Eberhard Vieg, the CEO of Prebit lighting near Bonn, Germany, is blunt when describing himself and the company’s founder, Michael Woita. “We are really nerds about light,” Vieg says. “Everything on the boat can be high-end materials, but if the lighting is off, it will not appear to be nice. If you change the lighting, it makes a difference.”

Woita learned this lesson after working in the lighting industry and then buying a sailboat, Vieg says: “He found out that lighting was awful on the boat, and he decided to do something.” Woita founded Prebit about 20 years ago. “He created reading lights, and then the company developed and developed and grew.”

Its newest product is the Thoa lamp, which is a portable, rechargeable light that can be positioned anywhere on board. It’s rated IP54, which means it can handle some light spray. Prebit makes the lamp with LED, but in a way that allows it to dim like an incandescent bulb. “If you dim with an incandescent light, it gets red; it gets warmer and warmer, like candlelight,” Vieg says. “Physically, you cannot do this with a single LED. That’s the trick.”

A series of LED colors are used inside the Thoa lamp to mimic the warm fade, with an algorithm making the change seem natural. The Thoa lamp doesn’t just get lighter or darker; it creates mood lighting, including dancing, diamond-type shadows on surfaces when it’s in dimmed mode.

The team at Prebit got the idea for the Thoa lamp about three years ago, Vieg says, after a yacht owner told them what kind of mood he wanted on board. “We thought it was too important to keep it just for that, so we made a series with a complete range,” Vieg says.

Each charge lasts about eight hours, and the light recharges on an inductive pad (like a wireless charger for a smartphone). The lights can be dimmed by touching them, similar to a kitchen faucet with a sensor in it, and they can be controlled via an app. A stowable case that holds and simultaneously charges four lights is also available.

“We’re seeing the owners of big yachts coming in for this,” Vieg says, “and then they’re also buying it for their homes, to use on the terrace.”

Take the next step: Prebit Lighting

The post Onboard Ambience with Prebit’s Thoa Lamp appeared first on Yachting.

Underwater boat lights have become quite popular for one simple reason: they look really cool. Plus, anglers love them for their fish-attracting abilities. But, what if you’re adding underwater lights to a boat that wasn’t built with them? In that case, you’ll have an interesting wiring job ahead of you.

Underwater Boat Light Wiring

There are many different types of underwater boat lights, so referring to the manufacturer’s installation manual is a must. That said, the basics of wiring underwater lights begins with running positive and negative leads to the light. The black lead can go directly to negative, but that red power line takes a bit more work. It should have an inline fuse, then go to a breaker if appropriate, then go to a switch with power.

If opting for multicolor lights with a controller unit and/or receiver and remote, the wiring is more complex. You’ll want to run the positive lead to the power and controller, as well as a control cable. Depending on the current rating requirements of the hardware, you may also have to install a relay in the power line to reduce issues related to voltage variations. When installing many multiple lights into a single system, you may instead need to wire each light individually to a junction box or possibly multiple junctions, which will need to be connected to each other via a control cable, and then get wired to power.

The bottom line? The more complex the lights are and the more multiple lights that are in it, the more wiring is required. A junction box for digital multiplex (DMX) systems, for example, may require five connections through a cable running from each light to the box, plus power, plus control cable(s) linking the boxes. Once complete, however, a system like this provides spectacular abilities like selecting RGBW colors and brightness, different modes for cycling through colors with fading and mixing, and controlling multiple zones.

Underwater Boat Light Wiring Tips

In all cases, no matter the lighting system set up, there are a few commonalities to keep in mind. Most have to do with the fact that underwater boat lights are often wired into areas that range from moist to wet. Accordingly, when joining wires waterproof butt splices with marine-grade adhesive-lined heat-shrink protection should be used. If you need to add wiring not included with the light(s) only tinned-copper marine-grade wires should be used. And inline fuse holders should be IP-rated for waterproof connections.

