spotlight wiring

[kellamtom]

I have a pontoon and want to install spot lights in the front, I would like to have a 24 volt battery system. Can I use 2 lights 12 volt lights and wire them safely to 2 batteries in 24 volt series system.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: spotlight wiring

No<br /><br />Not sure what you mean when you say can you wire your lights to a 24 Volt source, when they are only 12 Volt lights. Obviously, you will have 12 volts going to the rest of the components on your boat(Except maybe for a trolling motor), so I see no reason you could not run wiring from the 12 Volt battery to a switch and then to the lights. That's how I did it. I had an aux. switch on the panel already and used that to power up the lights. Pretty easy, except for crawling around under the trailer to run the wiring to the lights. You will blow the lights out running 24 Volts to them if they are rated for 12 Volts..<br /><br />Also, do not attempt to run 24 volts to any component rated for 12 Volts. Like your starter, for example...

 

[18rabbit]

Re: spotlight wiring

Some things to think about…<br /><br />Everything marine is available 12v. Almost everything marine is available 24v. It is usually less expensive and more available for 12v anything. 24v electrical systems may have a smaller gauge wiring. Changing over to 12v later means rewiring, but not necessarily the reverse.<br /><br />Wiring two 12v spots either in series or parallel will not work with a 24v system. If you already have 12v spots, you may be able to change out the element (bulb) to a 24v element and be good to go. A 24v element is probably available and a quick call to the manufacturer’s tech department should verify this is all you have to do. If you have motorized spots, it’s likely not worth changing the motors and elements to 24v. Probably cheaper to just repurchase the spots in 24v.<br /><br />Unless you are installing a whole new electrical system or the boat is already wired for 24v, I’d be inclined to stick with a 12v system for simplicity and savings.