Another LED project maybe?

rinker312

All. Has anyone used the waterproof rgb led strips anywhere on their boats?  I've been thinking about the million ways I could use these things. In my cup holders, speakers, accent under countertop, even around the rub rail.  So the guy next to me was looking to add some extra functional light to the inside of his cockpit and I showed him these strips and how he can change the color, etc.  he liked it and decided to buy a strip.  We were both quite impressed with these things. They put out a ton of light and the ability to change the color is very nice. They will even dance to the music.  We took the strip and held it under our rub rails at night and it was really awesome looking and is completely concealed by the rub rail.  So just wondering if anyone else has used these things and if so how well do they hold up?  If I go through with this I will definitely post some pics. 

Dirtythirty

I am in the process of trying to do the same thing.  I've encountered a few problems with by boat.  First, I want all my lighting to be AMBIENT, in other words I don't want to see the light strips, only the glow. and thats where my problems begin.  In order not to see the cables and wires as they run from under the seats to the walkways and maybe up and over the hardtop, I would have to hide the wires by drilling the fiberglass and running the wires under the floor. Not what I really want to do with my new boat. And I certainly don't want to be looking at cables and wires.  That being said, I went on SUPERBRIGHTLED.COM and I am going to replace all my incandescent bulbs with blue LED bulbs. They won't have the dramatic color changing effect I really want, but it will be a whole lot cheaper and look a lot better during the day.  Plus, they have a good selection of different color bulbs if you don't like blue.  They even have color changing replacement bulbs, but there is no way to make make two bulbs sync after you turn them on. They will all work off existing switches and will last forever.  I truly wish I could do color changing strips, but the problems outweigh the results.  As for on the outside of your boat. I had a guy who installs the strip lights look at my boat... we were going to do a single strip along the rub rail from bow to stern in UV, black light.    He said in order for the strip to adhere, he would have to run a thick bead of clear silicone under the rub strip, as the adhesive back tape would eventually degrade because of sun and water and the strip would fall off.  

rinker312

dirty. I agree. Want it to be completely ambient.  I have scoped out where i can run The wires for some of the cup holders and speakers and they won't be seen at all. Yes I'm gonna have to drill some small holes in places but it will be hidden from sight.  I agree the 3m tape will eventually give out under the rail but I have talked to some others that have used frequent dabs of 5200 and that is some pretty nasty stuff and it will be under the rail out of sight unless of course your swimming around the boat but I can live with that. I'm still researching if anyone has any other comments/experience using these things please let me know. Thanks

99270fv

another solution to the sticking problem with the adhesive is to look at the 3m automotive body side molding tape

Dream_Inn

Well, this is just the topic on something I am about to do as well.  I bought two of the 16ft led strips that change color and can dim.  I originally went the same route as you did dirty, with all blue LEDs in the hard top.  The problem is, there are a lot of lights, and it is really bright blue.  If I were to do it again, I'd go with the ones that change between white, blue, and red.  There are times when I desire the white.  It'd also be nice to have them dimmable or turn some of them off individually. 

So, to what I have now that I'm going to add.  I plan on adding the two strips around the hardtop, underneath the area where the canvas zips to the hardtop.  As far as adhesive, well it has an adhesive, but I will also use the glue gun in spots to help it stay adhered.  I would never want to use 5200 on anything like that because someday you will want to remove.  I have a remote for each of the lights, but I am planning on tying them into one power supply, so only one remote will be needed an all will be in sync.  Yes I will have to drill a couple small holes for wires, but it should look good when done and be concealed, only seeing the light.  My biggest thing is that it is dimmable.

rinker312

Let's all post some pics of these projects. I probably won't get to mine for another month but will definitely post results. 

Stodge

I just ordered some warm white strip lights that I plan to use to replace the "mood" lighting in the cabin.  Turns out that the rope light down there is incandescent and rough on the house battery life.  I got another spool of cool white for the engine compartment.  

Shrink wrap is still on and I don't see getting out to install this till it warms up.  But I'll get pics when it's done.

Dream_Inn

Stodge, you are right.  I don't use those mood lights much if I'm on the hook, but they sure are nice and replacing with led is a good idea.  Let us know what you learn.  To me it seems like a lot of little pieces to connect, but definitely can be done.  Engine room, I just have 2 bright LEDs I replaced that are ok and come on with cockpit floor lights.  String light would be nice.

