DIY Stern Light

Canny
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DIY Stern Light

Post by Canny »

Figured I’d post this here as maybe it could help someone out. I made 2 of these from material I had laying around. The only thing I needed to buy was the pipe clamps and the 1” pipe. I know most don’t have an acrylic rod laying around but I just happened to have one that I’ve been trying to find use for.



Materials:
Cheap AAA LED flashlight
6” piece of 3/4” Acrylic rod
12” piece of 1” PVC
2 - 3/4” PVC couplings
2 - 1” PVC couplings
1” pipe clamp

Image

First off I sanded the acrylic rod to make it dull and therefore diffuse the light better

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Then I took one of the 3/4” PVC couplings and used hot glue to adhere one end of the acrylic rod and also the bezel end of the flashlight. They were just slightly smaller so a few wraps of tape to help keep them centered worked like a charm.

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Then I took the other 3/4” coupling and using my dremel and sanding drum I removed the stop ring inside the coupler. This allowed it to be glued on the other end of the flashlight. The key is to leave just enough of the flashlight sticking out the bottom so that the cap can be unscrewed to change the batteries.

Image
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Now the light assembly is finished.

Take the 12” piece of 1” PVC and glue on the 1” coupler. This 1” coupler has the perfect ID to allow the light assembly to just slide inside with enough tension to hold it firm.

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Finally take the other 1” coupler and I used the pipe clamps to mount it to the inside of my rear tank well. The entire assembly just press fits in and easily removed for transport

Image

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The light is very bright and should be easily seen and feel confident it will meet the 2 mile visibility as per coast guard standards.


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Ron Mc
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Ron Mc »

Trick - great work, thanks for posting

this is how this forum used to work...
yangjianhunt
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by yangjianhunt »

This is very nice work- light and bright!
I made mine also using PVC with an ozark trail LED lantern glued on top.
SWFinatic
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by SWFinatic »

Good job! Looks pretty bright.

I followed what Kayak DIY did and made a couple for our yaks. Turned out good. Not as bright as I'd like but it works.
https://youtu.be/kHKII_cZVfQ
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Ron Mc
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Ron Mc »

Canny's plan of LED + acrylic light pipe is pretty bright (in a couple of ways)
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Neumie
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Neumie »

Man, that's really slick. IMO, the best DIY light I've seen.
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kickingback
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by kickingback »

Nice DIY Mod!
I did mine with a car light bulb LED and a 12v battery pack. Just soldier the wires to the led base and run wires down a pvc pipe and attach the battery pack and put a plastic bottle or cap over the light to difuse it and spread it out more. It is super bright! ASk the fishing Attorneys!

https://www.amazon.com/BA15S-33SMD-Reve ... CPE75YSSN8

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VE ... UTF8&psc=1
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Ron Mc
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Ron Mc »

obviously, anyone who already has a 12v system, KB's trail is probably the best to follow

considering light output, battery size and life, LED is without doubt the way to go on a stand-alone stern light - simply bang for buck with buck including weight you need to haul. Canny's light ought to go 100+ hours on AAA batteries.
I'm going to 5v USB on everything I possibly can. A 24 A-h Li-ion battery pack/ portable charger weighs about 10 oz. and will charge a week's worth of hand-held electronics.
It's only a matter of time until marine electronics figure this out and move forward with 5v systems, and away from car batteries.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MT ... UTF8&psc=1

From a decade ago, have one of the old Scotty flashlight-battery kayak stern lights - the only good thing about it is the way it mounts - it won't keep a battery using its tungsten-filament incandescent bulb, and it's about as bright as a lightning-bug.

showing a commercial LED kayak stern light that's similar to Canny's great idea, last mod on my Kestrel was replacing two of the stern-netting tiedown panheads with the M5 eye bolts I had for the trolley front end.
Image
This lets me easily attach my Kayalite to the boat
Image
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003G ... UTF8&psc=1

also, here's the kayalite rigged to stand on a milk crate
Image
Last edited by Ron Mc on Wed Jun 19, 2019 8:17 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Drifting Yak
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Drifting Yak »

Canny - Great set up on the 360 light. Thanks for posting! Where did you purchase the acrylic bar?

