# Another lighting question



## dsar592

OK, Currently on my setup I am using halogen lights 150 watts battery powered through a 1000 watt inverter. It actually works fine. However, I am about to rig a much nicer boat with a bigger platform and am thinking about using my 1000 watt honda generator. So my question is should I go to these high pressure sodium lights. any other ideas for lights???


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## drifterfisher

If ya can afford the HPS go fer'em,I have one metal halide 75watt in my backyard and its super bright.I need to see if a power inverter would run it.I prefer the MH vs the HPS simply because of the color.I like white better than yellow.


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## dsar592

I know that metal vapor and metal halide are white lights. the HPS have a yellow tint and apparently thats what many people like that flounder or bowfish in murky areaw. I just didn't know how the HPS lights performed in clear water.


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## drifterfisher

I have a HID and regular spotlights,and I really like the HID better,But I dont run into murky water much,and if I do I move...For me I can see better with white light.JMO


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## Five Prongs Of Fury

Go with the HPS lights. I have 4 150's on mine and they work great in clear water as well as muddy. The problem with the white light is that they tend to reflect off of any particulate thats in the water. I started out running 4 300 watt halogens and there is no comparison between them and the HPS. They run cooler(housing cool to the touch) and produce twice as much light using half the amps.


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## dsar592

Thanks five prongs...thats what I'm looking for. Now where is the best place to buy them and if I go with the same 4 150'S like you have will a 1000 watt power inverter or 1000 watt honda gen run them easily and be the best setup.


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## Huff

If anyone is thinking LED's check out www.rigidindustries.com

They have some new marine grade LED's


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## fishboy292

LED's used underwater are amazing. Low power draw and some really crisp light. You can tend to have some glare from particulate in the water but what an amazing bit of clarity you have in decent water.


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## Gnwdad

Wirelessly posted



dsar592 said:


> Thanks five prongs...thats what I'm looking for. Now where is the best place to buy them and if I go with the same 4 150'S like you have will a 1000 watt power inverter or 1000 watt honda gen run them easily and be the best setup.


Econolite(sp). Com, you will need capacitors to use the 1000. Wattage your fine, best I can remember the HPS 150 run a continuous 2.3 amps but start up at 4.3 amps till there warmed up. The 1000 can only run 20 amps, it might still work but it will be close.


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## bamafan611

*HPS Lighting*

The hps is the way to go and I've tried them all. More lumens on same wattage. I'm running 3/ 400 watt Hubbel hps on a honda 1000 and they light up the world. They have built in capacitors and start up instantly. Takes about 3 min. to come to full light. I don't notice the yellow light and they cut through any stained water. They work even better with clear water.They eliminate any glare off the water, coming back into your eyes


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## DTFuqua

Now thats some serious lighting.


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## dsar592

thanks for all the replys. I know I want to put 4 lights on my rig and something in the range of 300 watts each. I will shop around for the HPS lights. Thanks again.


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## DTFuqua

There is a website called 1000bulbs.com I think, that used to have all you could ask for but when I looked at their site recently, it wasn't as easy to navigate as it used to be. Just search for HPS lighting and you should find plenty of sources.


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## Flounder9.75

Wirelessly posted

Go to Bowfishingcountry.com Lighting Sec. Everything you need to know about lights is there.


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## Gnwdad

Wirelessly posted



dsar592 said:


> thanks for all the replys. I know I want to put 4 lights on my rig and something in the range of 300 watts each. I will shop around for the HPS lights. Thanks again.


You will not be able to run (4) 300 watt lights with a Honda 1000. 4x300=1200 watts. Alot of guys try and compare the HPS lights to the Haligon lights based on wattage only, is this why your wanting to run 4 300 watt HPS? IMO 300 watt HPS would be an over kill. I ran (6) 150 watt HPS lights and there was no comparison to the 500 watt halos I was running before. With the HPS lights you can see better with 1/3 of the wattage compared to halos.


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## dsar592

I actually want to run 4 150 HPS lights and would like to do it on power inverters running off of 12 volt batteries. I just dont know if its possible or how to do it. any ideas??


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## Gnwdad

dsar592 said:


> I actually want to run 4 150 HPS lights and would like to do it on power inverters running off of 12 volt batteries. I just dont know if its possible or how to do it. any ideas??


