2004 Grady Marlin Underwater lights location *SOLUTION*

[abielecki]

Hi - I have two Seablaze X underwater lights I would like to mount on my Grady marlin.
Can anyone make recommendation on placement of lights on the transom that has done this on their boat, thanks.
(best fit placement for drilling the wire hole, ease of grabbing the wires and good underwater light displacement).
Pictures would be great, pictures and measurements even better!!

Andrew
(908) 963-1997

 

[eppem]

Re: 2004 Grady Marlin Underwater lights location

You can probably walk around a marina and see where others have placed their lites and just eyeball it.

 

[Fishtales]

Re: 2004 Grady Marlin Underwater lights location

I've seen most with just 2 of them outside the outboards. I think a third between would be better. You want to get them under the water line by about an inch from the top. Not too low, not too high. The biggest part is getting the nads to drill your boat. Remember to use a counter sink or phillips screw bit to remove some material from the gelcoat to eliminate cracking.

 

[abielecki]

Re: 2004 Grady Marlin Underwater lights location

Hi received this from Grady White. Maybe it can help others too...
Of course the size hole you drill will be based on the light you choose to install.

Andrew

 

[journeyman]

I did a couple of videos to show Lumitec for a warranty claim. They replaced it after a year and a half. I think the warranty is 3 years. If you follow the link, you can see mine are mounted outside the motors. I like the placement and having two, think it's a better spot than both between the motors. I think Fishtales' idea of adding one between the motors is a good one and I may do that next year. Pretty sure I've seen factory installs done this way also. Maybe it was a customer request???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvTCsSW9C6w

 

[DennisG01]

I agree with the others that OUTSIDE the motors makes sense, if only going with two lights. In the picture you posted, it appears to show the lights being mounted inside the motors? In the end, there is no "best" place - it's what YOU want - not what we, nor Grady, recommends. One thing to keep in mind is the clarity of water that you are in. Murky water will NOT look like what the advertisements say! And different color lights will look different in various waters.

 

[Fishtales]

Make sure you have sufficient room inside the boat and there are no wires or other obstacles where you plan to drill.

 

[SkunkBoat]

On my last boat I used one that screws into the drain plug. No need to drill holes in transom.
Worked great for years. Just got one of the same on eBay for my grady.
The brand is Firewatermarine. 1200 lumens white. Comes in green and blue too.
$25
SUPER WHITE LED BOAT DRAIN PLUG LIGHT 1200 LUMENS UNDERWATER GARBOARD 12v / 24v

 

[fsc60]

I have a 98 Marlin and installed the same lights. Mine are located outside the motors. The only thing you need to be sure of is that the center hole for the wire misses any ribs on the inside, you can check by removing the access covers and climbing down in the bilge. Make a templet and remove all bottom paint about 1" away from the light. I used 5200 to mount and seal the light. Third light would be great, but my water tank is there. I haven't given up on that idea yet. Getting the wire up the back of the tank is the challenge. I plan on attacking that before the season. I'll keep you updated.

 

[Scott D]

I also have an 04 Grady Marlin. I didn’t want to drill additional holes in the transom and I already had a transducer wire from a previous owner installation going over the transom so I installed 2 Seablaze X lights on 1” thick starboard discs that I bonded to the transom and ran the wires to center and up along with the transducer cable. Not really you’re question but I thought this might be helpful.

I’ve done a ton of upgrades to this boat including a repower so if you have a question on something I’ve probably upgraded it.


Scott

 

[Fishtales]

On my last boat I used one that screws into the drain plug. No need to drill holes in transom.
Worked great for years. Just got one of the same on eBay for my grady.
The brand is Firewatermarine. 1200 lumens white. Comes in green and blue too.
$25
SUPER WHITE LED BOAT DRAIN PLUG LIGHT 1200 LUMENS UNDERWATER GARBOARD 12v / 24v

I hear you. I've been looking at these for a while. Something about drilling holes below the waterline in a wood cored boat that doesn't sit right with me.

 

[SkunkBoat]

On my last boat I used one that screws into the drain plug. No need to drill holes in transom.
Worked great for years. Just got one of the same on eBay for my grady.
The brand is Firewatermarine. 1200 lumens white. Comes in green and blue too.
$25
SUPER WHITE LED BOAT DRAIN PLUG LIGHT 1200 LUMENS UNDERWATER GARBOARD 12v / 24v

I hear you. I've been looking at these for a while. Something about drilling holes below the waterline in a wood cored boat that doesn't sit right with me.

