Joined
·
98 Posts
What's the best lights to use. I'm about to build another boat and I was wondering what to get?
lights
1 - 20 of 20 Posts
Joined
·
1,364 Posts
How much you planning on spending and what kind of water do you shoot in???
Joined
·
98 Posts
Not to much, but something good for your money and I shoot mostly clearer water until it rains then it get brackish looking. I had regular 500 watts ok my other boat but I was interested in the big blocky looking lights but Idk
Joined
·
1,364 Posts
I think what your talking about are HPS and Metal Halides. HPS work better in very low visibility water (less than 2 foot) and MH are better in the clearer water. HPS is more of a orange light while MH is a yellow/white light. They generally range in wattage from 70w-400w. And price varies greatly depending on how you want them setup. You can get cheap ones from econolight for around $50/light for 150w which produces about the equivalent light of 3 500w halos. As far as expensive setups...you can get digital ballasts with custom housings for an ungodly price. I've always used 4 500w halos but I am going to put 6 150w HPS on my new setup to hopefully increase visibility in the mucky water I shoot in.
Joined
·
98 Posts
Yea I think i'm gonna run the MHs on my new boat. I had 6 500w lights on my old boat but I sold it when I went to basic but I'm gonna but a nicer one when I get back home in like a month
Joined
·
98 Posts
Our company sells LED's for bowfishing. They will last longer than your boat will (no offense). Over 50% of the bowfishing community have switched to LED's. Can you I set you an order up for some of the 27 watt LED floods. Most people run at least 8 on a 14' Jon Boat and more lights for the bigger your boat. If anyone is interested in ordering some give me call at 570-939-5566 or go to our website at www.backwoodsoutdoors.net. Buy some before the price goes up. Thanks!
Joined
·
98 Posts
How well do the LEDs light up the water vs the regular MH and could you run them off a gen.?
Joined
·
255 Posts
That's the beauty of led. No need for a genny. 12 or 24 v circuit.
Joined
·
1,364 Posts
I've been told that LEDs light up real well where the water is clearer. I've heard of some being made with orange tinted lenses and those are supposed to cut dirty water better. You can get LEDs in 110v to run of a genny, But the whole reason to use LEDs is to run silent. LEDs are by far Inferior to HID lights like metal halide and high pressure sodium. So if you don't mind a genny then I'd stick with the MH or HPS.
Joined
·
98 Posts
The only LED's that run 110V are the 50 watts and they are insane as far as price goes. I don't even bother with them. The 27 watt LED's are more "bang for your buck". We are coming out with the first ever 27 watt warm white LED which will cut dirtier water over 10x better than the cool whites already do. The cool whites that we currently offer do an amazing job in any kind of water. We are expected to have this light available sometime in April. To be completely honest the 27 watt LED's do just as good of a job if not better than MH or HPS if used in 12 - 16 inch centers (normal spacing). I will soon be selling converters that you plug into your generator and then hook up to your battery and you can run LED's that way. That's the most popular way to run LED's with a generator. I will look into some converters this week and see if I can't get them available ASAP. Thanks for your interest in LED's! Any other questions feel free to call me at 570-939-5566 or PM me. Thanks!
Joined
·
98 Posts
Joined
·
98 Posts
Nuffdaddy what website carries a good MH or HPS lights?
Joined
·
1,364 Posts
Econolight has some decent ones for a good price. I haven't personally bought any from them but reviews are good and customer service is supposed to be second to none. I'm going to order 4 or maybe 6 150watt HPS from them for my new platform. The only thing I've heard is for the Bowfishing application they need a little reinforcement. I was told by a few people to open them up and put locktite on all the screws to keep them from vibrating loose from trailering the boat. The mounting brackets are also kinda flimsy so most people make custom ones out of aluminum or steel. I'll try and find some pictures of some homemade mounts people made.
You can also get fancy with it and order custom light housings and buy all the guts (ballast, igniter, and capacitor) ant put them in a separate box. I have some more info on these but your talking close to $200 light for them so it'll that don't turn you off then I'll tell you the rest. The econolight ones come ready to go all in one light fixture for around $50/light for 150watt.
Joined
·
1,364 Posts
These lights are the 2 I would recommend from econolight. The cheaper one does not have a capacitor in it and will suck more power. The more expensive one has a 55uf capacitor in it which reduces the power to run them. (by almost half I believe). Also HPS are different than holos and use more energy than just the bulb. For example...a 150watt HPS with capacitor will pull around 290watts to warm up and 170watts after they warm up. Where a 500watt holo will always draw 500watts.
http://www.e-conolight.com/floods/small-floodlights/small-hid/e-hc1h151z.html
http://www.e-conolight.com/floods/small-floodlights/small-hid/e-hc2h151z.html
http://www.e-conolight.com/floods/small-floodlights/small-hid/e-hc1h151z.html
http://www.e-conolight.com/floods/small-floodlights/small-hid/e-hc2h151z.html
Joined
·
98 Posts
So I guess you would just drill a hole through into the inside?
Joined
·
98 Posts
Yea. Thanks for the help
Hi everyone,
Here is the solution you seem to be looking to eliminate LED reflection. Goto ebay and type in "Carplite" in the main search box. They sell HPS or Green colored filter covers for 50W LED lights. Also have Custom sizes if needed for other types of light frame sizes. I used them and made a world of difference. I bought one at first just to try out and bought ten after that. Got the best worlds of using LEDs with the color of HPS to better penetrate the water and reduce glare. They are made from transparent plexiglass so much much more durable than tint/film. And you can easily remove these in seconds if you want the bright light back for clear water. Much cheaper alternative than going HPS with all the extra bulbs, capaitors, genny, difficult wiring and weight, etc. Hope this helps, just wanted to share what I have found to everyone who had the same issues I had.
Here is the link:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xcarplite.TRS0&_nkw=carplite&_sacat=0
[sharedmedia=gallery:albums:42]
Here is the solution you seem to be looking to eliminate LED reflection. Goto ebay and type in "Carplite" in the main search box. They sell HPS or Green colored filter covers for 50W LED lights. Also have Custom sizes if needed for other types of light frame sizes. I used them and made a world of difference. I bought one at first just to try out and bought ten after that. Got the best worlds of using LEDs with the color of HPS to better penetrate the water and reduce glare. They are made from transparent plexiglass so much much more durable than tint/film. And you can easily remove these in seconds if you want the bright light back for clear water. Much cheaper alternative than going HPS with all the extra bulbs, capaitors, genny, difficult wiring and weight, etc. Hope this helps, just wanted to share what I have found to everyone who had the same issues I had.
Here is the link:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xcarplite.TRS0&_nkw=carplite&_sacat=0
[sharedmedia=gallery:albums:42]
1 - 20 of 20 Posts
