# LED submersible fishing lights



## JustinN (Jan 7, 2014)

Hello to all,

This is my first post on the forum and I'm new to LED lights. I'm trying to build a set of submersible lights with led strips by wrapping them around a 3/4 PVC pipe and then housing them with 1 1/2 or 2 inch clear pvc pipe for protection from saltwater and possible debris. It would be similar to the project below with a few modifications. We also plan on building a internal battery supply on the inside of the housing. We are building this to be portable and we do not have to run off of a larger battery or a generator. I know there are all sorts of 5050 LED strips, but I am not sure of which ones I should choose. The brightest of course would be ideal due to the water being dark green or even brown at times with the currents we have here, but then that may also run into power consumption issues as I'm hoping I can get the lights to last 10-12 hours on the battery source. If I can get the first experimental project I may be building a few of them. The first set will probably be green and then another in white if it is successful. We are trying to make these light and portable as we will be deploying them off of kayaks and submerging them in different areas or strapping them to the ends of pilings. Any input would be appreciated.




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## jason 77 (Jan 9, 2014)

What kind of batteries were you thinking of using?


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## JustinN (Jan 9, 2014)

I was thinking lithium D's, but I'm open to any suggestions.


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## poolman966554 (Jan 9, 2014)

im still on the learning curve myself, but i think id consider an 18650 battery over a d cell. 
if i recall correctly, the d cells are 1.5v @1AH(ish) vs 18650 is 4.2v @ 3ah(ish) depending on brand etc, 
Also the d cells are much heavier as u need 3 to get to 4.5v @3AH 

And as a bonus for the 18650, you can get a dual battery holder wired in parallel if you want to keep voltage at 4.2v and have 6AH = double runtime, and still be lighter/smaller than 3 d cell in series


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## JustinN (Jan 9, 2014)

poolman966554 said:


> im still on the learning curve myself, but i think id consider an 18650 battery over a d cell.
> if i recall correctly, the d cells are 1.5v @1AH(ish) vs 18650 is 4.2v @ 3ah(ish) depending on brand etc,
> Also the d cells are much heavier as u need 3 to get to 4.5v @3AH
> 
> And as a bonus for the 18650, you can get a dual battery holder wired in parallel if you want to keep voltage at 4.2v and have 6AH = double runtime, and still be lighter/smaller than 3 d cell in series



Excellent info. This is why I came here. I have the ideas, I just don't know the best fit pieces for this project. I of course would prefer a rechargeable power source. The weight for the light really won't be an issue as I've learned most of the lights float due to air inside the housing and weight must be added. I will have a eyebolt at the bottom of the light in order to run different sizes of weights. 

Any other power, light or even brand or seller suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


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## poolman966554 (Jan 9, 2014)

i am completely wrong. i shoulda searched prior to posting than going off memory.. it seems lihium d cells are 3.6v @19AH which beats the pants off an 18650.. like this one: http://www.onlybatteries.com/showit...pla&sid=gpla&gclid=CIaLmq2l8rsCFYlAMgodlX4AjQ

Very sorry for the confusion, was trying to help..


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## JustinN (Jan 9, 2014)

poolman966554 said:


> i am completely wrong. i shoulda searched prior to posting than going off memory.. it seems lihium d cells are 3.6v @19AH which beats the pants off an 18650.. like this one: http://www.onlybatteries.com/showit...pla&sid=gpla&gclid=CIaLmq2l8rsCFYlAMgodlX4AjQ
> 
> Very sorry for the confusion, was trying to help..




Lol off the top of my head I thought they were 3.6v, but I thought I might be wrong.


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## RoGuE_StreaK (Jan 9, 2014)

Just had to look up lithium D's (primaries), turns out that despite the large _capacity_, the _discharge rate_ is shockingly small; 200mA! Or put another way, 0.7W! You might get something to light up with that for a long time, but brightness will likely not be good.

