Hella Marine Black Series 3.2 Inch LED Cube Kit, Spot Beam

Hella Marine's Black Series 3.2 inch LED cube kit gives you a complete two-light setup right out of the box. You get a pair of spot-beam cube lights, a relay, a switch, and a pre-wired harness with a Deutsch DT connector. So there's no guessing at parts or hunting down a switch that fits. Wire in the relay, mount the switch at the helm, and drop the lights wherever you need the throw. For a lot of boats, that's an afternoon job with hand tools and a test light.

These are spot-beam lights, and that matters. A spot pattern puts a tight, focused column of light way out in front of you instead of spreading it wide like a flood. That's what you want when you're picking a mooring ball out of the dark, lining up a channel marker, or throwing light across the water at a dock you've never pulled into before. A flood would wash out at that distance. A spot cuts through. They're rated at 40 watts and 3000 lumens with a tight spot beam, so there's real reach behind them.

Where do folks put them? Plenty of boaters run a pair up on the hardtop as forward-facing spotlights for night runs. Others mount them low on the bow as docking lights, or aft to throw light across the cockpit and swim platform after the sun goes down. Some anglers aim them at the water for night fishing. The beam pattern's the same. You just point it where the work is. A pair aimed forward turns a black-water run into something you can actually read.

The blacked-out housing keeps them low-key in daylight, whether they're on a hardtop, a T-top, or a tower. The rectangular body measures 3.2 inches wide by 3.3 inches tall by 2.7 inches deep, so they tuck in without hogging real estate. And because they're a flush-mount design, they sit clean and tight against whatever surface you bolt them to.

Power-wise, they play nice with both common boat systems. Amp draw is 3.4 amps at 12 volts or 1.6 amps at 24 volts, so they'll run on a standard house bank or a 24-volt setup without any adapters. The included relay does the heavy lifting on the current, which means the switch at your helm only carries a light signal load. That's the right way to wire auxiliary lights, and Hella Marine already did that homework for you.

The Deutsch DT connector on the harness is a nice touch. It's a sealed, locking connector built for exactly this kind of exposed, wet wiring, and it turns pulling a light for service into a plug-and-unplug job instead of a cut-and-splice headache.

A few things worth knowing before you drill. Flush-mount lights live and die by the seal at the bezel, so bed them in butyl tape or a quality marine sealant before you snug the fasteners down. Water sitting against an unsealed joint will find its way in over a season. If you're mounting on cored fiberglass, back the bolts with a proper backing plate or an aluminum strip so you're not loading the gelcoat directly. And if you're running the leads a long way, out to the bow or up a tall tower, step up your wire gauge to fight voltage drop. Thin wire on a long run robs you of brightness and heats up.

One honest note on the beam. Lights this bright are great for reaching out, but 3000 lumens up close can throw a lot of glare back at you on a small runabout at night. That's exactly why the kit ships with a switch. Kill them when you don't need them, flip them on when you're working the water ahead. Used right, this Hella Marine cube kit is a clean, capable way to add serious spot lighting to just about any boat.