Additionally, these systems are sensitive to voltage variations. As a result, it’s critical to check the manufacturer’s recommendations regarding power-cable sizing. Also, be sure to secure the wires in a way that the connections and areas where the cables enter and exit the light(s) and/or controllers or junction boxes aren’t stressed nor left unsupported. If left unsupported, they may suffer from repetitive movement or chafing when the boat’s underway.

No Drill Underwater Boat Light Options

Obviously wiring underwater boat lights is only part of the installation process, and if it feels like the whole endeavor might be a bit much, there are options: Installing surface-mount lights is simpler than cutting large holes and installing through-hulls, though they aren’t truly “no drill” since they are mounted with screws. These are most commonly added to the transom of a boat, or to elevated portions of the hull bottom where they won’t cause drag and turbulence when on plane.

For a true no-drill underwater boat light, the options are limited, but there are a couple. The first is to get a drain-plug light. These screw into standard garboard drains and have a single cable coming out the back with power leads, and in the case of RGB models, a controller cable. Just remember that with RGB, you’ll have to install a controller inside the boat. There are also options on the market with a light mounted to the garboard drain itself in a single unit; to mount them you simply remove the existing garboard drain, and replace it with the new lighted one.

A second option to explore is adding trim tab lights. You’ll still need to run a power lead into the boat, but depending on how the boat’s transom is set up, you may be able to do so without drilling.You will need to drill holes for the mounting screws in the tabs, but you won’t have to pierce the boat’s hull.

As you can see, there are an array of underwater boat lights options, some more involved than others? Maybe so. But whichever route you choose, there’s no questioning one fact: underwater boat lights do look incredibly cool.

The post How to Wire Underwater Boat Lights appeared first on Yachting.

Optonaval’s navigation lights are a high-performance LED modular design with a series of internal health-metric sensors to reduce spare-parts requirements. Optonaval’s lights are made with common parts, which makes them easier to service. Each light has redundant, high-performance LED elements. The lights communicate with a  control panel via the company’s proprietary protocol, but they can connect to bridge systems via Modbus or, upon request, NMEA 0183 and 2000.

Optonaval created its nav lights for superyachts and ships, so it had to obtain official Wheelmark certification from the International Maritime Organization. “The main challenge was to design electronics [that] act like an ordinary lamp with an Edison lightbulb and still do what a state-of-the-art light should do,” says Markus Hempel, Optonaval’s managing director. “The modularity isn’t restricted to the housing, acrylic cylinders and O-rings, but nearly all parts. The printed circuit boards are identical, the LED elements are stackable—no soldering.”

The result? The lights can be used in any installation.

How It Works

Optonaval lights contain two sets of LEDs—a primary and a secondary—for each color and function. If one fails, operators can electronically switch to the backup. Each Optonaval light sends health metrics, including temperature, internal  humidity and brightness data, to the control panel where it’s displayed. Optonaval uses marine-grade aluminum housings with a matte-black finish; custom colors are available.

Take the next step: optonaval.com

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None of us needs any more reason to be frustrated about the COVID-19 pandemic. But if you are just now seeing some seriously cool lighting systems on the water and trying to figure out how the boat owners got them, you can absolutely blame the coronavirus for keeping you in the dark.

Imtra, the US representative for UK-based Lumishore, had been offering the Lumishore Lux lighting system exclusively to boatbuilders until early 2020, when the system made its debut for the general public at the Miami International Boat Show—”right before the world shut down,” says Tom “TJ” Orr, Imtra’s lighting project manager.

The plan had been to educate owners of boats up to about 90 feet length overall about how the Lumishore Lux system could give them the kinds of custom effects they see on superyachts, without the typical customization pricing and installation headaches. The lights can be installed in all kinds of combinations above the waterline, below the waterline or both. They can be set up to change colors, sweep, strobe, pulse with music and more, all depending on what kinds of effects the boat owner wants.

But with limited ways to demonstrate the Lumishore Lux system for boat owners in person, Imtra instead expanded the work it was doing directly with boatbuilders. That’s how, going into summer of this year, an increased number of hulls started making their way onto the water with all kinds of theatrical lighting effects. The Lumishore Lux system was available to everybody, including for refits, but most people heard about it only if they were buying a new boat.