Cableguy Greg

I replaced the spreader lights last year with the tri-color ones. When tied to a wall where there is a lot of foot traffic, the blue looks great. I also replaced the white floor lights with the same units, but in blue. I added lights in the blower vent covers and under the jump seat to light up the swim platform. In all, it is a lot of blue lights. Sometimes too much blue like Dream Inn stated above. The tri-color spreader lights are nice because I can switch from blue to red to white. There are times when I want the white light. I may add some ambient lights in the cabin and use the vacuflush switch, since I don't have that option on the boat. I did replace the halogen lights in the cabin with the exact same lights, but the LED version. The halogen ones get freaking hot!!! In all, I am happy with the look with the blue. Friends of mine know when I am getting close with the blue glow on the water.

rinker312

I installed the rgb strips around my rub rail this weekend. They really look great. I do have some spots where I am having trouble getting them to stay on because the rub rail varies in distance from the hull. So I am using some silicone to help keep them up and putting masking tape over the strip to keep it in place till the silicone dries. You can tell the odd colored spots in the pic. I will try to get someone to take pictures of me on the lake next weekend if it is nice. I can choose from 12 different colors or a few different strobe type of patterns and also they can dance to the music. Can't wait for warm weather to get out and do some night swimming. I 

My_Dinghys_Dinghy

From this perspective you did a great job. You can see the reflection in the water and you're going to have those little breaks, only noticeable to the trained eye or the installer. Everyone else will see how nice it accents the vessel. I am going to do a little when I get my project boat done. I want to put them along the bottom of the back bench and then along the sides below the side rails. 
I just wish it would get above 30 on the weekends on Lake Erie, REALLY ITCHING to get to work on the boat REAL BAD.

DanD2

Looks really nice. Which lights did you use?

rinker312

Below is the link to the supplier on eBay.  This is the link for the controller. From them I also purchased the waterproof rgb led strips that come in 5 meter sections.  They were what they call 5050 and have 300 LEDs per roll.  I had to use 2 controllers and 6 rolls to get all the way around the boat. Soldering them together is very tedious and takes a lot of time. If you plan to do this let me know and I can give you some tips. I am still having some trouble getting them to stay attached to the rub rail but I will eventually get it. The rub rail on my boat is not tight against the hull so it makes it sometimes difficult to have the LEDs tight against the hull where they will look the best as they don't have much to stick to. But I will get it, they look too **** good to give up.  


http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPERNIGHT-24Key-Music-IR-Remote-Controller-DC12-24V-18A-For-RGB-LED-Strip-Light-/261685735043?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cedaf6e83

Dream_Inn

Those lights look great!  I started to lay mine out around the hardtop and may install this coming weekend.  I have the same ones you do, but not sure they go with the music (maybe a different controller).  I currently have two strips and was wondering how I want to connect the two, because I will have a gap between them.  One piece will go around the back portion of the hardtop, the other the front.  I was thinking of using one of those extensions, but I don't like the idea of making the hole in the hardtop big enough for that connector to fit thru.  I also wasn't sure if I wanted to cut the connector off so it'd be a smaller hole.  Any pics you have or ideas would really be appreciated!  Especially how small of a hole you used to run the wire and also the hole you have for the IR sensor to show for the remote.  Do the two controllers sync together?  If that is the case I could just use the two controllers on mine individually.

MarkB

Why don't you anchor them with either quick ties with see hold downs, or cable braces (plastic ones that wrap around cable and screw into structure?

rinker312

Dream.  this may be a little lengthy, but hopefully this will save you a lot of grief and time.  you will need the following tools.  Super hot soldering iron with pin point tip.  I actually took mine on my grinder and sharpened it to a point.  extremely fine solder, the stuff I use is like hair thin.  you will want some heat shrink, and personally I also use the electrical grease on my connections.  Before doing anything, first thing you do is check each roll of LED's, and make sure that you get proper red green and blue all the way to the end.  I had a couple rolls that have a short in them somewhere and it causes colors to mix.  I spent like 5 hours trying to fix a problem that I thought was with my soldering where it was really just a problem in the string.  I cut off  all of pre soldered wire connections because same as you I didn't want to make big holes.  when I cut the ends off I cut them off at the first cut point.  I do not cut in the middle of the cut point, I cut them at the end so that you are left with bigger pads to solder to.  Then with a razor blade carefully strip off the adhesive on the back side, if you accidentally cut into the white area, then scrap that little piece and cut the led's at the next cut point and start over.  After the adhesive is off the back, now you have to get the silicone off the top.  I found the easiest way to do this is to take one of the male 4 prong ends that I previously cut off and stick the prongs between the LED strip and the silicone, and wiggle it around until the silicone comes loose from the strip, then use your razor blade to cut across the silicone at the other end of the pads, and then you should be able to peel the silicone off easily.  Now lay a good size bead of solder onto each pad.  I then took something very fine, like 22 gauge wire, stripped the ends a little and laid the end on top of the pads and just melt the wire into the solder that you already put down.  Now you can fit these small wires through a pretty small hole.  If you have to join two rolls together, prepare the strips as per above, but do not lay down quite as much solder on the pads, just a thin layer.  Then lay one strip over another and solder from the top and the two pads should melt together.  This is very tricky and you will have to test the lights afterwards to ensure that you did not cause a short and that all colors look good all the way to the end.  I often had to go over my pads a few times until they melted together well and I did not have any shorts.  My controllers had the IR eye as part of the controller, I didn't have the little pigtail on mine (see the link above for pictures of it).  So I mounted my controllers behind the captains seat on the back of the wet bar with velcro.  You can see them, but I am happy with how they look there.  I had to use two controllers due to the length of my runs, I tested using one and at the end of the run the lights were very dim and I didn't like that.  Even now with two controllers the lights are a little dimmer at the end, but you cannot really notice it unless you look directly at the led's and that really doesn't happen.  Because I mounted my controllers right next to each other, I can operate them both with one remote.  When I turn on some of the strobe/smooth functions, they start out in synch, but they do eventually get out of synch, of course if you choose a solid color, then no problem at all.  The out of synch really doesn't bother me, can't see both sides of the boat at the same time, but you can tell where I come out of the hull in the middle of the swim platform.  I hope this helps you a little, it is very time consuming soldering all those tiny little connections.  Good luck, they are really awesome and I love the looks of mine.  Let me know if I can help. 

