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Swapping out LED white lights for Blue Strip LEDs - Power Issue


djheywood

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I recently swapped all my white spot LEDs above the cupholders in the 2020 mxz 23 with some blue strip LEDs from amazon.  I have 6 strips total, covering just about all of the cupholder area and around the subwoofer enclosure.

When I first turned them on (I spliced in to the existing connectors) they ran the interior light circuit to about 7.5 amps and popped the electronic breaker.  I cut some the LED strips shorter and got my amps down to 6.4, and did not trip the breaker so I was happy.  This was with the boat only in accessory  mode, engine was off.

I went to the lake Sunday and when the engine was on, the interior light circuit was pulling 8.7 amps and popped the fuse.  I cut some of the subwoofer lights out but that only dropped the load to 8.0 amps, still tripping the circuit.

When I got home, I checked my lighting again with the boat in the garage and saw that I am now running 5.8 amps.  I cut more LEDs out of the 5 existing strips not counting the subwoofer, but surprisingly the amps is still at 5.8-5.9.  I won't have an opportunity to start the engine until next weekend, but was wondering if anyone knows why the LEDs are pulling more amps with the engine on?  Any thoughts on how I can get the load down further?  It seems like cutting more LEDs is not going to reduce it any further unless I disconnect a strip completely.

 

Thank you all in advance for your help.

Brian

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Would it be possible to splice/connect into a different wire than the lighting wire for leds? Or run a whole new one? I’m thinking of doing something similar but RGB with a remote controller. Not sure what wire to use or if using the existing lighting wire is the only option. Don’t want to have the same issue.

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40 minutes ago, Raleigh said:

Would it be possible to splice/connect into a different wire than the lighting wire for leds? Or run a whole new one? I’m thinking of doing something similar but RGB with a remote controller. Not sure what wire to use or if using the existing lighting wire is the only option. Don’t want to have the same issue.

To avoid any issues I just kept my RGBs separate from the boats on board lighting.  I used a separate controller and a switch leg with a push button wired in the dash.  Very simple and clean. 

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33 minutes ago, ctvandy23 said:

To avoid any issues I just kept my RGBs separate from the boats on board lighting.  I used a separate controller and a switch leg with a push button wired in the dash.  Very simple and clean. 

Did you run new wiring throughout the boat for this? And a dedicated wire to the battery as well?

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6 hours ago, djheywood said:

I recently swapped all my white spot LEDs above the cupholders in the 2020 mxz 23 with some blue strip LEDs from amazon.  I have 6 strips total, covering just about all of the cupholder area and around the subwoofer enclosure.

When I first turned them on (I spliced in to the existing connectors) they ran the interior light circuit to about 7.5 amps and popped the electronic breaker.  I cut some the LED strips shorter and got my amps down to 6.4, and did not trip the breaker so I was happy.  This was with the boat only in accessory  mode, engine was off.

I went to the lake Sunday and when the engine was on, the interior light circuit was pulling 8.7 amps and popped the fuse.  I cut some of the subwoofer lights out but that only dropped the load to 8.0 amps, still tripping the circuit.

When I got home, I checked my lighting again with the boat in the garage and saw that I am now running 5.8 amps.  I cut more LEDs out of the 5 existing strips not counting the subwoofer, but surprisingly the amps is still at 5.8-5.9.  I won't have an opportunity to start the engine until next weekend, but was wondering if anyone knows why the LEDs are pulling more amps with the engine on?  Any thoughts on how I can get the load down further?  It seems like cutting more LEDs is not going to reduce it any further unless I disconnect a strip completely.

 

Thank you all in advance for your help.

Brian

The LED strip lights will draw 6+ amps or more depending on which version you have. IF you still have your factory lights hooked up you can add those to the total. The 3 versions I have used are listed below. Between the 3528 and the 5054, there are twice as many LEDs on the strip and are much brighter. I can't answer your issue more than that since there are way too many variables that could be causing the problem.

3528

5050

5054

I did Factory controlled RGBs last year on my '19. That needs to be a completely different system with it's own circuits. The controller and lights will be a lot more power hungry.

 

 

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The circuit is a voltage source with the LEDs as a voltage drop and a resistor (usually) to limit current. If you increase voltage you will increase current because the voltage drop across the LED won't change much.  Only the resistor will limit current since its seeing most of the increase in the voltage.  With the engine running your vehicle bus is going to be a volt or two higher.  So more current.