“Mag Bay has this standard,” Orr says. “Chris-Craft is offering it. Pavati is offering it for their boats as an option. Jarrett Bay, Bayliss, F&S and Spencer are all custom builders. It’s one of the things they tell people about. They’ll contact us, and we walk them through to find out where the people want the lights. We make it as customizable as they want to get.”

Barrett Howarth, the vice president at Mag Bay Yachts, says that on his yard’s 42-foot model, customers can choose the Lumishore Lux system as an option in whatever parts of the boat they want. “We’ll put in strip lighting, underwater lighting, the downlights. It’s a pretty nice deal,” he says. “I can have my bait tank going with a strobe-and-disco look, my tower lit up another color—really anything.”

Almost every buyer of a Mag Bay boat these days is adding the Lumishore Lux system as an option, he says. And based on that business, he thinks that having a fully customizable lighting system on board a boat will become like having a Seakeeper or a large multifunction display. It will ultimately become something expected or standard.

“As a side project, I’m building myself an 18-foot Boston Whaler, and I’ve actually made provisions in my build for lighting,” he says. “I’m doing a full package: speaker lights, undergunwale lights, underwater lights. Whether I use it or not, that’s not really important. I think it’s important to have it on there.”

A full setup for a smaller boat like that Whaler, Orr says, can run about $2,500. For a midrange sport-fisherman with above- and below-waterline lights, the cost likely won’t top $15,000.

“It’s super-affordable for how advanced it is,” Orr says. “This is the most advanced thing on the market—and the only thing at this level that’s plug-and-play.”

Lumishore’s interface is simple to learn, Howarth says, and when boaters start using it, they get jazzed about ideas for personalizing their ride. A single screen tap can change the boat’s lights from standard white to theatrical scenes of all kinds.

“They give you a high level of customization,” Howarth says. “You can have different intensities of light in different zones. You can have one zone changing and one zone sweeping. You can have them strobing. You can dip down some of the lights 10 or 15 percent so you’re not blinding your bait. It’s fun stuff.”

Low-Profile Lights

Lumishore’s EOS through-hull lights are “flush-fit,” which means they can be mounted with a low-profile look in the yacht’s transom, sides and bottom. They can change color, strobe, work with sound systems, and more.

Hidden Flair

Lumishore’s Lux LED strip lights are manufactured to be flat. Each strip light has tape on the back, so it can be installed beneath gunwales or countertops where nobody sees anything but the glow. 

One Linked System

In the past, onboard and underwater lighting could not be linked into scenes without specialty third-party systems and computer programs, says Tom “TJ” Orr at Imtra. “Now, you can say, ‘Oh, I want the lights in the ceiling to be blue and my courtesy lights to be purple and the neon lights around the cabinets to go red, and I’m going to call this scene XYZ.’”

The post Create Onboard Ambience With Lumishore Lighting appeared first on Yachting.

Boat shows are visual feasts. But as stunning as the daytime optics may be, with billions of dollars’ worth of floating aluminum, fiberglass and carbon fiber, these shows can be even more visually arresting when the sun sets. Sometimes, the lights twinkle and dance to the beat of music.

While there’s no question that LED lighting makes otherwise dark salons and swimming waters significantly more inviting, historically, creating and maintaining these warm and welcoming lumens took effort, likely across multiple discrete systems.

Now, Lumishore’s Command Center makes creating the right above- or below-water ambience about as taxing as tapping a touchscreen.

LED lighting has satisfied onboard illumination needs since the mid-2000s. However, these low-draw installations are typically independent and controlled at the individual light via a dedicated switch and at the yacht’s electrical panel (or by a digital- switching system). Each grouping, such as running lights, usually resides on its own breaker. Although effective, these switches typically don’t allow users to customize a light’s colors without swapping out bulbs.

Lumishore’s Command Center is a game-changing solution for controlling all compatible onboard and underwater lights—including tuning colors and initiating effects such as strobes, sweeps and the Sound-to-Light mode—using smart devices and either a multifunction display or Lumishore’s dedicated touchscreen.

