# LED water test



## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I used some Oznium LED’s on my current boat and I’m very pleased with them, so I plan to use a ton more on my next boat which I’ll be purchasing soon. However even though I’ve never had an issue with them, even the one in my livewell, I still wanted to test their waterproofness. 

So to do this I filled a container of heavily salted water and submerged the LED’s, including the inline resistors, and have been agitating the water and testing them every few days to make sure they still work the way they should. So far so good.

Test started on 8/6/13


Testing the LED’s with a 9v battery, they are actually much brighter when you use a 12v source like they are designed for. So it’s been 10 days and they are just fine, I’ll keep going a while longer, but I’m sure they will last about as long as my boat will. 


I’m going to use them in the cockpit and livewell again, but also in an underwater assembly mounted on the rear of the boat. For the underwater assembly I’ll probably use 5-8 of them per side. I also have some thoughts on making a light array for the front to spot lobsters and flounder……

Here is a picture of my current boat, I used just one of these 4 chip LED’s on each side, and one in the livewell. You can see how bright just one of these little LED's are.


Here is a link to the ones I used and are testing.
http://www.oznium.com/marine-led-floodlight


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## Dadvocate (Jun 26, 2011)

Nice little lights. If you are familiar with the Starfire underwater 50 w Halogen how many LED light pods do you think it would take to equal the halogen output. I have used the Starfires in the past and it usually took 2 to light up area under bow.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I honestly don't know. I'm not really sure how well they penetrate water, but the one LED lights the heck out of my 14 gallon livewell. I might rig up a battery and toss them in the lake to see how they do.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I decided to fill the bathtub cause I was bored. Keep in mind that the LEDs are only hooked to a 9v battery, but they are designed for 12v and would be much brighter. Also these are blue, the white are brighter, but I'll probably go with aqua or green

Here is the clear water


I decided to see how murkier water would effect the LEDs, so I grabbed a few fizzy bath tabs from my daughter. They turn the water colors, but don't stain the tub.


As you can see it did effect them a bit, but I still think they will work great as accent lights, and help attract bait at night.


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## racer04 (Aug 31, 2013)

How much do these run?


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Just about $3 per LED. Only thing is they stopped making the aqua color I was hoping to use so I may have to go with green or blue again.

http://www.oznium.com/marine-led-floodlight


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## racer04 (Aug 31, 2013)

Okay brand you might put them under rod gunnels or try to incorporate them in build


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Not sure what you mean. The boat above is mine, I used them on the console under the rod racks and in the livewell. They are nice and bright. 

On my next build I may put them other places like under the gunnels, and underwater off the transom.


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## racer04 (Aug 31, 2013)

iphones suck. spell check is killing me lol sorry I mean to say I am going to try to put them in my build, possibly under the gunnels to light up my beautiful fly rod and ci4s ;D


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Ok, just remember you want them to accent stuff, not to be seen, if you can actually see the bulb they will kill your night vision. So make sure where ever you mount them there is something that keeps them from shining up. 

Example: I mounted them under my rod tubes so they lit up the cockpit, but I wasn't seeing spots.


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## steve77777 (Nov 12, 2013)

This may sound cheap or stupid but it works excellent- I bought 2 LED strip white lights with a push button remote battery operated for 15 bucks each side at walmart (hate that place) each one comes seperate with its own remote but the remote works with both lights so i just stuck them under the inside and I have my remote near the stearing wheel and when i want them on I hit the button and they work great -batteries should last 100 hours and I have it all in area that doesnt get wet,--so if you want lights and dont want to run the wires this is perfect...If i could upload pics i would,but my boat looks the same a the above boat with leds....only thing is they only had white...


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Even if they are tucked away where they won't get splashed, the salt air will kill any non marine electronics off very quickly. I hope they keep working for you, but if they aren't sealed and water resistant then they aren't making it on my skiff.


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## steve77777 (Nov 12, 2013)

if they dont its 40 bucks but they seem all sealed and where they wont get wet,ill update in a year and let you know how they are working.


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## steve77777 (Nov 12, 2013)

I did light up my gheenoe with oznium leds and they were awsome,after a few years i would loose one or two lights out of the strip but they were very good and I ran them on the outside and they went through alot of water.,I just didnt want to run the wires yet on my new boat it seemed kind of difficult.so this time I took the easy way out.Im hoping they make some remote ones that are waterproof someday.


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

Firecat1981 how did you wire these and how many fuses (and which kind) did you use? And which switch if you remember?? I'd attempt a PM but quite frankly I'm not sure how on the new format. Lol.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I just wired them together with the anchor light. They are all on a single 5 amp switch on my panel. They were seriously plug and play.


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

You are a flipping genius! I never even considered that. Of course the anchor light will light up too but it should if one's out at night anyway. Great idea, I'm getting some, and thanks man.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

No problem, they draw so little power, you will dig them.


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

This is why this forum is one of the best out there. These LED's are insane, they're the size of one's pinky nail. Thanks so much Firecat and a big thanks to Ducknut also who was kind enough to drive over and help a newbie with the wiring and let me borrow much needed tools/hardware.


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## tomahawk (Mar 9, 2012)

Megalops said:


> This is why this forum is one of the best out there. These LED's are insane, they're the size of one's pinky nail. Thanks so much Firecat and a big thanks to Ducknut also who was kind enough to drive over and help a newbie with the wiring and let me borrow much needed tools/hardware.


Oh yeah, that looks great!!!


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Once the lightbulb came on...you got it.

Nice job Megalops


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Looks great bud! How was it fishing the wires through?


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

The lightbulb came on an no fishing was needed...lol


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

DuckNut said:


> The lightbulb came on an no fishing was needed...lol


Ha, very true DN! Firecat, I was able to run some wire to my console with a wire fish. DN came over and suggested locating the switch at the stern of the skiff which was really smart. I placed it in an out the way area with some serious 3M double sided adhesive and never had to drill into console. I was originally going to wire into the anchor light but my existing switch panel had plastic plug in connectors and I also literally could not twist and fit myself to get into the center console. It was brutal, sweating my nads off, muscle cramps - my hat's off to anyone who works on skiffs with tight quarters for a living.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Glad it all worked out. Looks nice and bright!


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## Travisloyd07 (Jan 31, 2014)

Megalops said:


> This is why this forum is one of the best out there. These LED's are insane, they're the size of one's pinky nail. Thanks so much Firecat and a big thanks to Ducknut also who was kind enough to drive over and help a newbie with the wiring and let me borrow much needed tools/hardware.


How many did you use? Which ones did you use? TIA


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I used one on each side of the console and one in the livewell. Think Mega did about the same.


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

firecat1981 said:


> I used one on each side of the console and one in the livewell. Think Mega did about the same.


Yep, 3 in total @$2.99 each. Lol. Bass pro shops sells LED light strips for something like $69 bones each and you'll need two. But they're way overkill for a small skiff - only want accent lighting; not lighting that MFer up to see from the moon.


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## Snyder61 (Sep 23, 2015)

Just ordered these cant wait for them to come In


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