# Lighting made simple



## X-Shark (Oct 3, 2007)

I learned a lot tonight reading the forum here: 

http://bow.fishingcountry.com/bfcforums/forumdisplay.php?f=21





Joel aka Murpheryslaw and I talk all the time and I helped him do some rigging on his boat.



We both have the same Honda 2000 knockoff generator. It's a Kipor brand in a Red case.



We have 4- halogen lights with 300watt bulbs in them. They do pretty good.



But now on to what I learned tonight.



The lights we have put out 20,000 lumens. @ 10amps This is all 4 - 300 watt lights added together. That means it's running @ 3/4 load ALL the time.



If you mounted 4- 150watt of the small HPS [High Pressure Sodium ] lights. you would get 64,000 lumens @ 9.6amps @ startup and then they drop back to using 5.6amps.



Our generators can put out 13.3 amps, so 12amps would be safe to operate all the time. As you can see the gen would be running at 1/2 load.



But you get 3 times the light. of the halogens. 



1 Lumen is the light you would get from 100 birthday candles lighting up 1sqft of space from 1 foot distance away .



The light's are $58.00ea.[bulb inc.] Replacement bulbs are aprox $12ea.


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## Murphy's Law (Sep 27, 2007)

Damn !!! I'm going to have to spend more money :reallycrying Good info Bobby, Do they mount up the same way as the ones I have now? Will my bracket still work with out moding it.


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## X-Shark (Oct 3, 2007)

Brackets will need to be made for the new lights to mount to your light rails, but that's not a big deal.



You will want to do this for 2 reasons. 



1] It will fit easier

2] It will be stronger



The brackets will be made of some 1 1/2in or 2in strap alum creating a bail style mount. It's easy to cut and bend in a vise.



I'm thinking if we used the 1 1/2in wide material then have it of 3/16in material and the 2in wide could be 1/8in material.



Need to look at your light rails again to see what would work out best.



The light housings would be drilled and bolts installed to create a mounting stud on each side.



Also need to see the light itself to see if a weather tite fitting will screw on where the wiring exits the housing. 

This would create a weather tite seal and strain relief for the wiring.



None of the materials above would be expensive at all.







Let's do it.


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## FlounderAssassin (Sep 28, 2007)

http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EProductDetail.asp?ProductFamilyID=3&FGNumber=E-HC1H151Z

You would have to modify the mount to suit the way you are talking about mounting them but they are a bit cheeper at $42.90


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## X-Shark (Oct 3, 2007)

Dang! I've got CRS. I thought I was looking at that site?



But it turned out I was looking at this one. 

http://www.affordablelighting.com/outdoor_light_fixture.html



Thanks.


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## Murphy's Law (Sep 27, 2007)

> *X-Shark (7/16/2008)*Need to look at your light rails again to see what would work out best.


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## X-Shark (Oct 3, 2007)

The bail mounts I'm talking about would look like what is on the lights now, as far as shape.



But they would be wider and stronger.


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## X-Shark (Oct 3, 2007)

http://www.hidquickfix.com/cafor250wame.html





> Although magnetic ballasts were first used with HID lights, electronic and digital ballasts have gained in popularity. They offer a greater degree of control over the electrical current, with the electrical and digital units helping the light systems to function at a greater efficiency for a lower cost than is possible with a magnetic ballast. They are less bulky and have a lower weight than magnetic ballasts, and also run much quieter and start quicker than the magnetic units.




Those 150 HPS lights have the magnetic ballast's. This makes them less efficient. You get what you pay for.


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## bbb (Jun 18, 2008)

I guess by the time you buy the $42 e-conolights and then the $13 capacitor to make them run more efficient, I should have just bought the $58 lights with capacitors already in them. :reallycrying


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## shakeyjr (Oct 3, 2007)

> *X-Shark (7/15/2008)*I learned a lot tonight reading the forum here:
> 
> http://bow.fishingcountry.com/bfcforums/forumdisplay.php?f=21
> 
> ...




