LED lighting upgrade in the Engine Room

Got tired of using a flashlight or headlamp for ER checks. The old lighting was dim and sad. The new lighting is like Vegas!

Of course now that I can see EVERYTHING I’m ordering some Bilgekote. :/

That looks really great. What a nice improvement.

Nice!! What are they? What brand? Where did u get them? How much?

Thanks!

Got them from Amazon. Bought four, installed three so far. Each strand is about 10’ long.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06XBWS3T2?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

I replaced my incandescent engine room lights last year with LEDs. Love them. Bought them on Amazon. I used 3 seperate fixtures instead of strip lighting.

Looks great, P O installed strip LEDS in the engine room, really light, shows up every blemish though, so got to keep it clean and shiny.

Wow , that’s nice and those Lehman’s look good also.

Yep... It's a thing. I was sooooo tired of not being able to really see what was going on in a place where you NEED to see what is going on! These are outdoor sealed strips I bought from SuperBrightLEDs.com I am very happy with the results, This video was taken before I finalized the install, so not peanut gallery comments on my unfinished wiring neatness.


**I guess my video doesn't want to be seen**

Airstream345 said:

Thanks!

Got them from Amazon. Bought four, installed three so far. Each strand is about 10’ long.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06XBWS3T2?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

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Good find!

Excellent scandvik engine room bright led now available I upgraded now need sunglasses in engine room no flashlights needed ....

Scandvik 41388p the real deal if you are serious about great upgrade.

I've had problems with running unstabilized 12V strip lighting on the boat, where the charger float for the house bank is about 13.5 volts. They eventually overheat and begin to fail. There are numerous comments in this regard for these lights in the (negative) comments section on Amazon. I tried a cheap Buck converter on my home built strings and that failed in short order. (The same strip lights are long lasting when run on a constant 12V power pack in our home kitchen under counter arrays).

This problem is also showing up on old cars where owners fabricate LED arrays from unregulated strip lights. The simple fix in that case seems to be installation of silicon diode(s) in series with the power wire. These diodes typically have about a .7V drop. Two of them (1.4V) would bring the voltage for an LED string on the boat down to the 12V spec. Still have an issue with higher charging voltages, but I leave them off in that instance.

Scandvik 41388p. My engine space is now so bright have to use subglasses. Really nice product.

String leds not an answer IMO for engine spaces.

Rufus said:

I've had problems with running unstabilized 12V strip lighting on the boat, where the charger float for the house bank is about 13.5 volts. They eventually overheat and begin to fail. There are numerous comments in this regard for these lights in the (negative) comments section on Amazon. I tried a cheap Buck converter on my home built strings and that failed in short order. (The same strip lights are long lasting when run on a constant 12V power pack in our home kitchen under counter arrays).

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I think that's where LEDs rated from 10.5-30V serve better... at least all ours do.

bgillroy said:

String leds not an answer IMO for engine spaces.

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Why do you think that?

FWIW, I've added one 5m string of LEDs to our ER, made a big improvement. I'm also planning to add another identical string down there, too...

-Chris

Look at product specs and compare also did. For my 2 engine 14x16 ER 5 ten inch lights provided far more illumination than any led string I looked at. Once again do your own DD ... Not cheap lights but optimum illumination.

Looks great. You're going to need some new shades!

We did a similar upgrade to out engine room. It looked great and went in easy originally. I don't know if it's the voltage variations or the occasional high temps but we're starting to loose some of them now. It's been a year or 18 months. They were so easy and cheap, I'm tempted to just do the same thing again

bgillroy said:

Scandvik 41388p. My engine space is now so bright have to use subglasses. Really nice product.

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Thinking about some of these. Scandvik’s site says they’re ABYC-approved for ignition protection, but the only voltage spec I see is 12. Wonder how they handle voltage fluctuations?

We replaced the 2 original rinky-dink incandescent light fixtures with 8 cheap Ebay 6" LED strip lights,4 on each side of the engine hatch framing looking downwards. What a difference they made! Then, I gave the entire ER compartment a fresh coat of bilgecoat paint in white instead of the Mainship gray floors & reddish brown stain they used on the wood. Between the lights & the white paint, the difference is like night & day, no pun intended. No flashlight is needed 90% of the time now which is very convenient.
Sorry, but the before & after ER pictures I have are on my other computer & we're out of town for the weekend.

On scandvik and voltage flux be sure wire size and breaker can handle additional current. I installed 5. You may have to evaluate your circuit and go from there.

These are LED sign modules. You can get them in sealed versions too. I use them in a lot of places on my boat. You can either use the string of modules as is, or cut them apart as needed. You can get self stick or screw on types.

They come in multiple colors or even RGB. You can get IP67 rated modules. The single color modules work out to less than $.50 each. They come in 12 or 24 vdc. An eBay search for "LED modules" will return thousands of listings.

I use them in compartments inside my boat and also for exterior lighting. Been 6 years so far with no failures.

I recently installed a string of LED's in the hanging lockers (aka "closets") on Smartini, and installed magnetic switches to turn them on automatically whenever any of the doors is opened. My wife and I agree it's one of the best improvements we've made to the boat in 2 1/2 years since we got it.

These 12 volt strips are enclosed in a lensed aluminum housing attached by clips to the structure...... excellent upgrade t o our OA Classico.....no more flashlights.

We converted every light on our 35 Sealord to LED using Dr LED conversion kits. More light and the ammeter barely moves in comparison to the draw of incandescent bulbs. Still looking for some good LED deck floods though. Tons of well priced automotive LED flood lights available however not in white. If you want it in white it seems the same flood light by the same manufacturer is called 'marine' and twice the price.

I can understand how an unregulated LED strip wouldn't fare well. A simple 12V zener diode and appropriately sized resistor on the strips would fix that issue however. Zeners are designed for that purpose, to regulate voltage fluctuations.

ksceviour said:

We converted every light on our 35 Sealord to LED using Dr LED conversion kits. More light and the ammeter barely moves in comparison to the draw of incandescent bulbs. Still looking for some good LED deck floods though. Tons of well priced automotive LED flood lights available however not in white. If you want it in white it seems the same flood light by the same manufacturer is called 'marine' and twice the price.

I can understand how an unregulated LED strip wouldn't fare well. A simple 12V zener diode and appropriately sized resistor on the strips would fix that issue however. Zeners are designed for that purpose, to regulate voltage fluctuations.

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I installed some of these Hella flood lights and I'm very happy with them.

https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|65136|2312576&id=3682418

Ken

For closets and under counter lights I used these. They are really high quality with anodized cases and integral lenses. They can be set to go on when power is applied or by touch. I've had them on board for 3 years with no issues. I'm thinking of installing a full set of them in my ER. Some of the best lights I've ever seen.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077HT5R3...colid=3EWFMLHT0BI73&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1

I bought 50 meters of LED strips while I was in Istanbul for the equivalent of less than $1 per meter. I used about 25 meters on the boat to light up the engine plus every storage cupboard I have After about 4 years now, they are all going fine.

Truck backup lites

NAPA sells after market, bolt on backup lights. Great light output but incandescent. Easy mount.
Unless you spend big time down there the power drain shouldn’t be a problem

I like the results, and other ideas. I just installed LED strips to my dining and galley, for the first time there is light there. Also I used the AC type that has a "hand wave" on/off feature.
For my ER I am looking at an AC set and a DC set, which would replace the AC incandescent and the DC incandescent lights. I am considering running the DC off an inverter.