Drain plug light

[briandg57]

after my $8000 labor bill for my xdp gimble replacement in which I did most of the labor, I decided in needed to do something cool that wasn’t just fixing something. My wife always thought that underwater lites were cool so I decided to install one. I didn’t want drill any additional holes so I settled on a drain plug style. When I did sone research, most of the feedback was that they were so dim it wasn’t worth the effort. Not diswaded, I finally settled on the boatpluglight Vega PRD. They make adapters for up to three but I just did the one. It turned out to work pretty well. Time will tell how long it lasts.

[cbsmith]

The big issue I have with the drain plug LEDs is that if it fails,or breaks there is an open channel inside them to allow water into the boat. And most of them I have seen stick down below the bottom of the keel and would be in the drag of the water at speed, increasing the likelyhood of breaking.

[gofast24]

The big issue I have with the drain plug LEDs is that if it fails,or breaks there is an open channel inside them to allow water into the boat. And most of them I have seen stick down below the bottom of the keel and would be in the drag of the water at speed, increasing the likelyhood of breaking.

just making a wild guess here but dont most transom drain plugs on smaller vessels located on the transom, below water level? Shouldnt be much of anything below the keel other than sea water inlets/scuppers for engine cooling circuit, gen cooling circuit, or AC condenser water inlets? What fails, the plug itself or the plastic lens from the LED to the water?

[cbsmith]

The big issue I have with the drain plug LEDs is that if it fails,or breaks there is an open channel inside them to allow water into the boat. And most of them I have seen stick down below the bottom of the keel and would be in the drag of the water at speed, increasing the likelyhood of breaking.

just making a wild guess here but dont most transom drain plugs on smaller vessels located on the transom, below water level? Shouldnt be much of anything below the keel other than sea water inlets/scuppers for engine cooling circuit, gen cooling circuit, or AC condenser water inlets? What fails, the plug itself or the plastic lens from the LED to the water?

The normal drain plug is below the waterline. But it is just a 1/2 or 3/4” plug. The LED drains plugs are usually 2-3” in diameter which means they hang down below the bottom of the keel and in the flow of water while you are driving.

There are many different brand out there, some are probably good and built well but a lot that I looked at where very cheaply made, had lots of plastic on them, and were built in China and didn’t appear to have any certification from ABYC, etc.

[Yakker57]

I just put LED lights under the swim platform Looks good for a couple of hundred bucks and a remote

[briandg57]

The light is about 3” in diameter. It doesn’t protrude below the keel. It’s just about level with it. Anything that could protrude enough to damage the light would likely take one or both of the outdrives first.