Just curious why the 4 150 watt bulbs would pull that much? Do the ballasts require a little extra to make the bulb function properly? I ask based on the equation of: Power (watts) = Voltage (Volts) X Current (Amps). Do the ballast actually pull almost as much as the bulbs themselves? The whole lumens thing is cool.


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## wareagle22 (Oct 3, 2007)

These lights have transformers in them to step the voltage down. The bulb in a 150 watt HPS is running on 50-55 volts. This is where the 2.8 to 3.0 amp draw comes from. The 400 watt HPS runs of off 90-95 volts. Installing a capacitor in line with the bulb drops the amperage to about 1.4. Hope this helps.


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## X-Shark (Oct 3, 2007)

This will give you a pix of what Wareagle22 is talking about.



The "CAP" is short for capacitor.



It is wired in parallel in the circuit. Some Cap's have 4 terminals to make this even easier. A 1/4in female spade terminal just plugs onto the male terminals on the Cap.
















These lights can get heavy. This can cause a problem with the mounts and the shaking of the boat during trailering and rougher water.



There are guys removing the guts out of their lights except for the socket and bulb. Then they are building a remote box with all the guts from the lights in them.



Here's one nice example. While it may look complicated to some. It's just the same circuit as above 4 times, for 4 lights.


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## The Maintenance Shoppe (Nov 5, 2007)

Xshark you are right about the lumen output per watt of hps light being much more effecient than others, but the color spectrum the emit isn't as useable to the human eye. I have compared MH to HPS lights and the MH lights just seem to be a lot brighter to the eyes than the hps.



I want to see someone use neon lighting in your application. There is nothing brighter than neon. Neon uses about 100 milliamp at 10,000 volts per foot of tubing. The bonus is zero heat emitted. You can order neon tubing bent to any shape you desire. No need for heat dissipating housings. You can make a reflector out of aluminum stock very cheap.



I'm not trying to start shit.



I just would love to see someone run with the idea of neon.


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## new wave archery (May 2, 2008)

you are correct on that mh is brighter than the hps. but the hps is bar none the best way to go with for fishing. the lumen range and cri is alot better for water espesially murky water.. i have run everything from halo,led,mh,hps,incandesent, and other hids. but the hps is the best way to go that i have found for the wattage and amp load. i do run mh's on my boat now and they work fine for me but will be changing them out this winter with hps bulbs and ballasts.also goign to be making my own light housings that will measure 15"highx120" wide that will hold 5-400 watt hps bulbs onlyin them to go down theside of the boat. and build a transfomer box for all the goodies with fans cooling everything down. its going to be my ultimate setup.


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

> *new wave archery (7/18/2008)*you are correct on that mh is brighter than the hps. but the hps is bar none the best way to go with for fishing. the lumen range and cri is alot better for water espesially murky water.. i have run everything from halo,led,mh,hps,incandesent, and other hids. but the hps is the best way to go that i have found for the wattage and amp load. i do run mh's on my boat now and they work fine for me but will be changing them out this winter with hps bulbs and ballasts.also goign to be making my own light housings that will measure 15"highx120" wide that will hold 5-400 watt hps bulbs onlyin them to go down theside of the boat. and build a transfomer box for all the goodies with fans cooling everything down. its going to be my ultimate setup.


I second this motion!!! I run 4 150 watt hps lights and they are definitley the ticket. I also will have to agree that the mh's are brighter but just as NWA said the hps's are unbeatable in murky or stained water. They tend to penetrate through whatever is suspended in the water rather than reflecting off of it. Oh yeah, New wave, when you do get your hps system going judging from what you have in mind it will be hands down the baddest rig on the water. I can't wait to see the final product!!!


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## wareagle22 (Oct 3, 2007)

After chasing flounder on Friday night in some really dingy water, I have decided to change from MH to HPS. The metal halides are unbeatable in clear water (intercoastal, Fort Pickens), but for dingy water, I am sure that the HPS are the way to go. I have 6 on order and all the stuff to build a remote ballast box to take the weight off the fixture and to add a capacitor to reduce the amp draw. If any of you are on the fence about which lights to try, I will be out this weekend with the MH one last time if you would like to look at them (I am going to keep them for the fall Fort Pickens run:clap).


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