There are a lot of choices. Don't buy anything aluminum. This brand is good quality. My only complaint is the lead from the LED to the connector could be a foot longer. on my last boat I had to contort myself thru the battery compartment to reach the wire to plug the connector. The grady will be easy.

I'm thinking of putting some LEDs outside the motors too. Either mounted on backing like ScottD said or mounted to the trim tabs.


By the way, we catch the crap out of short stripers in that light at my dock.

 

[Scott D]

By the way I got the same drawing from Grady and 9” inboard of the trim tab seems way inboard behind the engines. I’ve seen a bunch of 30’ Grady’s new and all the lights are much closer to the trimtab and outboard of the engines. That’s where I mounted mine.

Scott

 

[drbatts]

On my express the lights were either mounted by the factory or the dealer. They are both mounted very similar to what the above diagram shows. Which places them almost directly behind the engines. As a result they basically just light up the engines and not much beyond that.

On my previous 265 I mounted lights between the trim tabs and the engines. This worked pretty well except for the area between the engines and extending beyond that. I ended up adding a third light between the engines which made all the difference. I ran the wires up Along the engine brackets and then up with the engine rigging. Unless you were looking for them you would never realize they were there.

 

[Fishtales]

if I was spending the money for the seablaze lights, i'd go with 3 (one in middle and one on each side). can't see spending that kind of jing and not getting the lighting I anticipated.

 

[abielecki]

By the way I got the same drawing from Grady and 9” inboard of the trim tab seems way inboard behind the engines. I’ve seen a bunch of 30’ Grady’s new and all the lights are much closer to the trimtab and outboard of the engines. That’s where I mounted mine.

Scott

Hi and thanks for all the responses, I also ended up moving the lights outboard of the engines closer to the trimtab well !!

 

[abielecki]

I have a 98 Marlin and installed the same lights. Mine are located outside the motors. The only thing you need to be sure of is that the center hole for the wire misses any ribs on the inside, you can check by removing the access covers and climbing down in the bilge. Make a templet and remove all bottom paint about 1" away from the light. I used 5200 to mount and seal the light. Third light would be great, but my water tank is there. I haven't given up on that idea yet. Getting the wire up the back of the tank is the challenge. I plan on attacking that before the season. I'll keep you updated.

Thanks and yes keep me posted on the third light in the middle, the water tank is 3/4" at best off of the transom wall, question is how low does it go, I think mounting the light just above the garboard drain may work well.

 

[abielecki]

I also have an 04 Grady Marlin. I didn’t want to drill additional holes in the transom and I already had a transducer wire from a previous owner installation going over the transom so I installed 2 Seablaze X lights on 1” thick starboard discs that I bonded to the transom and ran the wires to center and up along with the transducer cable. Not really you’re question but I thought this might be helpful.

I’ve done a ton of upgrades to this boat including a repower so if you have a question on something I’ve probably upgraded it.


Scott

Hi Scott - I'd be interested in chatting with you or seeing list of the upgrades you made!!
Next thing on my mind is to separate the batteries, on for each engine and two for the house isolated from the engine batteries.
I think the rewiring will be pretty easy and could put both batteries on one "dual" rotary switch and have the second one for the house. Would also need to swap out the charger for a three bank charger.

 

[abielecki]

I also have an 04 Grady Marlin. I didn’t want to drill additional holes in the transom and I already had a transducer wire from a previous owner installation going over the transom so I installed 2 Seablaze X lights on 1” thick starboard discs that I bonded to the transom and ran the wires to center and up along with the transducer cable. Not really you’re question but I thought this might be helpful.

I’ve done a ton of upgrades to this boat including a repower so if you have a question on something I’ve probably upgraded it.


Scott

One really cool upgrade I did was to replace the three way fuel valves with four way's and plumbed quick disconnects to two of the ports which go to a 50gal ATL fuel bladder on deck.

 

[SkunkBoat]

One really cool upgrade I did was to replace the three way fuel valves with four way's and plumbed quick disconnects to two of the ports which go to a 50gal ATL fuel bladder on deck.

HMMM! :hmm thats a good idea to hold me over until I get some 4 strokes on my 265

And the Battery Switch thing.. I have been drawing out different configurations and think I settled on really good one. I plan to start a thread on that soon so I won't hijack this thread.