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Install LED Strips For Your Boat

by Grant Pentiricci May 22, 2014

Lighting up your boat at night has several applications that serve to improve your fishing and also make it safer and more fun. Adding LED lighting is a great way update your boat and improve its function.

Here’s a very simple guide on how to add LED lighting to your boat. It doesn’t take a lot of skill, just some basic handyman and soldering skills.

Where to Buy LED Light Strips

LED light strips can be purchased on EBay, or local retailers such as Cabelas, Wal-Mart or Bass Pro Shops. Whatever your source, you will most likely be purchasing a length that is too long for your needs, or you will want to segment it into smaller sections so you can mount in various locations.

The video below shows you how to cut and solder your new LED sections into smaller, mountable pieces you can use in various areas of your boat. It is not a full lesson on soldering electrical components; the video just briefly shows you the steps I took to segment the LED strip into usable sections.

Materials Used to Install LED Light Strips:

• Bluewater LED 24″ white LED strip- purchased from BPS
• 18 gauge wire- you’ll need 2 lengths
• Pistol grip soldering gun
• 60/40 solder
• Paste flux
• Utility knife
• Heat shrinking tube wrap or electrical tape

I found that each 24″ length made 3 good sized sections that lit up a box nicely. Each section had 6  to 9 LED light bulbs on them. For rod lockers and long battery compartments I used 2 sections mounted about 2 feet apart from each other. This lit up my 21 foot bassboat very nicely.

Mount and Wire LED Light Strips

To mount the LED strips choose a flat surface and prep it with some alcohol to remove contaminants. I simply wired the LED light into existing incandescent lighting. I chose to not drill holes in my boat to hide the wiring. Those of you who want a cleaner look can drill holes in your boat or find creative mounting solutions. The investment you make for this project is really up to you.

Wiring the LED strips was very easy. I simply tied it into the incandescent lighting that existed.

To avoid having the bright LED lighting shine up at my face, I made sure I mounted the LED strips under the box edge using the 3M adhesive backing.

I used 2 short sections for the rod locker, meanwhile the smaller locker was lit up nicely with just one shorter strip.

There you have it; an easy project that can update your boat lighting and improve its function. This project can be done for under 100 bucks.

Tight Lines!