VIDEO: How to… Install underwater lights

Our 8-step guide on how to install your own underwater lights

Underwater lights have become the must-have accessory for discerning motor boat owners. Once deemed a little too bling for some tastes, they are now a default option for most Med-based boats.

The latest generation of lights are brighter, easier to fit and more affordable than ever with multiple-colour sequencing and even sound-to-light effects.

Although it is possible to buy underwater lights that don’t require any holes to be drilled in your boat’s hull, most still use a brass through hull fitting with specially toughened glass and a seal at its base that gives access to the light without compromising its integrity.

This usually means they have to be fitted to a flat external surface such as a transom or chine flat. Most will also have a central control box (often controlled by a smartphone app) and, depending on the size of the lights, a separate driver for each of the lights.

Ideally, these need to be fitted somewhere dry with a decent amount of air circulation to dissipate the heat given off by these units This needs to be linked up to the boat’s 12v circuit using a fused wire of the correct amp rating.

To see how this is done, we went to watch a set of Ocean LED lights being fitted to a Princess 23M by Landau UK and you can see the results in the video above.

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