Engine Room LED Lights

John E3

John E3

Active Member
Nov 21, 2022
215
Rock Hall, MD
Boat Info
1999 370 Aft Cabin
Engines
Horizon 454
I want to replace the old, tired & dim lights in my engine room with bright LED fixtures, but the price on ones that have "marine" in the name start at 5x the price of ones without marine in the name. A never ending saga.
I know from many years ago on and around -many- old wooden boats that explosion proof light fixtures were the norm in the engine room. I know that incandescent bulbs can sometimes create a spark when they blow (or get broken), so I assume that is the concern in an engine room. However, those boats, and any boat potentially, has other opportunities for a errant spark to happen in the engine room, so protecting the bulbs seems like overkill.
Take my generator for example, there are switches and relays - are they explosion proof? I have no idea. Then, there is the control board with it's absolutely not explosion proof diodes that can fry. There were 3 more boards onboard that were burnt to a crisp, when we got it.
And on those old boats, the DC Generator has brushes that are a non-stop spark source, and no protection. Every boat explosion that I've read about, as far as I recall, occurred when an engine was started, suggesting the starters are not protected. Alternators and generators generally do have spark arrestors, and I believe by regulation. I retrofitted some automotive alternators when I rebuilt the motors in an old Chris Craft, with available kits.
So, am I being overly cautious with my concerns over LED fixtures? Might there be regulations that address this?
I'd sure like to use $12 LEDs, and help plug that "hole in the water....".
John
 
Coast Guard and ABYC regulations require that all electrical components installed in a hazardous location, (that includes the engine room on a gasoline powered boat) be ignition protected. If that generator on your boat is in the engine room, it has to be ignition protected or the manufacturer would not have been in compliance with regulations. It would seem foolish to me to put a non-ignition protected component in a gasoline environment just to save a few bucks.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-...ect-group-ECFR32d60ecf0343cd4/section-183.410
 
Part of the reason is the switches need to be ignition protected since you have gas engines. And the ones on say Amazon are not that, even when that claim to be marine lighting.
 
BlueYonder said:
Coast Guard and ABYC regulations require that all electrical components installed in a hazardous location, (that includes the engine room on a gasoline powered boat) be ignition protected. If that generator on your boat is in the engine room, it has to be ignition protected or the manufacturer would not have been in compliance with regulations. It would seem foolish to me to put a non-ignition protected component in a gasoline environment just to save a few bucks.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-...ect-group-ECFR32d60ecf0343cd4/section-183.410
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Thanks for the answer/link. I expected this might be the case, but wasn't sure how to confirm.

The generator is a Westerbeke, standard issue in an untold number of Sea Rays. I am 100% confident the circuit board in these units is not explosion proof. It is fully exposed to the engine room environment, unsealed/unpotted, and I have 3 with visible smoke trails coming off of a diode.

However, this line from that regulation infers normal operation, not a failure situation:
"when it is operated at each of its manufacturer rated voltages and current loadings"

Pretty much ANY electrical failure can result in a spark, including the incandescent bulbs in unsealed fixtures, installed by Sea Ray.
Your point is well taken, but a modern LED, regardless of certification, is by it's very nature far safer than the OEM lights, and all of them probably meet this standard for this reason, even if not stated.
 
SKybolt said:
Part of the reason is the switches need to be ignition protected since you have gas engines. And the ones on say Amazon are not that, even when that claim to be marine lighting.
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My current lights are hardwired into the Bilge Lighting circuit, with the switch located in the electric panel in the Salon. A local (unprotected) switch would be a risk, for sure.
A fume detector is going in before launch.
I have about 50 yrs of electrical/electronics background, so I'm just not "pokin & hopin" here. I was more interested in engine room LED Lighting experiences, but was not sure about regulations.
 
So with a diesel you would not have this issue or reg? Thought is was all boats why I’m asking
 
John E3 said:
My current lights are hardwired into the Bilge Lighting circuit, with the switch located in the electric panel in the Salon. A local (unprotected) switch would be a risk, for sure.
A fume detector is going in before launch.
I have about 50 yrs of electrical/electronics background, so I'm just not "pokin & hopin" here. I was more interested in engine room LED Lighting experiences, but was not sure about regulations.
Click to expand...

Wasn't siting regulations, just mentioning what to look for. Most of the more inexpensive lights have switches on them and that is what needs to be ignition protected. regardless of being left on all of the time or not.

That said there isn't much inexpensive lighting for boats these days that are of any quality, in my experience. The selection is slim. I went with non ignition protected lights and re-wired, bypassed the switch. I have an separate engine room light switch as well, but I am diesel so I'm not too worried about being ignition protected.
 
