Types of screws to go into cross members

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mpilot
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Location: Lake Murray, SC

Types of screws to go into cross members

#1 Post by mpilot » Mon May 15, 2017 2:36 pm

I will be installing white LED lights down the sides of the boat to shine onto the toons. I will most likely be creating a custom line of these where each Node will go right on a cross member (16 inches apart) and I want to screw it even though it has strong 3M tape on the back of it. These nodes do go out every now and then, so I don't necessarily want to rivet them because of this. Is it okay to use stainless self tappers going into the cross members, if so how do I prevent corrosion? The module itself has a spot for the screw so the head will not touch the aluminum, only the heads of the screws.

A friend did these lights on his and installed the entire strip and just screwed it into the plywood with short screws every couple of nodes, but that many holes on the bottom of the wood floor scares me a little. I suppose I could silicone every one of them, but since I am going to most likely be doing this in the water I'm trying to limit the number of tools and all I have to tote. Any suggestions you guys have are welcome. For reference, below are the lights I will be installing.

https://www.harborsales.net/Portals/0/d ... csheet.pdf

Bamaman
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Re: Types of screws to go into cross members

#2 Post by Bamaman » Mon May 15, 2017 6:22 pm

Stainless self tappers would be preferred screwed into aluminum.
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Bryden24shp
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Re: Types of screws to go into cross members

#3 Post by Bryden24shp » Tue May 16, 2017 3:04 am

A neighbor of ours just installed his with electrical staples. He asked me to check it out and they actually look really nice and hold the strip on very well! With the 3m tape and these, they may them hold up very well. I was surprised at the thought, we'll see how they work after a season or two of getting wet.
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mpilot
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Re: Types of screws to go into cross members

#4 Post by mpilot » Tue May 16, 2017 7:22 am

[quote="Bryden24shp"]A neighbor of ours just installed his with electrical staples. He asked me to check it out and they actually look really nice and hold the strip on very well! With the 3m tape and these, they may them hold up very well. I was surprised at the thought, we'll see how they work after a season or two of getting wet.[/quote]

I looked at those when I was going to do a strip lite, but these aren't in a strip, they are in nodes. I was going to do the strips, but I can't beat the price on these (free) and I've seen them on other boats hold up well. A friend has a houseboat that is lined with white ones all the way around the roofline and it shines out 6 feet from the boat when they are on and lights the whole boat up.

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