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I’ve been talking about Whisper Walls, the headliner material I’ll use, and how all of the new LED lights need to be positioned just so to match the height of the Whisper Wall track. I broke open the tubes of track and brought one of each to the boat so I could confirm I’ve been installing things properly. I’ll also be installing lots of support panels for these tracks around the perimeter of the aft stateroom, salon/galley, V-berth, and aft deck, and I wanted to have at least one track on site to make sure I’m doing this right.
Whisper Wall headliner tracks
Left side = perimeter track; right side = inside track
You should be able to click the picture and open the full-size version.
As I understand it, the installer will push the edge of the headliner material into the clamp part of the track with a fancy putty knife. The clamp part of the perimeter track has to butt up against a panel or solid stock that’s at 90° to whatever surface the track is attached to.
Marked off for screw holes
I found an installation manual online that indicated that, because of the high tension these tracks are under, there have to be #8 x 3/4″ screws every 2 inches. But the installer indicated that he uses a nearly continuous line of staples instead of screws.
The track is exactly aligned with the bottom surface of the LED mounting panel
That’s good news…I think it means I finally got those mount panels installed right. I’m going to leave that track there to keep it out of the way. I’ll let the installer permanently attach it and the rest.
I’ve also been messing with LED lights that fit in the OEM Chris Craft light fixtures.
10w LED looks good
It looks like there’s room for a bigger bulb
On the notion that ‘brighter is better,’ I ordered some 15w 12v LEDs, too.
Ebay purchase took a month to get here
Looks good!
Doh!
OK, so the OEM fixtures can only take a 10w corn bulb LED. The 15w units are a bit too wide, and it looks like the 12w ones are the same size. There’s one more LED option I’m looking into, but those are a month away, too. Stay tuned. In the meantime, the 10w bulbs are reportedly equivalent to ~70w incandescent but with a fraction of the amp draw. This is a great upgrade.
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Porthole Gaskets
1969chriscraftroamer46 