SKybolt said:
Wasn't siting regulations, just mentioning what to look for. Most of the more inexpensive lights have switches on them and that is what needs to be ignition protected. regardless of being left on all of the time or not.

That said there isn't much inexpensive lighting for boats these days that are of any quality, in my experience. The selection is slim. I went with non ignition protected lights and re-wired, bypassed the switch. I have an separate engine room light switch as well, but I am diesel so I'm not too worried about being ignition protected.
Click to expand...

Regulation comments were just a reference. I've found some well rated unswitched ones under $20, that look pretty nice. I can't imagine what a $231 one that I saw brings to the table. It does your maintenance too? I'm looking to replace 2 and add at least 2 more. It's like a dungeon down there.

I just noticed your location. My nephew has an older 370 sedan bridge (SB?) at Piney Narrows. I can almost get there faster by boat than car.
 
BlueYonder said:
This one is ignition protected and available on Amazon or Defender for around $50.00. You will need an ignition protected switch or mount the switch outside of the engine room. You should get a light designed to withstand the heart in an engine room.

https://www.scandvik.com/index.cfm?method=products_detail&productID=318
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I had not considered the temperature situation, thanks for that point. As I had noted my switch is in the main panel in the salon.
I found it on go2marine for 41.92 and they offered a $10 discount so that brings it down to 39.42 on 4pcs. That's a little more realistic.
 
John E3 said:
... I just noticed your location. My nephew has an older 370 sedan bridge (SB?) at Piney Narrows. I can almost get there faster by boat than car.
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You can get here faster by Boat, it takes me less then 30 min to get to Waterman's and takes be 40 min to drive. Crazy right?
 
SKybolt said:
You can get here faster by Boat, it takes me less then 30 min to get to Waterman's and takes be 40 min to drive. Crazy right?
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It's that 15 min drive north to the Chester River bridge that gets ya! My father is on Kent Island and it's a full hour to there. If he was on the north end I could be there in 20 min! He almost begged us to keep the boat at his doc (he's 84 and no more boats for him) but the hour drive, or 4hrs on weekends, was a deal breaker.
I hear that Waterman's has some plans for this season. It was sold not long ago. 98 Cannon in Chestertown is unable to reopen after the fire sometime back (subsiding land?), and their staff was picked up by the new owners of Waterman's to augment the staff, and manage it. There are renovation plans and it sounds like the big bar in the gift shop is going back to being a bar. Forgive any inaccuracies, my wife relayed this info to me.
 
John E3 said:
It's that 15 min drive north to the Chester River bridge that gets ya! My father is on Kent Island and it's a full hour to there. If he was on the north end I could be there in 20 min! He almost begged us to keep the boat at his doc (he's 84 and no more boats for him) but the hour drive, or 4hrs on weekends, was a deal breaker.
I hear that Waterman's has some plans for this season. It was sold not long ago. 98 Cannon in Chestertown is unable to reopen after the fire sometime back (subsiding land?), and their staff was picked up by the new owners of Waterman's to augment the staff, and manage it. There are renovation plans and it sounds like the big bar in the gift shop is going back to being a bar. Forgive any inaccuracies, my wife relayed this info to me.
Click to expand...

I thought the sale fell through because of the plumbing and electric on the deck. But we'll see next year, that place is always a goto when being around the marina for the weekend.
 
mschneider said:
I put 5 of these in the bilge on my 340 and they are very bright. They feel a little cheap but seem to be made well enough..
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I have found 4 so far, all but 1 is burned out and all the lenses have holes burned through them. I'm looking forward to being able to see in there!
It's interesting that a smaller boat would have more. Mine are pretty much inline with the engines, about a foot or so away from the fwd and aft bulkheads.
 
John E3 said:
I have found 4 so far, all but 1 is burned out and all the lenses have holes burned through them. I'm looking forward to being able to see in there!
It's interesting that a smaller boat would have more. Mine are pretty much inline with the engines, about a foot or so away from the fwd and aft bulkheads.
Click to expand...
Ahh yes my boat only had 4 from the factory, I added the 5th in the middle between the engines. I also moved two of the lights that were mounted on the wall in front of the engines to the "ceiling/bottom of deck" so they shine down because they were blinding me.
 
frosh coach said:
I just installed these as replacements in my 97 300.
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Mine are arriving Friday and hopefully I'll get them installed over the weekend. I've got 400lbs of dead generator to teardown and remove soon.
I've been using a 12v LED spotlight I got for jeep, trailer and tractor activities and in spite of the amount of iron down there, finding a good spot for the magnet is challenging!
 
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