Under deck LED lights died after one season

[sunedog]

Bought some blue LED rope lights at the end of 2013 and installed them under the deck of my toon before the season started last year (2014). They worked great all season. Unfortunately, they have died since then. It is not due to a wiring connection because one or two LED's on each side (out of the hundreds) still light up. So I know the strips are getting power.

Yea, they were cheap (under $20 per 16 foot strip at the time, as I recall), but it was a pain in the ass to install them in the small gap between the inside of the trim and the ends of the cross members. I stapled them to the underside of the plywood deck.

This is what I bought from Amazon.......http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006IW ... ge_o09_s00

I see they are described as "weatherproof" and are rated IP65. Some research teaches me IP is an acronym for "Ingress Protection" and it is a two digit code. The first digit "6" means they are rated for no ingress of dust. The second digit deals with degree of protection against water. My failed lights were rated "5" which is "protected against water jets from any angle." Maybe I need "6" which is "protected against powerful water jets and heavy seas." "7" is rated for temporary immersion and "8" is rated for permanent immersion. More on ratings here http://www.flexfireleds.com/pages/LED-I ... ights.html

Anyone have a reasonably priced source for IP66, IP67 or IP68 strip lights that will last in the under deck environment.

I don't want to spend hundreds if I can avoid it. Pontoonstuff.com used to sell kits but I don't see the exterior under deck lighting on their site anymore. Not sure what rating their lights held.

[RobZ71LM7]

It's hard to find them better than IP65 and in color. If you find a source let me know too! I'm using IP65 all over my boat with no issues thus far. I put mine on quick disconnects to make them easy to change-that and silicone adhesive removal.

One tip I can give is to be sure to seal both ends of the strips with silicone as they can leak at each end.

[kenbob62]

I tried the hitlights also and they failed after 1 season also,but I run in salt water mostly,im in the market for something better but it looks like its pricey,and your right about a pain in the ass as I did my interior of the pontoon wich looked great !

[RobZ71LM7]

Take a look at these: http://www.amazon.com/SUPERNIGHT-Waterp ... SC4SJ6PE77

They are a 5050 chip though and brighter than I would prefer, but they claim to be IP68. I have a regular set of supernight strips in IP65 that seems nice.

[TDJ2591]

Especially around salt water, use light strips with the highest level of waterproofing, such as IP68, if they will at all be exposed to the water. Use tinned copper wires to further resist corrosion. Remove the plastic end connectors on the strips (if they are the type you install yourself or that clamp onto the end of the strips) and solder the tinned wires to the strips. Then, coat all connections liberally with silicone. Corrosion, shorts and those cheap plastic connectors are a big cause of the lights not working. If everything is connected properly, soldered, sealed, and the original strip insulation is not broken, the lights should hold up...unless you got some that were really poorly constructucted or defective.

[sunedog]

Take a look at these: http://www.amazon.com/SUPERNIGHT-Waterp ... SC4SJ6PE77

They are a 5050 chip though and brighter than I would prefer, but they claim to be IP68. I have a regular set of supernight strips in IP65 that seems nice.

Thanks. I believe you need a controller for those multi colored lights. I just want blue. Ordered these IP66 lights today from Newegg. They are 5050 LED as well:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6UH28T2522

[sunedog]

Especially around salt water, use light strips with the highest level of waterproofing, such as IP68, if they will at all be exposed to the water.

I boat exclusively in fresh water. But it pisses me off that IP66 may not be robust enough. IP66 specifically says "protected against powerful water jets and heavy seas." That's well within what I would describe is happening under the edge of my deck while underway.

Use tinned copper wires to further resist corrosion. Remove the plastic end connectors on the strips (if they are the type you install yourself or that clamp onto the end of the strips) and solder the tinned wires to the strips. Then, coat all connections liberally with silicone. Corrosion, shorts and those cheap plastic connectors are a big cause of the lights not working. If everything is connected properly, soldered, sealed, and the original strip insulation is not broken, the lights should hold up...unless you got some that were really poorly constructucted or defective.