At the core of Lumishore’s digital controls is the Lumi-Link Command Center, a black-box module that delivers a browser-based application-programming interface for controlling Lumishore’s EOS underwater lights and above-the-waterline Lux Lighting systems. An Ethernet port is fitted to one end of the rectangular-shaped Command Center, allowing the device to be networked to an MFD or Lumishore display. The Command Center’s other end has three hardwired connections that go to the networked lights or downstream hubs (think: waterproof junction boxes), drivers, or networking modules. Each Lumi-Link Command Center ($880) also has an SD-card slot, enabling software upgrades.

“The Command Center is the brains of the operations,” says Chris Myers, Lumishore’s sales director for the Americas. “It’s got the processing power of a large computer.”

Networked MFDs and dedicated Lumishore displays access and control the API via hardwired Ethernet connections. Built-in Wi-Fi means control can be shared with networked smart devices that connect directly with the API via a web browser (see sidebar).

The dedicated Lumishore display that works with the system—for yachtsmen who don’t want to use an MFD—is the EOS STV 2204-i ($400). This sleek, glass-bridge display has a rotary dial and a 3.5-inch color touchscreen running the same Lumishore-built graphical user interface users would otherwise access on networked MFDs or smart devices. The display’s interface lets users choose their favorite color palettes for Lumishore’s full-color lights, create color presets, set user preferences and select preprogrammed lighting modes. However, the display doesn’t deliver any additional functionality over an MFD or wireless device.

“It acts, looks and works the same,” Myers says, adding that while it can sometimes be tricky to run the user interface on a smaller smartphone, “it’s easy on a 24-inch Garmin MFD.”

If this sounds like a lot of software talk from a company that made its name building underwater LED lights, you’re on the right track.

“Recently, we’ve been focusing on connected systems that enhance onboard moods and experiences,” Myers says. “The Command Center speaks the right lighting language—DMX—and this allows for diagnostics, zone control, or if they want to light up their boat with red, white and blue for the Fourth of July, the Command Center lets [owners] control and tune the colors of their individual lights.”

Users can also set their above- and below-water lights in crowd-pleasing patterns such as cycles, strobes and sweeps, and can control Lumishore’s Sound-to-Light feature, which, with a screen tap, displays colors based on the music’s highs and lows.

“We’re really proud of this feature,” Myers says, adding that for times when there’s no music being played, users can select background colors.

Lumishore makes three types of underwater lights, including single-color versions controlled using a standard switch; dual-color lights that typically use a hub and a Lumishore switch, and can be controlled from an MFD; and full-color lights controlled via the Lumishore Command Center, an EOS STV 2204-i display and/or an MFD. Each setup is available in a variety of through-hull and surface-mounted configurations and—for the superyacht crowd—welded-in housings.

“To have a successful lighting system, you need really good hardware and software,” says Myers, adding that “one can’t outshine the other and be successful.”

That philosophy also holds true for above-water lighting, which is why Lumishore’s Lux Lighting products provide the same LED solutions in courtesy-, down- and strip-lighting applications.

In addition to complementary software and hardware, factors such as beam angles also play a role in creating a successful installation, especially below the waterline. Myers says beam angles work a bit like placing one’s thumb over a garden hose.

“If you go with a wider angle, you won’t get as far a spread for the same water flow,” he says, noting that Lumishore offers 60-, 90- and 110-degree beam angles. “We tried to find the best effects that we could, without creating shark’s teeth or spotlights.”

While it’s fair to say that no yachtsman likes seeing shark’s teeth—real or luminary—in the water, it’s also fair to say that Lumishore’s Command Center provides the tools to dispel Jaws while delivering touchscreen control over onboard lighting and ambience.

As for differentiating one’s yacht in a target-rich environment such as the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, this isn’t easy, given some of the skylines and waterlines involved. However, Lumishore’s Sound-to-Light feature could deliver the right edge, provided one’s musical tastes are up to the challenge.

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