a chance.

aero3113

Rinker garboard plugs are bronze, correct?

bry1429

aero3113 said:

Rinker garboard plugs are bronze, correct?

I think my flange is bronze and plug is brass,
Correct me if you have inside Intel of what factory install was at Rinker Headquarters 

aero3113

I don’t , LoL. Do you get any dissimilar metal corrosion since they are different? 

bry1429

aero3113 said:

I don’t , LoL. Do you get any dissimilar metal corrosion since they are different? 

You are probably right, they must both be bronze then. I always thought my plug was brass. But from what my Google bar just Informed me it's not wise to combine bronze an brass against one another 

javhav

aero3113 said:

bry1429 said:

I was considering the drain plug lights for my jet boat but was a bit nervous on how far this very bright model protruded away from the transom

@bry1429 I’ve been doing some research and it looks like that company makes a good product, and they stand by it. I saw a video on YouTube earlier of them taking an aluminum baseball bat to their “Vega” light. Hitting it as hard as they can multiple times. Minimal dents to the housing, no damage to the resin lens and it powered right up when he put power to it.

Fair warning this company sucks I used there lights last season they quit after 3 weeks tried to get replaced under warranty and it was a nightmare took 2 months after back and forth texting and pictures pure trash waste of money 

aero3113

Thanks for the info @javhav , good to know.

aero3113

Hurley has trim tab lights also. They look good in the video.

https://youtu.be/icxvANX9YZw

aero3113

The last video was 10 years old and halogen bulbs, this video is for LED. Funny they use the same video!

https://youtu.be/gcwqsG_1fgo

MarkB

This is what I installed on my 260EC. Liquid Lite ... in blue.

https://www.marine.com/products/11-41732/liquid-lite-6-led-drain-plug-light-189-npt-white-12vdc

It was great ... easy to install, and the bulb is actually solid (I believe epoxy). It can shear right off, and there's no water going into the bilge .. the plug part is completely solid. I wasn't worried about compromising safety with this light.

If you have twins, it actually works better, because the drive doesn't interfere with the lite, as it's positioned in the center.  

In terms of brightness ... it was okay. Definitely it could have been brighter, but it wasn't bad by any means. Here's a picture of it ... for sure there's brighter systems ... so it depends on what you want, and how much work you want to do. This one is literally a 30 minute install, you're biggest issue will be tapping into power via a switch (which isn't really an issue if you have spare ACC switches at the helm and can locate a spare feed in the engine compartment).

aero3113

Thanks @MarkB , that LED looks nice but at 380 lumens it won’t do much in my water. The one I was looking at was 8000 lumens.

TonyG13

@aero3113 - You trying to land a plane?! Aren't aircraft landing lights like 3000 lumens? 

aero3113

TonyG13 said:

@aero3113 - You trying to land a plane?! Aren't aircraft landing lights like 3000 lumens? 

LoL! Yea, 8000 might be overkill but if it’s available! They only had a brass housing in that model so I’m going to pass on it unless another company comes out with a bronze housing. He said they’re no longer making it in bronze. They had one but a different model and would stick out too far.

Cableguy Greg

One of my former dock mates had the drain plug lights on his boat. One evening he was coming back up river and ran over a piece of debris and it deflected off the light. When he got back to the dock, the bilge pump kept cycling. We ended up pulling his boat and found the light had snapped off. Fortunately it was a 22' boat and easy to get on the trailer. If he would have left for the night, his boat would have been down in a few hours. 

When I put lights on my 232cc and my 280EC, I used Coastal Night Lights. I drilled the 1/4" hold thru the transom and sealed it with 4000. I pushed the wire most of the way through, then put sealant on the wire and pushed the rest of the way through. Prior to final mounting, I put a glob of sealant at the hole location just to be safe and let it squish out. I also sealed the hole from the engine room side. I used 4000 because it is rated for below the waterline and if you ever have to replace a light due to malfunction, it is easier to remove and replace. On my 232cc, I used 5200. I don't have her anymore, but I pity the current owner if he has to replace the lights. 

Willhound

I gave the drain plug lights a quick thought, then dismissed it, partly because of some of the advice here. The true underwater lights aren't in the budget this year but the new swim platform I installed last year sits fairly high out of the water so I was considering just getting some waterproof coloured LED's and mounting them up under the outer edge of the actual platform. I realize not the same affect as an underwater light but I never run at night anyway, would be more for a mood light when sitting at the marina or moored out for the night.