# HPS Lights



## islandman930 (Aug 1, 2014)

To all my fellow Flounder Gigging Buddies out there I need a little advice. I am redoing my light setup and I am planning on using the 150 Watts HPS from Econo Lighting or the 400 Watts 16' x 16" HPS using a Honda Eu2000i generator. Need some input for what model lights are better. Thanks ahead of time for any information you can provide...


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## Five Prongs Of Fury (Apr 15, 2008)

Go with the 150's. The 400's are a waste IMO. The water will only absorb so much light before it starts reflecting some of it back at you and causing problems. Not to mention the fixtures are huge and cumbersome. You will have to build remote boxes for the internals to get rid of the weight otherwise they will self destruct on the front of the boat and your generator is gonna be screaming. I can go on and on...


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## islandman930 (Aug 1, 2014)

Thanks 5 Prongs can you tell me what model of 150 Watt to buy????


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

islandman930 said:


> Thanks 5 Prongs can you tell me what model of 150 Watt to buy????


You need the hpf not the npf. They have the capacitor in them.


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## stc1993 (Nov 23, 2014)

Does anyone use LED lights for gigging? GA Power is changing all their outdoor lighting to LED's over 400,000 state wide. We just finished an Autozone all their outdoor lighting were LED's.


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## bamafan611 (Mar 1, 2010)

Five Prongs Of Fury said:


> Go with the 150's. The 400's are a waste IMO. The water will only absorb so much light before it starts reflecting some of it back at you and causing problems. Not to mention the fixtures are huge and cumbersome. You will have to build remote boxes for the internals to get rid of the weight otherwise they will self destruct on the front of the boat and your generator is gonna be screaming. I can go on and on...


I'm on my 7th year with the 400's and have not had a single issue. All , I've done is replace my bulbs. If it were anything but HPS, I would agree about the reflection issue, but I've gigged fish in 8 feet of water and can go when most folks couldn't see.My generator runs just over idle with running 3 of the 400's.
I can go on and on how well they work.


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## kmerr80 (Oct 28, 2013)

What bamafan said. years ago I started out with the seastriker setup, went through several expensive LED setups, then took his advice and went with the HPS. Yes you can gig fish with all the different setups. Once I went with the 400's it was a game changer. Being able to see in murky conditions with the hps allows you to go more often. I have never used the 150's but I'm sure they work well. How much money you want to spend is the biggest factor. I have the Hubbell's which are a top of the line commercial grade-granted saltwater and bay chop takes its toll on anything-


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

bamafan611 said:


> I'm on my 7th year with the 400's and have not had a single issue. All , I've done is replace my bulbs. If it were anything but HPS, I would agree about the reflection issue, but I've gigged fish in 8 feet of water and can go when most folks couldn't see.My generator runs just over idle with running 3 of the 400's.
> I can go on and on how well they work.


I've gigged with Bama and can confirm that his generator barely runs above idle with the 3 400's he's got. I run the 4 150's and have seen fish in over 10 ft of water. My gig is 10 ft and I could touch bottom to get em.


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## bamafan611 (Mar 1, 2010)

kmerr80, Mine are also, Hubbel and am not familiar with the eonolight Hps lights. I repainted mine this year with truck bed coating from autozone. This stuff is tough as nails and no water period can get to the metal.It's in a blue 16.5 ounce can. Don't use the liner as it is too thick. Lights looked better than new.


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## floorman1 (Jan 10, 2012)

Can somebody take me gigging I need to learn I'll buy gas ice and beer


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## Rusty T. (Aug 17, 2015)

I use the Econo Light 150 HPS as well..Love these lights. No glare and penetrates muddy or stained water just fine. Here is a few pics of my setup.


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

Rusty T. said:


> I use the Econo Light 150 HPS as well..Love these lights. No glare and penetrates muddy or stained water just fine. Here is a few pics of my setup.


Same setup I run. Paint the reflectors with high temp flat white and it get rid of shadows that you don't even realize you have.


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## boatnbob (May 31, 2009)

*Would you entertain a couple of questions regarding the 150's?*

-Did you relocate the ballast? 