I tried the 12 volt power inverters with the halogens, I swapped my 500 watt bulbs with 100 watt bulbs and used a 1000 watt inverter. It lasted about 2 hours using 2 batteries, I don't think there would much of a difference using the HPS lights. If you don't try and pull all nighters like me you might be fine using the inverters.


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## OutdoorSwagger

Hello BamaFan

I am new to the forum but noticed you have 3 400w HPS Hubbell floodlights running off of a Honda 1000ei generator. I also have this generator and am fairly ignorant when it comes to electricity. I have a few questions on how you made this work. Max amps for my 1000 honda is 7.5 and max watts is 1000. If my calculations are correct these 3 HPS surpass the amps rating? and also the watts rating. I would LOVE to have the same setup but before investing $700, can you teach me how you made this work??? I bet your setup is super bright!! Any advice would be very appreciated and best of wishes during this years gigging season.

Thanks again!! 

Outdoor Swagger(Jacksonville FL)


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## flounderslayerman

OutdoorSwagger said:


> Hello BamaFan
> 
> I am new to the forum but noticed you have 3 400w HPS Hubbell floodlights running off of a Honda 1000ei generator. I also have this generator and am fairly ignorant when it comes to electricity. I have a few questions on how you made this work. Max amps for my 1000 honda is 7.5 and max watts is 1000. If my calculations are correct these 3 HPS surpass the amps rating? and also the watts rating. I would LOVE to have the same setup but before investing $700, can you teach me how you made this work??? I bet your setup is super bright!! Any advice would be very appreciated and best of wishes during this years gigging season.
> 
> Thanks again!!
> 
> Outdoor Swagger(Jacksonville FL)


Bama is running an eu2000.


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## bamafan611

Yes, Elliot is right /typo on my post. Honda 2000 runs 3 400 wayy HPS fine


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## OutdoorSwagger

Thanks for the correction guys, I was so excited even though it made no sense at all. I was hoping you had some secret ballast or something!! Good luck guys and thanks again for the reply. Ill post pics of my setup soon(trying to from my phone now). 2012 Carolina Skiff J16 that I painted. Primarily my gator boat but started gigging in it this year. 4x50watt led and 2x100w HPS powered by 1000w honda generator. I hope the pics came through if not I will post later.


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## zdub

*HPS lights*

I am running 4 enclosed LED canister lights right now. They are underwater lights and I do like them. The only issue is getting into real shallow water. With the HPS lights what do you need to rig them? I am not an electrically inclined person. Also, are they sturdy? I get on some shop every now and them and would not want to break a bulb.


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## OutdoorSwagger

Hey buddy, to be completely honest I am selling my LED setup, I have used the underwater LED bars, I now have the 50wLed floods and have used halogens and now have 2 HPS that a buddy gave me to try. From all the choices people are correct by saying HPS are the very best(for gigging)!! If you are a bow fisherman you might can make the argument that LEDS are better bc they do illuminate a fish when he swims by, but they do not illuminate the BOTTOM to see flounder like the HPS. I hope I am answering your question by saying unless you hunt in areas that have crystal clear water all the time HPS DOMINATE!! Yes the light is orange but orange flounder are no harder to see than btown ones lol. If converting to a 12v system with LEDs then more power to the guys that do but I have found it to be such a hassle with no reward. 

The HPS are easy to mount using basic electrical box supplies from Home Depot or lowes. You will need the 110(pigtails or plug ins). I had some old computer cords that I cut the monitor plug in side off so I can use the plug into wall side. Message me if have any other questions. I spent a lot of money on LEDS to find out I didn't like them. Go HPS!! If u have any questions about a setup or generator message me buddy ill be glad to give my 2 cents. Sorry for misspellings typing in my phone at work


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## OutdoorSwagger

And to answer your questions about sturdiness. Not to sure yet. They do seem a little fragile but I bought the $40 version. Two trips in with no issues. I am going to buy 2000w generator and run 6 100w hps. Gonna buy 8 lights and have 2 extras. Keep u posted


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## zdub

*Thanks*

I appreciate the information. I am over here in South Alabama fishing inshore around pirates cove/wolf bay. I have got to figure something out because dealing with the up and down of the lights are driving me nut. I went the other night and I almost put a stick of dynamite in my boat. Needless to say I was aggravated. :no:

Oh can you tell me where you got your lights? I am not sure exactly what and where to buy the stuff.


