Underwater LED's

[martinarcher]

Yeah, I bet the white lights would penetrate this water better but I didn't want the green tint this water would make out of the white light. Our water clears a bit in the summer so they will be better. I'm not disappointed enough to change my mind about installing them.

I'll start working on the mounting blocks tomorrow. David has inspired me to do them the "Old Fashioned Way". I may try them on some wood working tools before I go the Cad machining route, just for the enjoyment of it.

I think the blue looks pretty cool. The white in our water did yield a green tint if I recall correctly.

What's this bit about wood working tools when there are cad resources available? What's that old saying "work smarter, not...".

[Ronnie]

Ha! Yeah but you don't want to loose those skillz. I have the tools so I'll try it out. If I have issues with it I'll go the "New School" route.

[Lee52]

Forgive the ignorance here, but is there a practical reason for underwater lights in addition to the aesthetic value? I kind of want to put a pair on my Skier once I get to that point in the restoration, but I don't exactly know why and I'm not much for random accessories, especially ones as expensive as those lights. Is there something I'm missing, or do they just look good?

[Ronnie]

No practical reason for having them AFAIK unless you are attracting fish. On Lake Mead they would look awesome though!

[Living the Dream]

So the question is are the Shadow Casters really that much better then the 9 LED OEM from Malibu if the water is somewhat murky. I understand that you will get double the Lumens versus the OEM

Inquiring minds would like to know.

Thanks for testing them Ronnie

[Ronnie]

I should have borrowed a light like the factory uses to compare them too.

[arrydjay]

A practical reason to have them would be wakesurfing at night.....cant wait to do that! My Shadowcasters are on the way... Ill get some more pics once I have them all installed.

[D-GOOSE]

I think surfing behind a boat with those on would be sweet and better yet if the water was Emerald Blue.

[martinarcher]

Here's a couple really poor pics from my cell phone one night from the dock when i was headed up to get the truck at sunset. It is not near fully dark yet, but you get the idea. I think the Malibu lights were pretty bright. Probably not near what the Shadow Casters are, but they did good on the Skier.

[Living the Dream]

Here's a couple really poor pics from my cell phone one night from the dock when i was headed up to get the truck at sunset. It is not near fully dark yet, but you get the idea. I think the Malibu lights were pretty bright. Probably not near what the Shadow Casters are, but they did good on the Skier.

Where those the 6 LED or 9 LED OEM?

[D-GOOSE]

WOW if that's a crappy pic I would love to see them in person.

Did I mention Mon starts the GB on LED lights?

[martinarcher]

Where those the 6 LED or 9 LED OEM?

They are 9 LED OEM's. They are certainly bright. I would turn them on to back up the driveway. They were just like having a set of headlights on the back of the boat. Awesome for backing up the driveway since we come home after dark most days.

[Chia]

WOW if that's a crappy pic I would love to see them in person.

Did I mention Mon starts the GB on LED lights?

good to know! which ones?

[Ronnie]

Made the mounting spacers for the Shadow Casters today. Couple of hours in the garage. The King Starboard was really easy to work with normal wood working tools. Bandsaw, Spindle sander and router table. Now I need to take the boat out of the lake and install.

[Earmark Marine]

Yeah, KingStarboard is like butter to woodworking tools. But its still a skillfull job to gauge, mark and contour those spacers to compound radiuses. And it does take some time.

Excellent job Ronnie.

[Bobby Light]

Made the mounting spacers for the Shadow Casters today. Couple of hours in the garage. The King Starboard was really easy to work with normal wood working tools. Bandsaw, Spindle sander and router table. Now I need to take the boat out of the lake and install.

You've got skills Ronnie .

[martinarcher]

Made the mounting spacers for the Shadow Casters today. Couple of hours in the garage. The King Starboard was really easy to work with normal wood working tools. Bandsaw, Spindle sander and router table. Now I need to take the boat out of the lake and install.

Looks like it turned out great Ronnie. Looking forward to the lake pics!

[jkw24]

A practical reason to have them would be wakesurfing at night.....cant wait to do that! My Shadowcasters are on the way... Ill get some more pics once I have them all installed.

We surf a lot at night. You are better off with something like these

http://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=1789

With that said, the Shadow Casters are nice and make a surf wake look really cool.

[arrydjay]

im waiting for someone to come out with some HID tower lights for the G3....atm there is nothing I know of...

[Living the Dream]

im waiting for someone to come out with some HID tower lights for the G3....atm there is nothing I know of...

:plus1:

[arrydjay]

sucks ay! someone will probably come up with something when malibu releases a new tower.....

On another note, my shadowcasters and interior LED's arrived the other day so Im going to start installing them.

I was wondering what the best way to wire them up would be?

The extra interior LED's I was just gonna splice into the existing interior LED's, but im not sure what to do with the shadowcasters yet.

Should I try and get them to work with the spare MUX switch, or should I just add a switch somewhere and use that?

If I was to add a switch, do I need to add fuses or relays or anything?

Edited January 29, 2011 by arrydjay

[Earmark Marine]

Arrydjay,

If you use the factory MUX switch then you absolutely must use a 30 amp horn relay (Bosch, Tyco, etc). You can always depend on a relay for one-third of its intermittent rating when used on a continuous basis such as for DC lighting.

If you add a switch then a standard marine 15 amp switch will be perfect. A relay is not needed.

Whether you use a switch or use a relay then definitely fuse the supply as close to the helm buss or breaker/fuse panel as possible. A 5 to 10 amp fuse will protect the boat in case of an accident or product failure. You want to be only slightly above the draw of your fixtures.

Because of the distance, use 14-gauge wire.

If you want, you can shorten the supply distance by placing the relay close to the transom and remotely trigger it via the same switching choices.

If you have any trouble with relay schemes then PM us and we will email a schematic or anything else you need.

David

Earmark Marine

[arrydjay]

Thanks David,

I think now I am going to go with a switch as I am going to need more of them eventually for other things anyway.

Where would be the best place to source 12v power from? could I go straight to the battery or is there a better place?

[jkw24]

im waiting for someone to come out with some HID tower lights for the G3....atm there is nothing I know of...

Just for reference, here is night surfing vid with the HID tower lights and the 6 LED red Shadow Casters.

[arrydjay]

I dont see no video link?