Ron - Good looking headlight with nice features so I ordered one. (One of my pet peeves is to have to cycle thru a light just to turn it off. You know the drill - first click is high - then medium - then strobe - annoying to say the least!)
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Ron Mc
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Ron Mc »

I really like the headlight, from easy hand-work inside your boat to blind-the-power-boat-driver Bright, plus rescue modes.
Canny
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Canny »

Drifting Yak wrote:Canny - Great set up on the 360 light. Thanks for posting! Where did you purchase the acrylic bar?

Ron - Good looking headlight with nice features so I ordered one. (One of my pet peeves is to have to cycle thru a light just to turn it off. You know the drill - first click is high - then medium - then strobe - annoying to say the least!)
I didn’t buy it, my FIL had it in his garage and asked me if I wanted it. Didn’t have a plan for it then. I still have about 5’ of it left so who knows what I will come up with.


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Neumie
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Neumie »

Drifting Yak wrote:Canny - Great set up on the 360 light. Thanks for posting! Where did you purchase the acrylic bar?
Amazon has many diameters of acrylic rods. They seem reasonably priced, though I have nothing to base it too.
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impulse
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by impulse »

FWIW...

There's some discussion about the legality and requirements of kayak lighting on another Texas fishing forum. USCG regulations require only that there be a white light at the ready when paddling from dusk to dawn. Texas regulations require that there be a white light exhibited at all times. According to a USCG guy, that is a conflict not allowed by the USCG when doling out shared funding with the states, and he's looking into it.

I have installed what I consider to be a reasonable set of 6 LED lights that are visible for 360 degrees, but not in my line of sight, to preserve my night vision. Given that a flashlight is all that's required, I figured I was good. It seems like the DIY lights shown here are well thought out, and should also be good. But...

https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Portals/9/DCO% ... s/1015.pdf

https://www.lsonews.com/boat-light-stri ... standards/

Caveat Emptor.

I don't claim to know the right answer, but wanted to share some information I ran across when doing my own research.
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TexasJim
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by TexasJim »

TPWD Water Safety Act does not say small craft lights have to be US Coast Guard approved. White lights have to be visible for 2 miles, colored lights visible for 1 mile. I totally agree about the possible ambiguity the strip lights can cause in navigation, and wouldn't put them on any of my boats. TexasJim
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shoffer
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by shoffer »

Kudos to Canny, the original poster. This was a really good idea. I made one last weekend as well, but I used the model from this guy off Youtube:


His way of speaking was annoying at first, but it actually grew on me as I watched the video.

I added reflective tape at the top and spray painted everything after cleaning it with acetone. That makes a big difference in the paint adhering to the PVC:

Image

One difference for my build was that I made a base that allows me to remove the light. The light post is 1/2 inch PVC, and the base is 1 inch PVC. Glued inside the base on the bottom and top are PVC bushings that go from 1 inch to 1/2 inch that accept the 1/2 inch PVC light pole, but in the bushing in the top of the base, I sanded down the pipe stop inside the bushing so the 1/2 inch PVC would move freely into the base and reach the bottom bushing, where the bottom of the PVC pole could lock into the bottom bushing. I added a coupling at the top of the base and then glued in some pool noodle to sturdy up the light. [The PVC base is stained from a crate modification I did a few months ago].
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The light is powered by hooking it into my Yak-Power Switch assembly which is then hooked into my 100 ah Lifepo battery in the hatch, so I can turn the light off and on from the seat of my kayak. I suppose you could power the light using the small deer feeder, sealed lead acid battery, like the guy in the video suggests, which is how I have it shown here:
Image. You could also put an inline switch assembly into the PVC as the Youtube Guy did in a subsequent video for his wraparound LED strips:


That was more than I needed, so I went with his original build, with some modifications from his new video, and some of my own.

