LED Swim (Transom) Lights

[chadwick02]

I am planning on mounting to the platform- since I have a teak platform should be an easy mount. I am also planning on useing one of the swim platform brackets as the positive terminal( connection inside the boat) and the other as the negative so the platform will come on/off as normal no extra connections. Getting to the bracket from the inside may be tough- but hopefully will only have to happen once. And if I want to relocate them to the transom at some point later I should be able to.

Dude, If i understand you correctly, that is a bad idea. Water is a conductor. By electrifying one bracket positive and one negative, you will effectively be shorting the two. It is a neat concept since you would not have to run power wires, but you would also get the same effect as dropping a hair dryer in the sink.

made mine

Got some info on that install? What LED's did you use?

[my malibu]

superbright leds and I'm using two bolts and + and -

no shock LEDs run at 4ma been install for a year now no problem

I am planning on mounting to the platform- since I have a teak platform should be an easy mount. I am also planning on useing one of the swim platform brackets as the positive terminal( connection inside the boat) and the other as the negative so the platform will come on/off as normal no extra connections. Getting to the bracket from the inside may be tough- but hopefully will only have to happen once. And if I want to relocate them to the transom at some point later I should be able to.

Dude, If i understand you correctly, that is a bad idea. Water is a conductor. By electrifying one bracket positive and one negative, you will effectively be shorting the two. It is a neat concept since you would not have to run power wires, but you would also get the same effect as dropping a hair dryer in the sink.

made mine

Got some info on that install? What LED's did you use?

Edited April 10, 2008 by my malibu

[John]

Your lights are beautiful. Where did you order them from and how much were they? The top picuture the lights look clear--the bottopm picture the lights look blue? Thanks

superbright leds and I'm using two bolts and + and -

no shock LEDs run at 4ma been install for a year now no problem

I am planning on mounting to the platform- since I have a teak platform should be an easy mount. I am also planning on useing one of the swim platform brackets as the positive terminal( connection inside the boat) and the other as the negative so the platform will come on/off as normal no extra connections. Getting to the bracket from the inside may be tough- but hopefully will only have to happen once. And if I want to relocate them to the transom at some point later I should be able to.

Dude, If i understand you correctly, that is a bad idea. Water is a conductor. By electrifying one bracket positive and one negative, you will effectively be shorting the two. It is a neat concept since you would not have to run power wires, but you would also get the same effect as dropping a hair dryer in the sink.

made mine

Got some info on that install? What LED's did you use?

[my malibu]

superbright

made the wiring harness, ( has disconnect so i can remove swim platform )

Leds ,wire, switch, fuse, disconnects, epoxy wire shield, and screws

$ 180 or so I don't remember

[Bill_AirJunky]

I drilled 6 new places to fill the boat full of water from today......... finally got the LEDs mounted & hooked up.

Very easy install. And filled the holes with silicone so hopefully it won't be too much of a leak.

As you can see they are very bright. Hope to see how much they light up the water soon.

Edited April 14, 2008 by Bill_AirJunky

[liljohn]

here are the 08 leds lights the water is dirty so its hard to tell but out on the lake they shined out a couple feet more than shown.

[onamission]

Finely was out after dark last night to watch some fireworks and turned the light on to see how looked. Water was pretty mucked up from a fews boats going through the canal. Pictures are from my phone too. Should be nice out in the open water.

[Bill_AirJunky]

More shots on the water of the LEDs on. One while the boat is just coming up on plane, and two sitting still, one playing with the exposure.

Their pretty damn bright.

[saskie99]

All of the Swim lights I have seen from Malibu have been LED. Now docking light are another thing, they used to be halogen but are now LED too. 2 light pods and 2 SS covers for under $100 from the dealer without install. I mounted mine a little lower and to the side of the exhaust tips, they do light up the prop wash pretty good.

Nice, so was the install simple or did you have to remove a lot of stuff to get it to fit? thanks

Took about an hour for the install. You need to drill three holes for each light, 1 for the wires and 2 for the mounting screws. Used the wire from speakers a bought a couple of years ago, (never throw anything away). Ran the wire up the gunnel to the dash for the power at one on the spare switches and to the grounding block. Hardest part is always taking a drill or saw to the fiberglass, other then that I had to remove the back and bottom of the truck to run the wires. I ended up mounting them lower then what Malibu shows in there pictures so the light would not be blocked by the wedge. If I could have justified spending $450 I would have gotten the blue lights from Abyss, but where only out at night a couple of times a year at best.

These ones from Overton's kind of look like the ones Malibu is using, but smaller and less LED's. I think they would work just as well, but you would need to mount at least 2 per side.

Has anyone tried these from overton's? I just like the price and if they work that would super cool

[Bill_AirJunky]

Has anyone tried these from overton's? I just like the price and if they work that would super cool

I didn't get the impression those were underwater LEDs. More of the type you'd install in your interior.

[dalt1]

I have installed lights from Boatersworld, (West Marine also has them) that look a lot like these. They have six led bulbs each and are submersible. @ $15 each I figured I would try it. I have had then in the water probably 10 times and so far so good. They are not as bright as the $200 plus setups but still make the water glow beyond the platform. Sorry no pics.

Edited November 17, 2008 by dalt1

[saskie99]

I have installed lights from Boatersworld, (West Marine also has them) that look a lot like these. They have six led bulbs each and are submersible. @ $15 each I figured I would try it. I have had then in the water probably 10 times and so far so good. Tey are not as bright as the $200 plus setups but still make the water glow beyond the platform. Sorry no pics.

