Tower Lighting Pre-Wire - 2020 G21

[BasaltRMK]

Hey all,

If I understand correctly, the tower on my 2020 G21 should be pre-wired for lighting (RGB LEDs that will sync with the enhanced courtesy lighting package). I have 4 of the factory JL 880s. Is this correct? I was looking to add some RGB LED speaker rings. I pulled one of the drivers today and only saw the 2 speaker wires and 2 down light wires. Assuming the tower is indeed pre-wired, do I just need to remove the speaker from the tower (via the 2 top-mount tower Allen bolts) to find the additional lighting wires? Thanks.

[BasaltRMK]

Never received any feedback but I thought I'd answer my own question in case anyone was interested. The tower is not pre-wired for RGB lights, I only found the speaker audio and white speaker downlight wires. I was able to fish the 4-wire RGB wiring through the tower and splice into one of the RGB cupholders. The hardest part was getting the RGB wiring into the speaker enclosures. RGB speaker light rings are installed and look great.

- bob

[twyatt916]

Bob, thanks for this info. I'm looking into adding these lights where the inside tower speakers would mount (pending the hole size w/out the rubber plug).

https://www.apexlighting.com/boat-li...ourtesy-light/

[Scooter G]

Thanks for the share BasaltRMK, sorry I missed your original post. I have 2 additional wires on each side (running 4 speakers), and I have not chased them down to see what they go to yet, I was thinking maybe lights. Winter curiousity project. I will say, if you fished wires through your tower, you've got skills or patience or both, that looks like a bugger.
Let's see the lighted speaker pics...

twyatt916, those are some purdy cool light with a remote. 1.10" cutout? Gotta see pictures of that project.

[BasaltRMK]

Scooter G - do you have the tower speaker downlighting? Those lights are pre-wired, they are just white LEDs on the forward end caps of the JL speaker enclosures. The wires you reference may be for them? Apologies if you already know this.

Yes, fishing the 4-wire cables for the RGBs through the tower was an exercise in patience, but it is possible. Just give yourself a lot of time... I can't believe it but I don't have any pics of the installed lights. I'll take some this weekend. They look great, and at night they light up the inside of the speaker (the cone) in addition to the external rings. Really sharp, imo, if you're into that type of bling. I also replaced the two white courtesy lights at the stern end of the walkthrough, just above the built in stern cooler, with RGB courtesy lights (from NP) that I wired off my RGB underwater lights. Always bugged me that all the courtesy lights were RGB except those two. Clearly I like the RGB bling!

twyatt916 - likewise, would love to see how it turns out. Unless they changed things with the 2022, prepare for some patient wire fishing.

[CVAGS20]

BasaltRMK If you don't mind, I have a bunch questions about RGB lighting. Was your boat already equipped with the Extended Courtesy Light package? If so, are the lights in the cabin sole RGB or white? Which speaker rings did you go with?
If the boat didn't come with Enhanced Courtesy Lighting, is it as simple as plugging the RGB lights into the existing corresponding RGB plugs and activating them in the Linc dealer settings for are other things like a controller needed? Also, do they turn on with the regular courtesy lights or they operated separately? Finally, I would imagine if just adding the JL tower speaker light, they would turn on with the standard courtesy lights as they are pre wired.
Thank you in advance for response. I just purchased a 2018 GS20 that didn't come with the enhanced package and my winter project (one of many) is to add some RGB lights.

[Scooter G]

Scooter G - do you have the tower speaker downlighting? Those lights are pre-wired, they are just white LEDs on the forward end caps of the JL speaker enclosures. The wires you reference may be for them? Apologies if you already know this.

I'm pretty sure there are no lights on the JL's (yet ), and I have had them off. I will be chasing those wires down however, thanks for the heads up. Only one color option on the '16's, interior and underwater, it's white, cool but ultra boring, zzzz. Atleast only white is what I've read, maybe someone can tell me differently, or an easy retro mod.
Love the remote controlled RGB option, even have it in the shop for floor downlighting. May be a future project, may wait for the next boat upgrade. Have to run this one another season, now that I've spent all Summer working all the bugs out, knocking on gel coat.
I am a little intrigued as to the lights that twyatt916 posted.

[BasaltRMK]

CVAGS20 - yes, I built the boat with the enhanced RGB courtesy lighting option. I do not know if Nautique includes the 4-wire RGB courtesy lighting harness for all boats (with and without the enhanced lighting package) or only includes it with the enhanced lighting package. If they do include the harness in all boats, then I'd assume that adding the RGB lights would be simple plug-and-play (and activating the Linc buttons, as you note).

All the courtesy (button) lights in the cabin are RGB with the enhanced lighting package, except for the two above the built-in stern cooler, white are white and which I replaced and wired into my RGB underwater lights. Also note that the stock underwater lights (if ordered) are only white for all Nautiques (unless this has changed on the new models). I bought and had aftermarket RGB underwater lights installed. They turn on/off with the Linc 'Underwater Light' button, and color-cycle with the courtesy lights.

For the speaker rings, I bought and installed the Plashlights (I have no affiliation with them): https://plashlights.com/products/rgb...gh-output-boat

I spliced them into the RGB cupholder harness, so they operate (on/off and color-cycle) with the courtesy lights.

The JL speaker pod end cap downlights are white only and have a separate button on the Linc screen. These are pre-wired and I believe what Scooter G has found. My previous G21, a 2018, did not come with the stock downlights, but I purchased a pair of lighted end caps from JL's website and just had to plug them in.

Let me know if this answers all your questions or if I missed one or two. Disclaimer - I'm not a stereo/lighting professional or an electrician, so proceed at your own risk - I just like to tinker and wrench!

- bob

[BasaltRMK]

Ps - I love that the Stereo / Lighting / Accessories forum page is getting some love!

- bob

[BasaltRMK]

CVAGS20 and Scooter G some pics of the speaker ring lights, downlights, and the Linc lighting options. Need to get a good pic of the speaker rings at night, they're really bright (adjustable with the courtesy brightness settings), and light up the inside (speaker cone).

[Scooter G]

I would love to see that "courtesy color" tab on my screen.
Nice work BasaltRMK! Love me some ambience.

[BasaltRMK]

Thanks, Scooter G! Yeah, I'm a sucker for night-time ambiance too. Caught a (cold) night-surf on my friend's older Axis A22 last night, just seemed dark and dreary...

- bob

[MN Ryan]

So unnecessary, yet so cool.

[BasaltRMK]

MN Ryan - Right? Kinda goes with the whole 'owning a surf boat' aesthetic..

[MN Ryan]

LOL, I love my '07, but there are all kinds of goodies I'm "missing" out on. Most of my crew are very impressed that we have a heater, though!