Same reason your pumps run stronger when the engine is on.

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I’m running the 5054 LEDs.  I am not using any of the old spot LED.  I unhooked them, cut the connector off, and spliced the connector to the wire coming off the LEDs, then snapped the connector back in.  
 

guess I will see what amps I am running this weekend and go from there.  I was hoping to keep everything running off the interior light switch.  
 

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Yes, the 5054's have twice the LEDs on the strip. It's over kill for that lighting area unless you're looking for search lights. I'd go with a version with lower output.

Here's my boat with 5054's last summer at our local Lighted Boat Parade.

image.png

image.png

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On 6/16/2020 at 9:46 AM, Raleigh said:

Did you run new wiring throughout the boat for this? And a dedicated wire to the battery as well?

Yes all the RGBs are on a separate wiring scheme with a dedicated controller that is hooked to the battery.  I used wiring from Superbright LEDs and the lights from Oznium.  I used a phone based app controller from XKGlow that is two zones.  What I like about going with Superbright is that they have RGB connected wires, pigtails and splitters so I could easily daisy chain my lights together with minimal splicing. I believe I have still have a schematic/supply list that I drew up if needed.  

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To the OP,

Based on the number of feet of single color lights, whats the expected calculated amp draw, compared to the actually measured draw? 

By chance, are there any courtesy lights on in the closed lockers, that are adding to that value? 

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4 hours ago, ctvandy23 said:

Yes all the RGBs are on a separate wiring scheme with a dedicated controller that is hooked to the battery.  I used wiring from Superbright LEDs and the lights from Oznium.  I used a phone based app controller from XKGlow that is two zones.  What I like about going with Superbright is that they have RGB connected wires, pigtails and splitters so I could easily daisy chain my lights together with minimal splicing. I believe I have still have a schematic/supply list that I drew up if needed.  

Post it up here! That’d be awesome!!

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ahopkins22LSV
10 hours ago, MLA said:

To the OP,

Based on the number of feet of single color lights, whats the expected calculated amp draw, compared to the actually measured draw? 

By chance, are there any courtesy lights on in the closed lockers, that are adding to that value? 

Storage lights are on a different switch than the interior lights so they should not be on if only turning the interior lights on. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/17/2020 at 7:35 PM, ctvandy23 said:

Yes all the RGBs are on a separate wiring scheme with a dedicated controller that is hooked to the battery.  I used wiring from Superbright LEDs and the lights from Oznium.  I used a phone based app controller from XKGlow that is two zones.  What I like about going with Superbright is that they have RGB connected wires, pigtails and splitters so I could easily daisy chain my lights together with minimal splicing. I believe I have still have a schematic/supply list that I drew up if needed.  

Dude!  Post that schematic/supply list!  My A24 is in desperate need of some decent LED lighting.  If you have a working solution with some general instructions / directions that would save me so much trial-and-error with product and wiring.  

I'm planning a repair this weekend and would love to add a lighting install while I have the carpet up and tools out.    

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  • 1 month later...
On 6/29/2020 at 3:00 PM, RyGuyCPA said:

Dude!  Post that schematic/supply list!  My A24 is in desperate need of some decent LED lighting.  If you have a working solution with some general instructions / directions that would save me so much trial-and-error with product and wiring.  

I'm planning a repair this weekend and would love to add a lighting install while I have the carpet up and tools out.    

Did you do your project yet? I finished up the wiring and happy to share my methods. Looks great, everyone says it looks professional.

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Just an update to my original posting, I was able to fix the issue by simple trimming a few inches off each strand until I got the amps to around 6-6.5.  Now they stay on and nothing trips.  I don’t know the calculation but it’s fairly easy to see how much each string is adding by going into the diagnostics screen and looking at the circuit in the Power Module.  It shows tha amp draw on the screen.

 

good luck all!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I decided to cut the original white LEDs off and splice in the blue LED strips. I used 3M adhesive to stick the strips to the areas around where the original Single-led lights were placed. 
it turned out awesome!  Granted, it’s not work that a custom boat shop would be proud of but the glow is really cool and gives off so much more light than the factory LEDs. 

347ABA36-9E9F-4D5C-972C-E33967B323E9.jpeg

F1674F8C-8C3C-4AD4-9C05-D5D88AB2428E.jpeg

6B08A666-2630-4D0F-B35E-041CE6FFBB54.jpeg

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