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## Flounder9.75

Econolight.com is the best place to buy HPS lights
Not sure what size your looking for. If your looking for some 150w I have 4 with a ballist box and brackets I'm wanting to sell. 
I'm not selling because I don't like them. I bought another boat that that had them plus I aready had a set. These have capacitors


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## zdub

Where ate you and how much do you want for them? I am very interested. I am in Baldwin coumty


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## OutdoorSwagger

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/boa/3893768889.html

Sorry if I am breaking any rules by posting Craig'slist add...all info on here. I am in jacksonville fl


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## Flounder9.75

zdub said:


> Where ate you and how much do you want for them? I am very interested. I am in Baldwin coumty


If your asking me I'm in west Mobile and I'm wanting 250.00


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## OutdoorSwagger

Sorry 9.75 I didn't make much sense there, I thought zdub was referring to my LED setup. The econolight is the same place I am getting my hps. Anybody ran into an issue of only being able to run 6-7 of the smaller hps(100w range) on a 2000 watt generator? My buddy maxes out his amperage at 6x100w HPS ON HIS honda 2000w(12.5 amp max)


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## Flounder9.75

He must not have capacitors in his lights. I run 4 150w w/ caps and mine barely idle up and it's a 2000 Honda. Some of those boys on the Bowfishing site run 6 and 8 150w


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## flounderslayerman

OutdoorSwagger said:


> And to answer your questions about sturdiness. Not to sure yet. They do seem a little fragile but I bought the $40 version. Two trips in with no issues. I am going to buy 2000w generator and run 6 100w hps. Gonna buy 8 lights and have 2 extras. Keep u posted


I built custom brackets for my 150's. Using the factory yoke mount is a recipe for a broke light. They're not strong enough to use the yoke mount. You get in rough water and they will break.


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## flounderslayerman

This is my brackets.


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## zdub

*Selling*

Got 4 of those you want to sell?


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## flounderslayerman

Don't have any extras. Flounder9.75's mounts are easier to build. His is just a u bracket that bolts thru the side of the light. Maybe he"ll post a pic for ya.


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## almo100

Just my 2 cents but if you are running that much wattage on a boat and they are lights not designed for water usage you run the risk of getting blasted if your boat gets wet or on a humid night where everything sweats. 

If you want to know if you are overloading a circuit, most of them are 20 amps and you multiply that by the voltage 120v and you have your wattage, it can take 2400W if your generator is rated for that much wattage. Of course the longer the line from the light to the power source the more of a voltage drop you have so you could have 10 to 20v loss putting you at 100v and thus lowering the amount of wattage you can have on that circuit. 20a x 100v= 2000w. Now if you read the manual of the generator they have a startup wattage and continuos wattage rating and it is recommended you stay under this amount.

Metal Halide is an arc type of bulb and will require a more amperage to start than your incandescent or halogen.

Remember it only take a half of an amp to kill a human. Even a 150W light, divide by 120v, is drawing 1.25 amps. Safety first.


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## flounderslayerman

I know a lot of folks that have been running generators a long time and none of them or myself have ever been bit by there setup.


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## almo100

flounderslayerman said:


> I know a lot of folks that have been running generators a long time and none of them or myself have ever been bit by there setup.


Well then it must be safe. :thumbsup:

I'm just giving the information. Not telling anyone what to do.


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## Flounder9.75

flounderslayerman said:


> I know a lot of folks that have been running generators a long time and none of them or myself have ever been bit by there setup.


Just need to make sure every thing is sealed up good and everything is grounded back to your Gen.
I even run 110v underwater without any issues


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## X-Shark

> Just need to make sure every thing is sealed up good


And never use wire nuts. They are fine for a stationary piece like a house.....Not a Boat.


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## drifterfisher

X-Shark said:


> And never use wire nuts. They are fine for a stationary piece like a house.....Not a Boat.



Solder/heat shrink.:thumbsup:

BTW, I have an aluminum boat and use an OLD honda genny with 3-4 500W halogens. I am a cheap bastard though.


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