Advice needed-spot lights

Chasin' Dreams

Chasin' Dreams

Well-Known Member
I would like to add two very powerful spot lights to the front of my boat in case of traveling at night on the water for watching out for dead heads etc that the radar may not pick up. The front ones don't have to be swivel adjustable but I also would like to have one installed that is remotely 360 degree adjustable from inside my cabin. I have one on my river boat and it's great but probably not as powerful as I'd like it to be.

Any recommendations on where to get the top of the line most powerful model types installed here in BC? Would like it to be all professionally done so no wires are showing etc..
Also what light type would be best suited ie LED, Hallogen, etc..?
 
With LED's, light can be emitted in one direction only (a good thing). Furthermore lenses can be added to LED's to produce a narrower beam width (like a spotlight). The amount of light emitted is measured in lumens. LED's produce more lumens per watt of energy used than other light sources. Downside is from a "lumens per dollar of purchase price" they are probably more expensive, and they require some sort of heat sink to cool them. It is a rapidly changing technology & it is possible that a newer model LED will produce almost twice as many lumens as an older model LED while using the same power. LED's should be used with a proper current limiting power supply; they suffer from a condition known as "thermal runaway" meaning that as they get hotter they draw more current. The more current they draw the hotter they get. This loop repeats until the circuit protection (fuse/breaker) trips or a fire starts. You should look for a module that contains LED's/lenses/reflectors/power supply all in a waterproof unit. I would image your unit should be on the order of 100 watts or so.
Dunno where to go for this though.
 
Offroad LED spots/floods should work. They are IP rated and 12v. Check out Peden 4x4, they have pretty good prices on lights last time I checked.
 
I have a acr rcl-1000 on the bow of my boat. It works extremely well for lighting up dead heads/crab floats ect. Be aware of cabin top mounted lights as they will also light up your bow/cuddy top and you can't see much past. Try to mount it on the tip of your bow or recessed into your hull. Rain/fog and also make seeing at night with lights difficult.
 
Thank you all for the great replies. I like the looks of this one: https://www.acrartex.com/products/catalog/searchlights/rcl-600a-searchlight/
Seems to be the most powerful one available at 6 million candela at 24 volts. And it has an adjustable variable beam spread.

I'm pretty sure I have the Jabsco 135 on my river boat and it's pretty decent but it could be brighter and doesn't have a variable beam spread.

Dannyrscott, I have that same issue with my river boat where the light beam hits the bow before hitting the water closer to the front of the boat because it's not mounted high enough. I can't mount the spot light at the bow of my ocean boat because of the anchor winlass, cuddy window hatch, etc. So I'll have to see if mounting it on the top of the pilot house will be high enough. I may have to make a bit of a shallow arch platform for it to get it a bit higher.

Anybody have any really quality boat repair/custom work places around the lower mainland to recommend? I won't be going back to the last place I took my boat to in Burnaby. Very poor work and service there. So looking for a good place close to home.
 
IMG_0851.PNG
32" LED light bar $140 Canadian with switch and rely!
 
The problem with LED lights is they dont project light far. They have a very bright intense light but it doesn't carry or project far out. For a proper spot light one wants one that carries far out ahead of your vessel, to see shore or dead heads as far ahead as possible. We have swithed over most of our light towers at work over to LED and we are very disappointed in them. As well I have a couple large flashlights at home that are LED and the same with them, very bright at close range but they will not project light. Just my observations and some you may want to consider
 
http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/index.php?threads/running-at-night.64850/page-3#post-813191

I crewed on a commercial boat and could always see best at night when the wheel house was dark and the spot light was off. We used it to check on stuff we saw on the radar then turned it off again. 10 knots in an 80 foot boat felt safe. 25-30 knots in a recreational boat sounds scary to me. Plus viewing of oncoming traffic looking for logs, buoys, tugs with tows, and red and green lights to read direction of other vessels will all be inhibited by your lights.
Apparently, this is common practice in Tofino.
 
If you have any polished stainless in front of a LED light bar you better bring some Advil for the headache
 
Thanks guys. I was checking out spots on my bow to place a couple spot lights and I think they will work very well right up front. One on the starboard and one on the port. Still way up front but won't impede with my windlass, anchor etc.. and no light should reflect off of anything up there and will still allow me to rotate each one on each side back to at least 3/4 way back of each side of the boat if needed.

I'm not planning on running much in the dark at all. And yes, when I do I keep the cab black and my chart/radar screen dimmed way down to help with vision out the windshield too.
I mostly just want the spot lights for helping with spotting dead heads, docking in the dark, looking for things on the shore line, looking for people in the water in case there's an accident in the dark and man overboard, etc..etc..
I've got the one on my river boat and have used it in several occasions and really like having it.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with these: https://www.acrartex.com/products/catalog/searchlights/rcl-75-searchlight/#sthash.DuPZvmSZ.dpbs

Flood LED's wouldn't serve the application I want them for well.

Best place in the lower mainland to get these installed all neat and tidy, no wires showing, all water proof sealed to bow etc..Would be where? Any suggestions? I know of a couple places on the island I would trust to do great jobs but not out in the lower mainland. Help?
Will want the controls at the helm neat and tidy and the wires from there to the free fuse spaces under the helm. Just want it to look factory like. I'm not too bad at some of that kind of stuff but I'd much rather have a pro do it for sure.
 
I think the best thing to do is get boxes made in your bow so that you can change the style of the light you wish to use. The best most effective running lights for li are lights that are installed in the bow or at the very front of the boat where no, NO / none of the light hits any object of your boat. One lit object and your visibility is lost.
 
I highly recommend rigid industries LEDs. I put a spot and a flood/spot combo on my bosses boat and they are perfect. Mounted as others have mentioned so that nothing on the boat is illuminated.
 
i mounted a jabsco 360 remote on my roof and it works. the model that has an option to look up and down as well as it helps limit the amount of light blowback.. a bit of light blowback for sure but i only need to travel at night below 10-7kts. there are those nights tho, when the sealight is perfect and your eyes adjust and it does feel like you can see everything. no lights needed!!
also led floods mounted for dock and deck lighting.
 
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We use golights. http://golight.com/applications/industrial/
My line of work I'm out in all kinds of weather at all times. These lights are really high powered and you can light things up hundreds of ft away. They are led as well and remote controlled. Come in white as well.
 

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Just adding to this post. LED in fact are good for spotlights. The issue though is you have to pay the big bucks for that kind of light. And if you think they aren't have a look at some of the CCG buoy lighting. Most our outfitted with Carmanah solar LED lighting that are good to 3nm to 5nm and beyond.

With LED you really have to pay attention to the lumens it emits and the quality of the lens. The best I have seen are the lumitec lights so far with the marine lighting. With LED in spotlight it is all about the optics. You get what you pay for. I spent about 7 years designing and building LED lighting. The types they have out now are pretty awesome but the good ones aren't cheap.
 
You do need to look out for the cheap knock offs.....I have the 30" Rigid on my truck....lights up the side of a mountain, but comes at a steep retail of close to $900 IIRC.....a Chinese look alike a relative has (laughed at my price) paid $150ish and works as well as an old seal beam in comparison.....one of those items that you "get what you pay for".....
 
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