I just finished installing new LED lighting in the engine room of our 41PC. What a difference. I never used the OEM lights because they were so dim. Instead I carried around an 18 volt LED light. But it was inconvenient at the least. I ordered a strip of LEDs with PSA on it. I ran it from the port underside of the engine hatch back around the rear and forward on the starboard side. I put a switch just under the edga of the hatch and powered them off the house battery. I already had a fuse holder on the bat that mounts on the positive terminal of the battery. I also had installed a ground bus bar next to the battery. So I didn’t have to run wires from the helm dow into the engine room.
New engine room lighting
- Thread starter Comodave
- Start date
SabrToothSqrl
Well-known member
Never enough light. Good deal.
GandDFreehold
Member
Great idea! Looks fantastic!
knarfsson
Member
One of the first things that I did after buying my boat was to replace the bulbs in the engine room with LEDs (4 fixtures, I believe?). Only problem is that I never remember to turn them on at the dash before I open the hatch.
Your solution looks like it works great!
I notice from the pictures that your sanitation hoses run forward of the generator. I'm in the process of replacing mine now, so I have the black tank, water heater, rear bilge pump, and hydraulic pump for the hydraulic dinghy lift all removed, just to get to the old sanitation hose, which runs along the back shelf above the deck hull joint at the transom. I'm assuming that your method avoided this. Any other reason? Any issues with this routing? Thoughts from others?
Your solution looks like it works great!
I notice from the pictures that your sanitation hoses run forward of the generator. I'm in the process of replacing mine now, so I have the black tank, water heater, rear bilge pump, and hydraulic pump for the hydraulic dinghy lift all removed, just to get to the old sanitation hose, which runs along the back shelf above the deck hull joint at the transom. I'm assuming that your method avoided this. Any other reason? Any issues with this routing? Thoughts from others?
We replaced the Vacuflush head, I really dislike them, with a Raritan Marine Elegance head. It can use either 1” or 1.5” discharge hose. I used 1” for two reasons. 1, it takes much less water to flush the macerated poop into the holding tank. 2, I used the old 1.5” hose as a chase for the new 1”ID, 1.375 OD hose. I first cleaned the hose and tank with a mix of sodium perconate and Tide detergent. Then pulled the refer and cut the old hose at the front and rear of the refer opening. Scoped both hose sections with a camera to make sure they were clear. We ran the new discharge hose forward from the refer cabinet and then aft from there. Used lots of wire pulling lube. The new more direct run from the head was 36’ to the holding tank. It literally took 57 minutes to run the new hose.
Now I have the best head on the market. I have approximately 12 to 14’ less discharge hose due to the new route. If I had used 1.5” hose it would hold 3.3 gallons. With the 1” it holds less than 1.5 gallons. So I can flush the entire hose with less than 1/2 the water. No more vacuum leaks, yippee. I used a Uniseal to make the new hose entry into the holding tank. The hoses visible by the engine stringer are for the new shower sump and new bilge pump. The head discharge hose is just barely visible at the very top of the photo above the generator.
I didn’t have to remove anything except the refer to do this install. Working under the swim platform is a real PITA so that is also nice. I didn’t have to cut any cabinets in the galley and how do you remove the old hose over the starboard fuel tank? No access. I removed the vacuum tank but left the vacuum pump in place because it wasn’t in the way. I just capped the old discharge hose to contain smells.
Maybe the hardest part was getting power to the head. We put a bow thruster in a year ago. It is 24 volt so I bought a 24 volt ME head. I ran power from the dual batteries under the berth in the forward cabin aft under the step to the berth and into the head. The Smart Control for the head is Bluetooth so no cable needed. The Smart Control lets you do 4 different things. 1- normal flush which is 3 fills and flushes. 2- short flush which is 1 fill and flush. 3- dry flush with no water added. 4- add water without any flushing. It really helps to save holding tank capacity. It takes 2 normal flushes, 3 fills and flushes x2, for water to get to the holding tank. So after a pee just use a short flush. After a poop use 2 normal flushes.
One of the hoses not visible in the photos is one of the new 1.5” vents for the holding tank. It is just above the discharge hose at the top of tge photo. I added a 1.5” vent to each side of the boat to prevent stinky smells when you flush the head. Aerobic bacteria doesn’t smell but anaerobic bacteria smells horrible.
The ME head is really wonderful. I have put them in our last 3 boats and they just work. Oh, did I mention no more vacuum leaks???
Now I have the best head on the market. I have approximately 12 to 14’ less discharge hose due to the new route. If I had used 1.5” hose it would hold 3.3 gallons. With the 1” it holds less than 1.5 gallons. So I can flush the entire hose with less than 1/2 the water. No more vacuum leaks, yippee. I used a Uniseal to make the new hose entry into the holding tank. The hoses visible by the engine stringer are for the new shower sump and new bilge pump. The head discharge hose is just barely visible at the very top of the photo above the generator.
I didn’t have to remove anything except the refer to do this install. Working under the swim platform is a real PITA so that is also nice. I didn’t have to cut any cabinets in the galley and how do you remove the old hose over the starboard fuel tank? No access. I removed the vacuum tank but left the vacuum pump in place because it wasn’t in the way. I just capped the old discharge hose to contain smells.
Maybe the hardest part was getting power to the head. We put a bow thruster in a year ago. It is 24 volt so I bought a 24 volt ME head. I ran power from the dual batteries under the berth in the forward cabin aft under the step to the berth and into the head. The Smart Control for the head is Bluetooth so no cable needed. The Smart Control lets you do 4 different things. 1- normal flush which is 3 fills and flushes. 2- short flush which is 1 fill and flush. 3- dry flush with no water added. 4- add water without any flushing. It really helps to save holding tank capacity. It takes 2 normal flushes, 3 fills and flushes x2, for water to get to the holding tank. So after a pee just use a short flush. After a poop use 2 normal flushes.
One of the hoses not visible in the photos is one of the new 1.5” vents for the holding tank. It is just above the discharge hose at the top of tge photo. I added a 1.5” vent to each side of the boat to prevent stinky smells when you flush the head. Aerobic bacteria doesn’t smell but anaerobic bacteria smells horrible.
The ME head is really wonderful. I have put them in our last 3 boats and they just work. Oh, did I mention no more vacuum leaks???
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I forgot to mention that I put the switch for the lights just under the deck back by the gate. 2 reasons why. I did not have to run power all the way from one of the breaker panels. I already had a battery mounted fuse panel and ground bus bar by the house battery so access was simple. And the second reason is so when I open the hatch and forgot to turn on the lights I can just turn them on at the hatch. I am getting CRS disease more and more. It was a pain to put the hatch back down to turn the lights on. Also the OEM lights are dim and poorly placed. The new lights pretty much light up the whole engine room.
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Kimo
Member
Great ideas, great work, as always, Dave.
One question: why not install an inline automatic 12v “plunger” type switch (think: FRIDGE door) along the cavity of your hinged deck opening so that the circuit is closed and the lights come on AUTOMATICALLY when the hatch is opened (vs. having to manually flick an on/off switch)?