Underwater Lights

Our boat came with these stern mounted underwater green spot lights.
One burned out over the summer. The company that made them is long gone now. I didn’t want to deal with extra holes drilled in the hull 10 inches under the water line so I am rebuilding them. I found Green leds on amazon.com some two part west system epoxy. So far so good. The lens has two O-rings that sandwich the glass lens. A long tube in the back of housing is filled with sealer to prevent the boat from taking on water if the lens breaks, A good Thing.

Let me know if anyone else has similar lights on their boat?

Those are odd looking ones. What brand are they?

A friend and I used to gig stingrays for shark bait in Panama City. He had a 12 volt light fixture and a clear bulb on a bracket that would hang over the bow of our skiff to spot them at night. The bulbs were pretty expensive.
This gave me the idea (long ago) for a commercial product. It would be a set of two underwater LED lights, mounted on SS tubing hangars to be hung from the rail and down into the water.
When you're done seeing the sights, into the lazarette they go.

Does this sound like something lots of boaters would buy?
Or did I blow it by mentioning it here..?

Bluto said:

Does this sound like something lots of boaters would buy?
Or did I blow it by mentioning it here..?

Click to expand...

I just submitted the patent...

Seriously, I've been thinking of buying something like this:


Mostly just to pass the time at anchor by attracting fish to watch.

You know, Tom, that's all you really need.
My 'light on a stick' wouldn't be much of an invention..

Consider the Go-Pro, on Zerohedge they call it "camera on a stick".
Those guys are making money hand over fist.

edit: With that light underwater we saw so many cool fish and mollusks, the little squid would come to it in groups of 2 to 4, they were bright pink.
We also managed to gig a few fairly large flounders, the sharks never got those I can tell you.
A light under the water is really entertaining.

I have 2, 300w "shop lights", run off of the generator, that I can fasten to the underside of my handrails with hanger bolts and wingnuts, they shine down into the water and attract bait for night fishing, usually for Speckled Trout here in South Louisiana, works great.
I'd never make a hole in the hull for a light, but, I'd like to see someone "invent" and market one that would attach to each side of the underside of the swim platform and shine down into the water from there.

My waters are too "rich" to see beyond a few inches, thus saving the urge to install large holes for lights in the hull. Wondering ... what use are such lights without underwater cameras, and more holes?

Bluto said:

This gave me the idea (long ago) for a commercial product. It would be a set of two underwater LED lights, mounted on SS tubing hangars to be hung from the rail and down into the water.
When you're done seeing the sights, into the lazarette they go.

Does this sound like something lots of boaters would buy?
Or did I blow it by mentioning it here..?

Click to expand...

It sounds like something worth making.
Great idea. I'm thinking that a couple lights on my fold down swim platform ladder would work well. Thanks Bluto.

Can't say for sure, but my observations have been the shine down lights aren't nearly as effective as the underwater lights. Surface flection possibly?

They do make surface mount underwater lights that the tiny wire is all that penetrates the hull above the waterline at a comfortable height.

The extra hole for the lights are a total nonissue as far as leaks and any increased likelyhood of sinking goes.

Baring total incompetence at time of install of course.

True...but look at some of the fearful posts on TF and what drives them.

I was just pointing out there are alternatives and if you wanted to change one out in the water, it is less scary than doing a thru hull light (which also can be done in the water).

My comment wasn't directed towards you. It was a general one.

I have a similar LED light but it needs a DMX controller, which I don't have. Has anyone every successfully directly wired one to a power source easily enough?

There are companies that make underwater LED lights that use the hull drain hole as a mount. If you have a drain plug already you are not making any new holes in the hull. Your access to the interior area of the drain plug may or may not make this a viable alternative.

Google it.