Thanks. I may try soldering tinned wires to the strips. Depends on how delicate it looks. I'm kind of a gorilla with a soldering iron.

When I install my new lights, I will seal every possible entry point with silicone. But I didn't think an electrical connection was my problem since a couple LED's on each side light up. You think it's possible my light strips are still good but corrosion is severely limiting the amount of current getting to the strips?

[sunedog]

I installed my replacement lights with the boat in the water.

First thing I did was confirm I had 12V at the beginning of the old strips. I did, so that ruled out a problem in the switch or wiring to the strips. So I laid on my back on the edge of the dock and unscrewed all the P clips to take out the old lights. What a pain.

First thing I noticed about the new IP66 standard lights was the strips are completely encased in a clear silicone (I think) covering. There are end caps and the red and black wires poke through tiny holes. So, after adding my own silicone at each end, the strips are 100% isolated from water, unless there is ever a failure in the covering.

Soldered the connections to the new strip from the dock as well. Used shrink wrap over the connections and siliconed everything liberally. Next, I unrolled the strips and temporarily masking taped them to the side of the trim to keep them out of the water.

Now it was time to mount the strips to the underside of the deck between the inside of the trim and the ends of the cross members. There is about an inch of clearance, at most. I tried, but it was too difficult to hang off the dock upside down, hold the strip in one hand and drive the screws into the wood. Luckily, my dock floats in about 5 feet of water right now. So I got in the water and was able to mount the strips from there. It wasn't easy, but it was doable.

The only casualty was my Makita cordless impact driver. It took a swim just like my iPhone two weeks ago. And it swam about as well as the iPhone. I dove and found it quickly, headed for my shop and completely disassembled the driver and battery. Sprayed everything with a lot of Water Dispersal Formula Number 40 (otherwise known as WD-40) and left them for a day or so with a portable fan blowing directly on them. Put everything back together today and the driver still works. For now, at least.

I really am happy with the new lights. They are brighter than my old ones and a beautiful cobalt blue. My old ones were actually purple. Hope these

[tadams]

Do you have any pics of your boat at night with the lights on?

[sunedog]

Do you have any pics of your boat at night with the lights on?

Not with the new lights. I'll post some soon. But right now, the boat is not running.

[COTTS4x4]

Home Depot sells some gel filled connectors, these are the ones I used on my boat. They look like old school phone wire connectors. I used RGB led strips from Amazon with "nanometer technology" that are submersible.

[sunedog]

Home Depot sells some gel filled connectors, these are the ones I used on my boat. They look like old school phone wire connectors. I used RGB led strips from Amazon with "nanometer technology" that are submersible.

Yes. I think people in the trade call the grease caps. I used them for the buried wiring for my irrigation system. Even have some left over. I decided to solder my connections instead of rely on mechanical connectors. Covered the joints with shrink wrap too.

And thanks for the tip about the submersible ones from Amazon. I see Amazon has IP68 (submersible) RGB strips for about what I paid for my IP66 strips. But I was not interested in the RGB type because, while they're really cool, I believe you have to install a controller for them. And the controllers are not waterproof. And I didn't want to spend as much money as I saw those RGB kits selling for. I really only want blue.

[COTTS4x4]

10-4 I have the controller in mine and I think I paid about $20 for it. I mounted it up high under my console and haven't had any issues with it. My RF remote that came with it works well and lights up too and can even make the lights dance to the beat of the music, lol. Post some pics once you get yours up and running again.

[sunedog]

10-4 I have the controller in mine and I think I paid about $20 for it. I mounted it up high under my console and haven't had any issues with it. My RF remote that came with it works well and lights up too and can even make the lights dance to the beat of the music, lol. Post some pics once you get yours up and running again.

Wow! For $20, I would have gone for it. I really didn't shop for anything other than solid blue strips this time, but when I bought my original light strips, the RGB light kits including the controller and remote control were in the $150 and up range.

I have solid green rope light now under the couches in the interior and I'll be replacing them at some point. I'll definitely look for the changing colors then. These dancing queens will love them.