Thanks a lot for 15 bucks each I will give them a try! I will send a picture in about 6 months when the ice leave here and we can get back on the water!

[water hazard]

Has anyone tried these from overton's? I just like the price and if they work that would super cool

I didn't get the impression those were underwater LEDs. More of the type you'd install in your interior.

Hey Air Junky,

I have a 2002 VLX (same hull as your 05 V-ride), I was thinking about just splicing the wires into the interior lights circuit in the rear compartments, I don't have any extra switches on my dash as I have a heater. Do you think that would work?

[Bill_AirJunky]

Has anyone tried these from overton's? I just like the price and if they work that would super cool

I didn't get the impression those were underwater LEDs. More of the type you'd install in your interior.

Hey Air Junky,

I have a 2002 VLX (same hull as your 05 V-ride), I was thinking about just splicing the wires into the interior lights circuit in the rear compartments, I don't have any extra switches on my dash as I have a heater. Do you think that would work?

I think I'd count how many interior lights you have (4 or 5?), find out how many watts each of the bulbs were (probably written on the bulb itself) & determine if the rating for the switch & the gauge of wiring is high enough for the total watts on the circuit. Then find out how many watts your new LEDs are rated at. If there is any wiggle room in there, then go for it.

My guess is that with incandescent lights on that circuit, your pretty close to maxing the wiring out. If not, it would work fine. The beauty of LEDs is their rated in milliwatts & you can run quite a few LEDs on a circuit, even with like 16 or 18 gauge wire.

[onamission]

Looks like the lights for "09" have been upgraded again.

Found the "07"s at iboats.com. Not sure if they still have them in stock, but for $50 each they worked OK the first year I had lights under the boat. Now I'm thinking of adding bullets to the set of "08"s that I have.

Edited December 1, 2008 by onamission

[Bake's Marine]

Looks like the lights for "09" have been upgraded again.

Found the "07"s at iboats.com. Not sure if they still have them in stock, but for $50 each they worked OK the first year I had lights under the boat. Now I'm thinking of adding bullets to the set of "08"s that I have.

Those lights on iboats are the very first version under water light that Malibu did back in 2005 (3 Standard LED, not the newer micro led lights that Malibu has used the past few years)

i posted them up on another thread but here are some pictures of the new lights... we mounted them at the same height but mounted them off to the side to avoid light being blocked from the wedge foil

-paul

[onamission]

I thought lights where first offered in the "07" model year? I would of ordered them on our "05" if they where offered or in "06" when I had the wedge plate changed to SS to match the foil.

I mounted ours by the swim platform brackets to avoid the wedge and they've work out great there.

Great minds think alike

[Bake's Marine]

[Bake's Marine]

Edited December 1, 2008 by Bakes Board & Ski

[Bake's Marine]

I thought lights where first offered in the "07" model year? I would of ordered them on our "05" if they where offered or in "06" when I had the wedge plate changed to SS to match the foil.

I mounted ours by the swim platform brackets to avoid the wedge and they've work out great there.

Great minds think alike

nice install!! how do you like your lights?

Under water lights really didn't take off until 2007, Back in 05' they were a little tiny light about 2 inches long, they had 3 LED's in them and to be honest they weren't worth the money so we didn't order or push that option because they weren't that bright. They weren't much to talk about so thats probably why you haven't even heard of them.

LED lighting has changed so much in the past few years the new lights are awesome. I've been a few boats at night and they are for sure worth the money to have them if you cruise at night at all.

-Paul

[Olivertuft]

Looks like the lights for "09" have been upgraded again.

Found the "07"s at iboats.com. Not sure if they still have them in stock, but for $50 each they worked OK the first year I had lights under the boat. Now I'm thinking of adding bullets to the set of "08"s that I have.

Those lights on iboats are the very first version under water light that Malibu did back in 2005 (3 Standard LED, not the newer micro led lights that Malibu has used the past few years)

i posted them up on another thread but here are some pictures of the new lights... we mounted them at the same height but mounted them off to the side to avoid light being blocked from the wedge foil

-paul

Wow, that looks great!....and familiar?

That guy is one lucky devil!

JM

[onamission]

I thought lights where first offered in the "07" model year? I would of ordered them on our "05" if they where offered or in "06" when I had the wedge plate changed to SS to match the foil.

I mounted ours by the swim platform brackets to avoid the wedge and they've work out great there.

Great minds think alike

nice install!! how do you like your lights?

Under water lights really didn't take off until 2007, Back in 05' they were a little tiny light about 2 inches long, they had 3 LED's in them and to be honest they weren't worth the money so we didn't order or push that option because they weren't that bright. They weren't much to talk about so thats probably why you haven't even heard of them.

LED lighting has changed so much in the past few years the new lights are awesome. I've been a few boats at night and they are for sure worth the money to have them if you cruise at night at all.

-Paul

Love the lights. I had the small ones for a year mounted down by the exhaust, I thought they where great till I seen brighter and bigger one and had to upgraded. Adding a second set sometime during the winter. Thanks for the info on the switch cover.

Edited December 2, 2008 by onamission

[jeffmx]

I thought lights where first offered in the "07" model year? I would of ordered them on our "05" if they where offered or in "06" when I had the wedge plate changed to SS to match the foil.

I mounted ours by the swim platform brackets to avoid the wedge and they've work out great there.

Great minds think alike

Nice!

My next project this winter...

[onamission]

Neighbor sent me a new site for underwater lights Coastal Night Lights.

Edited December 22, 2008 by onamission

[SunDoo]

Does anyone know off hand what the lumen output of the 6 and the 9 light malibu led's? I have not been able to find this info. Thanks

Dave