-I have been reading that a capacitor will cut the load in half, but is it necessary? Did you guys do this? _Capacitor king recommends the 400 Watt High Pressure Sodium 55UF 240V Capacitor_

-Did you make new brackets as I have read here that the housings are a bit flimsy and will crack out? I am looking at the 6x9" housing at e-conolight SKU: E-HC1H151Z

-Did you wire in a GFI for protection, or just use the generator without one?

-I am sure this has been covered before, but I am hoping to hear from your experience. Many thanks in advance!

Boatnbob


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

boatnbob said:


> -Did you relocate the ballast?
> 
> -I have been reading that a capacitor will cut the load in half, but is it necessary? Did you guys do this? _Capacitor king recommends the 400 Watt High Pressure Sodium 55UF 240V Capacitor_
> 
> ...


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## boatnbob (May 31, 2009)

*Thanks for the quick reply!*

I will look at the units to see if they have the cap's in them. I don't think the one I was looking at had them.

Best regards,

Bob


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

boatnbob said:


> I will look at the units to see if they have the cap's in them. I don't think the one I was looking at had them.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Bob


Just make sure they say hpf and not npf. Hpf will have the capacitor in them.


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

Boatnbob, what size lights are you looking at ?


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## Rusty T. (Aug 17, 2015)

If you look at the top of this page, you will see the brackets I built to mount mine. It is a galvanized 90 with a painted 6" galvanized nipple with a screw on wall mount screwed down with stainless steel nuts and bolts. I used 1/2" nipples and 90's. I wired my lights two per circuit and put a 110v male plug on each end. My genny has a built in gfi to protect the lights. The lights are from ECONO Light.com They are the 150 hps lights.Feel free to take a look, and if you have any questions about the lights, I will be glad to help you find them.


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

Rusty T. said:


> If you look at the top of this page, you will see the brackets I built to mount mine. It is a galvanized 90 with a painted 6" galvanized nipple with a screw on wall mount screwed down with stainless steel nuts and bolts. I used 1/2" nipples and 90's. I wired my lights two per circuit and put a 110v male plug on each end. My genny has a built in gfi to protect the lights. The lights are from ECONO Light.com They are the 150 hps lights.Feel free to take a look, and if you have any questions about the lights, I will be glad to help you find them.


The yoke is just to weak to use as the mount. I've seen to many of them break mounted that way. I built aluminum bracket that bolt the housing.


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## boatnbob (May 31, 2009)

*Lights for Bnb*

I will be getting the HPS 150's and buy the cap's as indicated through searching previous threads. It appears that they don't sell them with the cap's unless you move up to the 400's. I could be wrong. (I just read FSM's post about HPS vs. NPS) I will order the lights and wait on the capacitors. Good call!

For the mount, I will jethro some mounts in a U shape like shown earlier. I have a guy (or used to) that would weld for me. I have some parts and pieces that I can cobble together to get out for now. Long term, I will make it nicer. I hear you on the housings failing. Many threads on that. Trick is to support as much as you can and displace the pressure on the housings by using large backing plates for through mounting, i.e, large washers... I really like your mounts and will think in long term of that. 

As I am a DIY'r and looking for the cheaper way to do it, I will endeavor to spend once. I don't mind spending $$$, but only want to do it once. 

I really struggled with the decision to go HPS vs. LED. Everything I read touted the benefits of HPS and their great features. The lights I was looking at for LED cost as much as the HPS, but put out so little in comparison. Ironically, I saw the thread where SeaSercy was looking for genny and picked up a a little EU2000 from what turned out to be a fellow PFF'r in my subdivision. It only needed a carb cleaning, and now I have a reasonably priced Genny. I will be placing my order for 4 HPS150's now. 

The wife kicked it into gear when she asked if I was going to be floundering this season. She told me to go ahead and get what I needed. I told her to expect about a grand or more and she told me to go to Joe Patti's -lol. She came on board after I told her I would be spending similar amounts on lights vs. LED and that with addition of a generator (which can double to run the fridge after a Hurricane), she came around! We already have a larger generator, but that sucker is heavy and noisy.

