Underwater LED's on a 196

[2004196]

Looking to put 3 Amphibian A6 underwater LED's on my '04 196 and am wondering if anyone has put any lights on their 196? Not a lot of room and a little nervous about getting wires through hull high enough but still keeping lights underwater. If you have, please posts some pics or some measurments. Thinking about putting one in center and one on each side where there is a slight angle on each end of the transom so direct some light out to each side. Not comparable to wakeboard boats since there is significantly less draft. Also installing Attwood LED docking lights next week, if anyone is interested, I can post some finished pics. They don't need the large hole in the bow with regular bow lights, only a small hole for the wire and are suppposed to have better light projection than regular docking lights.

[MyWakeIsBigger]

RE: Underwater LED

lets see the finished pics.

[j2nh]

Installing the lights is pretty easy.

I just changed the factory Attwoods that came on my 09 196 to the Abyss L800's. I am posting a pic of the Attwoods that came on the boat.

I am not familiar with the Amphibian lights, are they round? Surface mount?

What ever the case my advice would be to remove everything you can from the back of the boat and figure out how you are going to run the wires. Their isn't much room between the platform and the bottom of the hull and the transom also has some angles to it.

I would start by removing as much as you can from the back of the boat so you can gain access and also watch for the floor stringers. You don't want to drill the holes for the wires into the stringers. It makes running the wire a pain in the butt.

If you don't want to run wires from a seperate switch you can tap into the rear light.

Let me know if you want some pictures from inside the boat.

[Gasman87]

look @ photo gallery ( orange boat & lites ) www.wavenoize.com / im talkin BAD A$$ diff style & we FREAKIN LOVE them ! very small holes !!!

[2004196]

Underwater LED's on a 196

Thanks j2nh, I do plan to strip the trunk out, I was glad to see you can mount the lights almost to the bottom of the transom, I'll look for the stringers because that is exactly what I don't want to do, I want to get the wires through at an accessable area. The Amphibians are quite a bit larger than the Attwoods or Abyss lights, they are the same basic shape and surface mount. Since I don't have the gate on my boat I plan to put one in the center, the 6 light (A6), and a three light (A3) out at each end. The A3 LED light is about the same length as the factory Attwoods to give a size comparison. If you have a pic or two of inside I would like to see them, not sure of the differences in my'04 to yours but should be able to get a good idea of what to look for. I plan to use the factory ballast switches for the lights, just trace the wire to the fuse box and plug in there, one for the docking lights and one for the rear underwater lights.

Thanks!

[j2nh]

Boat is in my garage and it is 15 degrees out up here so I have some time.

The Abyss lights require two screws to mount and a 5/16" hole for a metal tube with the wire inside of it. This is a plus for the Abyss lights as the tube is a snug fit for the 5/16" hole and requires less 3M 5200 to seal it up. The tube/wire hole I drilled is 1/2 inch from the inside mounting screw. This hole was drilled 1.25" from the bottom of the hull and comes out not quite 1/2 inch up from the bottom of the boat when you look from the inside.
Couple of things. I had an 05 with the trick tank in the back so I am not sure if yours is the same but my 09 there are two floors to the trunk between the stringers and the sides of the boat. First lays on top of the second. If you remove the primary layer, the one that lays on top of the stringers is a pocket that you could also run wires through if you mount lights further away from the centerline.
The stringers on the 196 are not the same width. the port side stringer is wider at the transom than the starboard side. Keep that in mind as you measure.
Let me know if you need anything else. Make sure you put a countersink on the holes for the wires. Just a little bevel will keep the gel coat from cracking.
Mine took a while to do as I had to fill some of the holes from the factory Attwoods with Spectrum Patching Gel Coat. If you do make a mistake don't freak as the Spectrum Gel was a perfect match and you can't tell where the original holes were.

[j2nh]

Another.

[j2nh]

One more.

[2004196]

LED's

Things didn't change much, I have the floors out, I had then out a couple of years ago to move the shower controls from the engine compartment to the back trunk and also installed a M/C boot blaster which I love. The center light will be no problem and as you say, there are access pockets to the outside areas which I think will be in a perfect place to mount the smaller lights on the slight outward angled areas on the transom. Just need to measure several times before drilling! The Amphibians also mount with two screws and the wire hole is comprable, I think these have a plastic tube for the wire but not sure, haven't received them yet. Thanks for the pics, that really helps.

[j2nh]

Sounds like you have this under control. Post some pics of the install when you get it done. Good luck!

[Miljack]

J2,
thanks for posting the pics on your install. Are you saying that the 196's have empty spaces at the transon on each side, in other words, that the stringers don't run the full length of the hull?
My boat is a 99 Pro Air, or Sport with full length stringers (I believe), and dual exhaust, so I've got some messin' to do to get my Bullet lights mounted up. I'm probably going to have to mount them outside the platform brackets.
I'll post some pics when I get them mounted up.

[j2nh]

Stringers do run the length of the boat. Pocket is located between the stringer and the side of the boat. Pocket is connected to the main bilge area via a hole. The pocket does allow you access to the transom area which would allow you to mount the lights towards the sides.

[2004196]

Docking Lights In

Docking lights are in, I meant to take some pics of the lights before installing them but totally forget, sorry. They are flat on the back with only the wire to pass through the hull - 5/16" hole. 4 #10 x 1" SS mounting screws needing 5/32" pilot holes. Time was about an hour, pretty straight forward with plenty of room in the front deck to work in, no obstructions. I was quite surprised on how thin the hull is, about 1/4" +/- but with foam and lining on the inside, you cannot see the screws. I located the harness from the switch for the front ballasts (which I don't have) to use for the lights and works great. Found harness for the switch for the belly ballast switch in the engine compartment I will use for the rear underwater lights so everything will be controlled by the factory switches in the keypad.

Lights a pretty bright and I think look pretty good, only downfall is they are not adjustable as far as angle they project so main blast of light is about 10' out in front of boat but these seem to have a wide angle of spread to the light but won't know how effective they are until I relaunch boat and try out on the water.

Rear underwater lights will be here Tues so will update with pics and thoughts on the Amphibians.

Mijack - I'll post a couple of pics of the pocket back in the transom area .so you have a good idea of what j2nh is describing

[2004196]

Rear Pocket Hole

Mijack - here's a couple of pics of the access hole, there is one on each side as j2nh stated, I will use a bent coat hanger to reach down and grab the wires with, a lot of exposed fiberglass in these so wouldn't want to stick hand or fingers down there, pretty small hole anyway.

[2004196]

Underwater LED's

Picked up the Amphibians today. These things are BRIGHT! Will install tomorrow night and take a couple more pics, probably launch Sunday if no rain and get some night pics to post. A6 lights measure 6" x 2" and A3's are 3.5" x 2"