A couple of things;
- most 5050 strips are built with inbuilt resistors for a nominal 12v source, you want them sans-resistor otherwise you'll have to increase your supply voltage somehow
- some colours work better underwater than others, I think I recall green and blue being mentioned, there have been several similar threads here over the years; try googling something like "fishing candlepowerforums"
- a possible battery source for your purposes could be lipos for radio control planes/helis/cars; you can get for example a 3S1P (aka just "3S") 2200mAh for about $10, rewired to parallel that will give you a 1S3P (one series, three parallel) 6600mAh source. Semi-decent chargers can be had for $5, or better and faster for about $20. Where shape/dimensions aren't really an issue, you can start to branch out in your power sources a bit. Check out hobbyking or similar.
Oh, and a 3S in stock format works fine with the default 12v strips, no hacking necessary.

PS. lipos (lithium polymer) and li-ions (lithium ion) can be charged with the same type of charger, so a half-deccent "hobby" charger can double as a charger for 18650s etc

PPS. if using lithium-based batteries, might be an idea to wrap the inner pipe with some gaffer tape or similar, so if it goes critical it doesn't turn into a pipe bomb! (or at least not as much of one)


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## DIWdiver (Jan 10, 2014)

Yes, unlike AA cells, primary (non-rechargeable) Lithium D cells are available only in lithium thionyl chloride chemistry, which is not conducive to high currents. They are made for long-term low-power applications.

But secondary (rechargeable) Lithium D cells (more often referred to as 32650 cells) are available in high discharge rates. Capacities are around 5500-6000 mA-H, so not impressive compared to two 18650 cells in parallel, which are cheaper and vastly more available.

If you're worried about the pipe bomb effect, put a pressure relief in there somewhere. Or use protected cells. Or use a protection board. Or use LiFePo4 cells, which are somewhat lower in both voltage and capacity, but vastly safer.


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## JustinN (Jan 10, 2014)

Thanks for the replies everyone. I did search through the forum looking for previous solutions. The biggest problem I found was that anyone who designed anything never posted their results of how they held up or if their project even worked. 

The only promising post that I came up on was this one, but again no results after the build. While there was also a lot of concern on how the turn out would end for this project. I believe DIWdiver replied on this thread.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?363393-Homemade-LED-fishing-light




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He used the following parts for around $60
Parts list
-12 LEDs 10w 1000ma ~ $11.00 per 5
-Clear Nalgene water bottle ~$5.00
-1 X 1 X 6.5" aluminum thick wall tube ~$6.00 for 2.5'
-12 4-40 SS machine screws 
-Brass buss wire ~$7.00 (what I had on hand) 
-Mineral oil
-Wire 
-Rope
-SS threaded eyes
-battery clips

Is there a possibility to build a light like this off of a portable light source other than a 12v? One concern of my is corrosion and durability. I live in an area which has a hypersaline bay so nothing last to long out here. I'm open to other suggestions about how to package this.


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## John Pombrio (Jan 21, 2014)

Having NO idea about what constituted a fishing light, I did a google image search:
https://www.google.com/search?q=fis...AG8pIDYBA&sqi=2&ved=0CEkQsAQ&biw=1483&bih=853

Here is what it looks like you are trying to do:
http://www.supernovafishinglights.com/

As for an internal power supply, I would pass on it. Using a small 5 pound lead acid cell battery in the kayak would be MUCH better. They are cheap, will run the strips for hours, and are rechargeable. I cannot see an internal battery lighting the strips for very long or be very bright. Remember, you already HAVE TO HAVE a cord to the light, you might as well use it to run the power.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031AUPOC/?tag=cpf0b6-20

You can see there a bunch of ways that work well for fishing lights. I think the best was this:
http://2catchfish.com/store/info.php/id/762

This way you can use a plain old 12 volt green power strip:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ET4ED74/?tag=cpf0b6-20

or stick a strip to the side of the kayak!:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/SUPERNIGHT/?tag=cpf0b6-20

Stick them in a clear plastic water bottle, run some lamp cord to a 12 volt battery on the boat (with a fuse in line), put a weight in the bottle, and goop up the hold for the cord ( a knot inside to hold the cord in place) with silicone goop, and lower away! 

Otherwise, another very simple solution is an LED flashlight with a green filter on the end stuck in a bottle. Hey, it might work!


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