Dream_Inn

That really helps me out a lot.  Since you said you used 6 of them, I'm guessing you put 3 on each controller.  I bought 2, but I was really thinking about using three.  It sounds like I could do that on one controller?  My original plan was to use one string on the back of the hardtop and one on the front.  Neither would make it thru the entire outline of the hardtop, but I think it would look ok.  But, I could piece another one, cutting it in half, so both front and back would then be about right.  I do hear you on the soldering, and I've done plenty of soldering being an EE that likes to tinker.  I will print out what you wrote and use the advice, thanks.  It's nice to learn from others that have done it!  I was really wondering about cutting those larger connectors on the ends, so now I know I can and deal with it.  I was planning on leaving the adhesive on and then using hot glue gun every so often.  Not a good idea?  what did you use for adhesive?

rinker312

3 is about the max and even with three the end of the third you will see a difference. Do some testing while the plug ends are on and see how many you can string together and if you are happy with the results. The adhesive that is on them is pretty good stuff. We put them around my friends sea ray and they have been on his solid rub rail for a few weeks now with no issues. Now on my boat there is a gap that varies in width between the hull and the rub rail. So I am not catching the full width of the led. So mine started coming down in spots after a few days. So I am filling the gap every six inches or so with clear silicone and then holding the LEDs in place with masking tape till it dries. I may even run a very fine bead of clear silicone the entire length where the LEDs meet the hull.  If you have a smooth surface to mounts them to I think the adhesive on them will work fine for you. Post some pics when you get them up. 

Dream_Inn

Thanks for the help.  I ordered one more string last night.  I actually don't mind them being a bit dimmer (actually prefer that), but I won't need 3 complete strings either.  I'll definitely post some pics when it is done.  Hoping to start this weekend...looks like I'll really have to have the heat running on the boat though!  Down in the 20's Sat night, sure wasn't expecting that when I dewinterized last weekend.

Jameylee

I bought the super bright water proof blue leds off amazon for $15 a 16ft roll. I made my own speaker rings and added a few strips changed the cockpit lights to blue leds. They have held up pretty good. Haven't had any problems out of them. I just added 2 8'' subwoofers and put rings around those also.

Dream_Inn

Well, I got the lights all installed.  I did the back yesterday and the front portion today.  Here are two pics from yesterday.

Dream_Inn

I'm very happy with the way they look.  I didn't get to see yet what they all look like on since I did around the front today.  I used a hot glue gun so it would stay up.  It definitely took a lot of playing around with the solder iron.  I ended up wiring the controller in the middle of the front and back, so it is all pretty bright, instead one long chain with it dimmer at the end.

Handymans342

Good grief, where are the girls and pimps? LOL

frenchship

Can you dim those lights. They seems really bright  to have them on when you need a bit of privacy ?
Paul

rinker312

Looks good dream. And jaymelee. Yes you can dim them. I moved on to the cockpit area this weekend.  Here are a few pics. I did under the lip of the seats and the two rear cup holders. My wife also asked if I was installing the stripper pole next. LOL. 

Dream_Inn

Lights look good 312.  & yes, my lights are the same and dimmable as mentioned.  The picture actually makes it look brighter than it is.  It's nice to be able to change the color and have the fade, but yes most important is the dimming.

312, did you piece all of yours in the cockpit on one long connection?  Or did you split and put controller in middle?

rinker312

Controller is on Velcro behind helm seat. Running wires from there. And branching off where necessary. So one wire Into engine compartment that then splits into two one for rear seat and one for port side seat, then splitting again for cup holders, etc.  

marcop300

What did you use to stick the lights on the outside of the boat?   Epoxy 3200 or just tape or some type do silicone? 

Weber

Rinker312, how much did it cost you to do all the lights?

I did all my speakers last year, but can't change the color or dim them.  They are either in or off.

rinker312

I'm at about 7 sets of lights at 15 bucks a set and 3 controllers at 12 each. So thats around 150. I am just using the 3m tape that came on them and also have had to use some clear silicone to assist in areas. If you have a flat surface the adhesive on them is very good but under my rub rail it is not perfectly flat for them to stick to so that is where the clear silicone comes in. We seem to have them all sticking now.  But now we are encountering some possible solder joint problems on the long runs so have to mess with them and see if I can get it all working.  We have had several people see us out one the lake and they all have said that it looks pretty awesome.