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I'm looking to install some LED strip or rope lighting in my boat thats inexpensive for safer night time fishing. I've seen plenty of lights on Ebay but don't know exactly what to get. I'd like to get the stick on LED strips but don't want to buy (6) 2ft long strips. To much wiring for me. I'd like to get 2 strips about 8-10 foot long if possible. Dont mind running two sets of wires. I do have cigarette lighter outlets at the front and back of the boat. Any suggestions or brands to buy please?
The research I did came down to a couple main points for the 5 meter strips. LED type or size. 5050 or 3128- 5050 are brighter and a little bigger but use more power. For waterproofing again you have 2 choices lacquered- which can peel overtime losing its effectiveness but has a sticky strip on the back of it and silicone tube- long lasting but you have to secure it yourself (no sticky strip) Beyond that they all are made in China and have the same power specs. At $9-15 each they are cheap enough to replace when the LEDs start dieing. Both types are available in any color or multicolor with remote, and wired for either 12VDC or 120VAC
Get a roll of the 5050 that is labeled as waterproof and the strip connectors to hook them up. As Sovran said, they're cheap enough to replace when needed. I haven't used them in my boat but used the same stuff to light the inside of my gun safe whenever I open the door. Worked like a charm.
I'm glad I saw this thread. I am looking at putting some temporary lighting in a couple of rooms as we remodel parts of our house.
On boats I perfer to put on Blue Water lights. They are bright as can be.
You can get the 5050 LED lights in 15ft strips and cut them to size. You can use one strip and it has two wired ends to wire to the battery so you can cut it in half and use both ends without soldering. If you want more sections you can buy clips or sloder the wires to the ends that you cut.
I currently use 5050 white LED but am changing out to 5050 RGBW with a remote control. I am putting the RGB on next week and should look great.
Amazon sells the 5050 lights and clips and any other accessories you want for the LED lights.
Here is a picture of my boat with the white lights.
Attachment 166087
Depending on what you want, the strips sure are not Cree LED's. I bought a 4' light with 960 LED's on it and then before it even got here I bought one using Cree LED's (Was not Cheap, but not more than the 4' one either) and when both got here I took them to my boat a hooked them up to see. Well the 30 LED's that are Cree blew the other one away big time. I sent the 4' one back. If you really want the strips then it is what it is and they do work as I am told, but when you drop down a light with Cree LED's the circle of light around your boat is much larger. Just my 2 cents.
Until I get a boat I opted for the Starfire II from Academy for $15. It fits in my tacklebox so it works on anybody's boat. 250,000 CP is plenty of light. I modded it with the upper part of a 2 liter soda bottle that I painted to act as a reflector/eye shield. The only drawback I have found is leaving it in the water once unplugged to cool, otherwise the glass will break. Oh and it draws 4 amps.