LED Upgrade - Phase 1

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Iowariverrat
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LED Upgrade - Phase 1

Post by Iowariverrat »

Hi All,

Got a little present in the mail this afternoon. These will be for courtesy lighting, going to do RBG in addition but liked the ability to switch on clean white light when necessary and it was a cheap/easy switch with existing hardware. Never been so excited for it to get dark...

Thinking of adding a couple more under the gunwale just aft of the rear cupholders. Hoping it would shed some led on the engine compartment as well, but thinking I'll need to go a different direction to get what I'm looking for there. Pictures will come in two parts, I believe I've got too many.

-IRR
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Iowariverrat
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Re: LED Upgrade - Phase 1

Post by Iowariverrat »

Here's round 2 of pics. Showed through a bit on the vents which is cool (no photo), but I can see with the RGB I'm going to have to get a bit more creative for the desired effect. Overall, pleased with the investment.
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1998 Cobalt 220
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Re: LED Upgrade - Phase 1

Post by AsLan7 »

.
Awesome IRR! Looking good. Such an easy upgrade yet so effective. Nice job.

..and thanks for documenting that for the site with pics! 👌

.
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Big Block Power
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Re: LED Upgrade - Phase 1

Post by Big Block Power »

Very cool.
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Re: LED Upgrade - Phase 1

Post by akorcovelos »

Looking good, what RGB controller are you using?
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Re: LED Upgrade - Phase 1

Post by Iowariverrat »

Thanks guys, I've got a fever and the only prescription is more LED lighting.....we do a ton of night boating so it will get plennnnty of use.

As far as RGB controllers I'm still up in the air. My tentative plans are as follows:


Replace existing courtesy lights w/ LED * done

Install additional 2 courtesy lights under gunwales near rear cupholders

Install additional engine hatch lighting - thinking I'm going to swap out the LED bulb setup in there now with a LED strip, moving the existing bulb assembly to the above mentioned location, so I'll only need 1 additional bulb assembly.

LED Nav Lights

RGB cup holder rings

RGB strip lights under gunwales, helm, and in bow (location to be determined)

RGB Plug light (have any of you tried? I know I've read about it on some forum here....)

Stereo upgrade TBD, obviously w/ LED speaker lighting. Depending on how business goes the next 6-8 weeks, it may be a fall or winter project.


Outside of the stereo, the rest of these are relatively economical upgrades. My main concern is to have the ability to tie all RGB in together and have at least 2 zones so I can shut off the bow lights if necessary. Not sure which controller would be best for my application.
1998 Cobalt 220
7.4 Mag MPI Bravo 1 w/ Simrek Halo
Coralville Reservoir, IA
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Re: LED Upgrade - Phase 1

Post by Iowariverrat »

The more I think of it, though, for the courtesy lighting in the rear and hatch, it might just make sense to run one led strip light under the gunwales in the rear, through the perimeter of the engine hatch (using the existing wiring for the engine compartment bulb once removed) and up the other side. As opposed to installing and wiring two new separate lights, plus one for the engine compartment.
1998 Cobalt 220
7.4 Mag MPI Bravo 1 w/ Simrek Halo
Coralville Reservoir, IA
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Re: LED Upgrade - Phase 1

Post by BigGib »

Looks really good! Which bulbs did you end up going with?
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