I then sanded the inside and outside of a plastic cap from an Armor All bottle and glued it to the top over the LED bulb, and the sanding allows the light to be diffused and much brighter.

Image
Last edited by shoffer on Thu Jun 27, 2019 6:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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kickingback
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by kickingback »

Well done Shoffer! Now you and I will have the brightest lights on the water! :clap:
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Ron Mc
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Ron Mc »

that ought to work - good project
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Kirk B.
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Kirk B. »

To enhance diffusion in Canny's build, run a 3/4” step drill into the bottom of the acrylic rod, or drill the top, and back fill it with epoxy. That will create more surface area for the light to reflect off of.
Canny, thanks a bunch for the inspiration . I like my Scotty light pole, but was never satisfied with the light itself. Looks like I have a weekend project.


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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by SWFinatic »

shoffer that's a bright light! Nice work!
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Angler
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Angler »

Well done. Very nice job. I had no idea about those 1157 LEDs, very handy! Looks like I got me a project too ;)

Agree about the Scotty.
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shoffer
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by shoffer »

The LED car battery light I found in stock at Pep Boys. 19.99 for two in store, but if you buy online, and pick up in store, it is $14.99 for two. https://www.pepboys.com/pilot-automotiv ... quantity=1

The package even has a metal housing for the bulb, and two wires already soldered to the housing; that is how you can test it in store:
Capture.JPG
So after opening the package, I just cut the switch off the wires and spliced those two wires directly to the positive and negative power wires, and ran that down to the bottom. The pre-soldered metal housing made the build even easier than the Youtube guy's video, where he had to solder the power wires directly to the bulb. I then lightly glued the housing into the top part of the PVC, but I had to hollow it out a bit with a sanding bit on my Dremel to make the housing fit well. I decided to use a threaded bushing to connect the light assembly to the longer pole so that I could easily remove or repair if the light bulb failed or went out. I then I drilled a hole at the bottom of the longer pole for the power wires to come out and then connected an SAE quick connect to that so that I can remove the light when necessary.
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Drifting Yak
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Drifting Yak »

Ron Mc wrote: I'm going to 5v USB on everything I possibly can. A 24 A-h Li-ion battery pack/ portable charger weighs about 10 oz. and will charge a week's worth of hand-held electronics.
It's only a matter of time until marine electronics figure this out and move forward with 5v systems, and away from car batteries.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MT ... UTF8&psc=1

Ron - Have been using the Nitecore NU20 Rechargeable LED Headlamp that you mentioned and can say that it is a vast improvement over what I've been using. It's bright, lightweight, has many light settings (including SOS & Strobe) and turns off without having to cycle thru the various light functions. And man can it hold a charge! I now use it for everything from yak fishing to tinkering around the garage. Will end up with more of these I'm sure (great gift idea). Thanks!
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Ron Mc
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Ron Mc »

cool - glad it's working for you - I like mine, too.
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Wutevs
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by Wutevs »

I copied the video with a few minor tweaks.
https://youtu.be/60CO4z7E-9A

I purchased a 1156 harness off eBay to make the bulbs replaceable if necessary. It also made the soldering easier.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-1156-P21W-1 ... SwTA9X7Amu
Image

I got the LED bulbs off amazon. None of the local auto parts stores any bulbs with LEDs all around 360 deg.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H6 ... UTF8&psc=1
Image


The light is bright. Like, really bright. If anything, the light is too bright and messes with my night vision. I'm gonna slide an empty Rain-X bottle over it and see if that helps.
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shoffer
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Re: DIY Stern Light

Post by shoffer »

You are right, Wutevs. The light is very bright. That's why it is nice to include a switch with it. You can use it while underway or anchored in the bay, but while fishing canals, you can turn it off so your night vision is not affected. Or you can turn it on when you hear a power boat approaching, and then turn it off thereafter.

I use the YakPower switching system (which they have a new one that can be controlled through Bluetooth phone app so you don't need to install the switching panel on the deck of the kayak ). But that country dude on Youtube, FishNStuff, has another video showing you how he incorporates into the PVC pole an inline rocker switch.
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