Underwater Lights
 

Hey everyone... Just trying to bring up some conversation while we all wait for our boats to come out of hibernation!

Who's got underwater lights?

Last season I installed one of the drain plug lights from Diablo Royale Customs after researching the various manufacturers and comparing products online. Some of Diablo's marketing techniques of bashing the competition's products may seem a little sketchy and shady, but I'm here to say, they do make a quality product!

This is what I've got:
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MzYwWDY0MA...hVb8y9/$_1.JPG
You literally just feed the wire through the drain plug, connect it to a 12v source, do a few wraps of teflon tape around the fixture, and tighten it right into your drain plug fitting! I keep my boat in the water for the entire season, so as you can imagine, I was a little concerned with leaks. Needless to say, I didn't have any!

The light I purchased online is last years model, and specs said it put out 800 lumens of light. Without having access to scientific equipment to test, I used my phone and a light meter app. It measured around 770 outside of the water using the camera on my phone (which likely isn't the best measuring device), but I'll say it's pretty darn close to 800 lumens.

The light output does have a few variables, mainly the color of light you choose, and the water it's being used in. The pics below show the light in the murky water of Sandusky Bay in Lake Erie... Light shines out for about 4 or 5 feet behind the transom. Out in open water and at the islands, the water's much more clear and the light will travel further. I wired it into my courtesy lamp circuit, and only turn those lights on when we're at the dock, or anchored, since technically US Coast Guard regulations state you're not supposed to run with any other colored lights than your nav lights while underway... I figure it's better to be safe than sorry, would hate to lose my captain's license over something like that! :)

Price-wise, you can't beat it. I paid $50 for it on special last year. They've now redesigned them and the light output has been increased to 1000 lumens for nearly the same price! You have your choice of aluminum or brass. You can also buy multi-fixture fittings as well which include up to 3 lights. The aluminum version is $45, and the solid brass is $55. They definitely get a positive review from me. :wink_thumbup:

Re: Underwater Lights
 

Thank you for the review and the pics. I follow them on FB and they seem like they make a great product but it's hard to grasp the brightness of those lights and whether they're worth the money!

Your pics look good, that's brighter than I would've expected for an 800 lumen! I've been looking at the 8000 lumen trying to decide if it's worth it. Was probably going to get the blue and wire in blue some led's strips (hidden) area the inside of the boat and run everything off the same switch.

Was thinking about this bad boy lol
https://www.boatpluglight.com/collec...-drain-fitting

Re: Underwater Lights
 

Keep in mind, those are pics from a cell phone camera, which isn't the best representation at night due to all the auto enhancing features, but it does put out a pretty impressive amount of light for $50. I can only imagine their larger lights are even more awesome.

With the blue light, I definitely recommend a higher powered setup, especially if you'll be using in any sort of darker water. My dock neighbor has a blue knockoff drain plug light (one of Diablo's competitors) that was supposed to put out 800 lumens, and it's incredibly hard to see, he's quite jealous of mine :)

Re: Underwater Lights
 

I was given a plug light two years ago as a gift. I put it in for one outing and ended up leaving it out. I have no idea how it worked as I never hooked it up though. I chose to leave it out because our lake has these ridiculous inspections we have to do every time your boat either goes on or off the water. I still want to hook it up and put connectors on it so I can unplug it easily and dont have to tow with a plug dragging.

For those interested in night fishing I understand every body of water may have laws about illuminating the water. Thankfully that does not apply to our lake. From what I can gather green is the color to have when trying to attract fish.

Thanks for the motivation to get that plug in!

Re: Underwater Lights
 

Hey just out of curiosity, did you wire yours to a switch ShabahZ280? And did you have any additional lights wired in with it?

Re: Underwater Lights
 

I agree with Motoxxx43, the green, or the white lights attract the fish :)

Yes, I have my drain plug light wired into my cockpit courtesy lamps circuit. I can switch it on and off from the helm. I picked this one for two reasons.
a) I only keep my courtesy lamps on at the dock or while anchored/moored.
b) the courtesy lamp just happened to be one of the closest factory-wired switched circuit to the drain plug!

There are 3 or 4 of the oval courtesy lamp fixtures wired into that circuit as well. I swapped all the courtesy lamp bulbs to LED's so it's not a heavy circuit draw.

Re: Underwater Lights
 

I just discovered that my boat has the light too. I might never have guessed without having seen this topic. Was this an option from the factory?

Re: Underwater Lights
 

Nice! I don't think that's factory. Any pics of the light housing itself? Looks pretty bright.

Re: Underwater Lights
 

Here is a photo. There is a glass lens on the back end. I think I found the reference to the light option in the 98 Brochure:

Re: Underwater Lights
 

I think what the brochure is referring to is a light that light up the topside of the swim platform. That part looks like the typical drain plug light so many folks are making these days. ( LEDs epoxied into a NPT fitting from the local hardware store)






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Re: Underwater Lights
 

That's great that you've got one already on your boat!

What they're referring to in the brochure for the transom mounted light is the silver circular lighting fixture mounted by the tow hook on the swim platform. Underwater lights weren't even a thought back in the day when Mariahs were made. They didn't become popular until the last few years.

Re: Underwater Lights
 

I also bought a light through them last spring. I specifically ordered a Green or Blue light (as there were issues with the availability of blue lights at the time).

I paid $69 for a 1000 lumen light.

What do I get? a red light.

I had the option to leave it out and return it or try it, because the boat had to go in the water. Pulling it out afterwards to change the plug would mean me having to pay for the use of the hoist so I decided to give it a go, I installed it and hoped for the best. I also send a message to Diablo Royale Customs complaining and they replied: sorry, let me see what I can do.

So I waited, after a while, I send another message and finally they replied "you should have checked the colour before installing"

I DID check before installing! They should have checked the colour before shipping it to me!

Turned out they waited exactly long enough with replying for the eBay-feedback time to expire. Very smart.

Meanwhile the light is so dim you can hardly see it unless it is pitch black and you are hanging over the edge of the boat. If you go at speed (like in the add-photos) you would not even notice the light is on unless someone pointed it out first.

Which was what I was afraid of, as the colour red is just not very visible. That is why I send them the message when buying it, saying green or blue, but NO RED. And they acknowledged.
So I might try a different light this year, from a good company.
But if I were you I'd steer away from these Diablo-royal-crooks.

A waste of money and time.