Thanks for your support guys! I will have to figure out how to wire this up with different switches... I will probably wire a GFI into the system as I don't want to get a unwelcome surprise. If you can show how you made the terminals to plug into or what you are using to wire them up, that would be helpful. I want to try to eliminate a large amount of wires running across the deck. 

Thanks again guys, 

Bob


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

boatnbob said:


> I will be getting the HPS 150's and buy the cap's as indicated through searching previous threads. It appears that they don't sell them with the cap's unless you move up to the 400's. I could be wrong. (I just read FSM's post about HPS vs. NPS) I will order the lights and wait on the capacitors. Good call!
> 
> For the mount, I will jethro some mounts in a U shape like shown earlier. I have a guy (or used to) that would weld for me. I have some parts and pieces that I can cobble together to get out for now. Long term, I will make it nicer. I hear you on the housings failing. Many threads on that. Trick is to support as much as you can and displace the pressure on the housings by using large backing plates for through mounting, i.e, large washers... I really like your mounts and will think in long term of that.
> 
> ...


No need to by caps and install them. Just buy the 150'stuff that are the hpf. They have the caps already installed. The cost difference from the ones with and without is what you would pay for the caps.


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## GIggaMon (Sep 29, 2010)

Five Prongs Of Fury said:


> Go with the 150's. The 400's are a waste IMO. The water will only absorb so much light before it starts reflecting some of it back at you and causing problems. Not to mention the fixtures are huge and cumbersome. You will have to build remote boxes for the internals to get rid of the weight otherwise they will self destruct on the front of the boat and your generator is gonna be screaming. I can go on and on...


 My two 400s do fine on the front of my boat going on two years and all components are still inside and my 2000 watt quiet Honda generator isnt even using half


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## bamafan611 (Mar 1, 2010)

Frank, those 400's are deadly. Very nice setup.Have you been lately??
Be carerfull,they can track you from space.


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## islandman930 (Aug 1, 2014)

*HPS 150 Watts*

Need some help read in the threads that someone was running 6-150 Watts HPS using a Honda 2000eu generator well I tried that and my Honda 2000eu will only run 4 of the 150 watt lights... Did I misunderstand are is there a trick to hooking them up.. HELP


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

islandman930 said:


> Need some help read in the threads that someone was running 6-150 Watts HPS using a Honda 2000eu generator well I tried that and my Honda 2000eu will only run 4 of the 150 watt lights... Did I misunderstand are is there a trick to hooking them up.. HELP


Do you have the caps in you lights ? If not it won't run them.


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## islandman930 (Aug 1, 2014)

What are CAPS I don't know what you are talking about can you explain.... Thanks


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## islandman930 (Aug 1, 2014)

*HPS 150 watts Light*

I got it Capacitor.. yes they have them..


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## flounderslayerman (Jun 3, 2011)

You should be able to run 6 lights if they have caps. Try starting 3 of them first and the other 3 after the others are fully lit. I can only run 4 because mine don't have caps.


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## GIggaMon (Sep 29, 2010)

bamafan611 said:


> Frank, those 400's are deadly. Very nice setup.Have you been lately??
> Be carerfull,they can track you from space.


I have been going quite a bit, my two boys have so much more important things to do instead of going gigging with me, so ive been going by my self no big numbers but nice fish usually 8 to 10 fish a trip and I try not to stay out all night now like I used to .:thumbsup:


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## Flounder9.75 (Sep 28, 2007)

GIggaMon said:


> I have been going quite a bit, my two boys have so much more important things to do instead of going gigging with me, so ive been going by my self no big numbers but nice fish usually 8 to 10 fish a trip and I try not to stay out all night now like I used to .:thumbsup:


You must have been going during the week because the weekend winds have been all over the board.


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## GIggaMon (Sep 29, 2010)

Flounder9.75 said:


> You must have been going during the week because the weekend winds have been all over the board.


 yes sir Marc Ive been going during the week week ends still to many folks out watching


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## Flounder9.75 (Sep 28, 2007)

It's kind of hard to hide when you lit up like a Christmas Tree and people can see you from 5 miles away. 
That was one of the things about underwater lights people had to get real close to see you and the down side is they wouldn't see you and start Floundering just a head of you.


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