Spotlights

Finished Business

Finished Business

Well-Known Member
Looking for opinions on which spotlights work best during low light/night time conditions.

I am looking at the Rigid line of lights. The 4" Spots have a beam of 10 degrees at around 450 yards. And the 10" bar achieving as much as 750 yards of beam. My question is, what is overkill?

450 yards (or 4 football fields) seems like a long distance for light to travel, but on the ocean, distance can be decieving. Is 450 yards a long way over water? Or do people, FROM EXPERIENCE, prefer a light that can travel farther.

I am thinking of going with 3 forward lights, 2 spots and a flood (for close in lighting). and one flood for rear deck lighting. I may add side floods but they are not a necessity, more of a luxury at this time.

Long story short, how much range is good, verging on overkill, for spotlights?

Cheers,

FB
 
My 2 cents - last two boats both had foward lights... my new one doesn't - Can't say they ever helped in open water. Around the dock maybe, rear deck lights..you bet!
I found a good 12v handheld I all I use now
 
we use a pair on the other boat I fish, and are hardly useable on open water as well. But that could be due to it not being the proper light for the purpose. I've been doing lots of reading over last night and this morning in regards to Candela (candlepower) and Lumens. Degree of beam ect ect. Judging from what I've learned a dedicated spot light is miles ahead of a flood or combo.

I read an intersting description that explained Lumens and CP pretty simply. As follows, if you are in a dark room with a small crack in the curtains where sunlight pierces through in a beam. That beam is high in candle power as it is a very focused, intense beam. BUT, it wont produce much of any light over the room as a whole, just a small dot on the wall the beam contacts. Lumens on the other hand can be thought of as a low wattage light bulb in the room. It may not have the intensity of the light beam, but it can light the entire room.
Lumens are typically a measure for LED lights. But technology has advanced and they (like Rigid) have built a focused beam LED light which gives a great distance of beam travel specifically built for spotting.

So is this all just good theory on paper or do they actually produce a quality and worthwhile spotlight that can turn night to day?

Does anyone have a fixed spotlight that they run at night similar to a headlight on your car? Or is it mostly rely on your GPS and radar and turn on the lights when coming into the dock?

I don't intend to drive without GPS and Radar but it would be great to spot a log that either pieces of electronics did not pick up...
 
I have had many boat spotlights. I like Go light remote spotlights they are good for docking but work really well if your beaching at night you can angle the light beam into the water to look for rocks. Open water pretty much a waste of Time maybe you will see a log just before you hit it. If you were at hull speed they might be better but if your doing 25 mph or in your case 60mph you might as well turn it off.
 
How much power do these lights suck up? How many batteries are you running. I've got rear deck spots on my Grady and am always worried about power draw.
 
The LED Lights use very little power. Under 3 amps usually. They are bullet proof. For batteries I am running 2 interstate GC2 6V golf cart batteries, ran in series, with a 27 series interstate cranking battery for the main engine. I will be running an automatic charging relay as well.

Check them out, http://www.rigidindustries.com

Sculpin has the flood deck lights and they are the brightest things I have seen. Was very impressive. Lifetime warranty. Awesome product...
 
have the remote combo (flood & spot) on the 2452...I wont be installing anything on the new boat...I found the light at night would require my eyes to adjust to much...eg. as soon as you get adjusted with the spot light ahead of and you have to look off to the side to say, avoid a marker buoy, its like starring at black, then once you adjust to that and look ahead, eyes have to re-adjust again to the light,.... if you havent already hit something LOL...maybe its just my eyes but I can see much better if I let them adjust to the dark, turn the gps to night mode, no light to throw my eyes off...

as for open water, I would trust radar before my eyes and a spot light, especially at speed.

deck lights are a different story, they are usefull

I will still keep my portable 12v spot light on board for emergencies and the odd time I would use it... or charging up glow gear
 
Good insight, thanks Matt. They aren't much on cost. I can get 2 spots and 2 floods for under $400. Cheap as far as boating right? lol...can't wait to be done shopping.
 
not to mention if there is any fog or mist on the water the lights prove really useless. But for safety reasons, having extra lights on board may not be the worst the idea methinks...
 
Those are an affordable option...thanks for posting MR...would make for great squidding lights!
 
Thanks for info re power draw. That is low. I've noticed more and more boat manufacturers are running LED, I guess I know why now. I installed a charging relay myself last year (Blue Sea) at the end of the season (based on Sculpin's input) because I was finding on start up my sensitive electronics were shutting down. Haven't had a chance to use it yet. Will in a few weeks though.
 
You need a solid object to reflect the light back to you in order to see that object. Open water will not reflect back so size of the spot light I don't think matters.

I got two hull lights of 55W and a go-light of about the same. Useless on the open water like everyone suggested but not bad for docking, seeing buoys at night.

Did not have any spot lights on my old boat and wanted them, now I got them but not use them much.

cheers

3491f5f8-009f-44b5-a227-3001ebc687c6_zps5e11a572.jpg
 
I'll weigh in on this subject,I've done alot of night runs on the EVI thru the gulf islands,on my current boat a 21trophy hardtop,I have a remote controlled spot\flood light mounted as far forward as I could get on the bow sprit,in certain conditions,it works quite well,but you get a glare of light off the bow railings that can "distract" your vision,in a light mist or rain,it gets quite a bit more worse ,with the glare off the railings.I had the spot light on the roof ,which was way worse for glare off the railings.I found that running on step,my concern is to luminate craptraps ,and floating debris before i hit them ,so it is easier to see at safe distance so that a course change can be affectively done.For my project boat,I have installed "headlights" in the upper bow ,my buddy has them on his boat,and they work real good ,especially if your sitting in a pilot house and are not able to look over the windshield!you are not affected by any glare off any of the hardware mounted on the bow,and also I am going to have a remote spot light for docking and entrance to those tight coves and anchorages.Just my 2cents!
 
The light emitting diodes in LED lights do use very little power and have very long life spans. Unfortunately the drivers fail quite often and in most cases are not replaceable as a separate unit. Many expensive LED light fixtures, units become throw always once the warranty is up and if the driver fails. I agree any light looking forward is useless in open water as water doesn't reflect light, it just absorbs it.
 
Thanks for the great input guys. It seems pretty unanimous that forward lights are useless in open water. I will take this into consideration when picking up boat lighting.

Cheers!
 
Finished Business said:
Thanks for the great input guys. It seems pretty unanimous that forward lights are useless in open water. I will take this into consideration when picking up boat lighting.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

It is not useless in a docking situation FB. That is what most folks have them for.
 
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