# Need advice or options for fishing lights....



## nightfisher (Aug 20, 2009)

Hello,

I'm looking for advice or information on LED lighting. I have a flat bottom boat that we spear fish off the front of. Currently, I light up the night with 3 outdoor halogen lamps, 1500 watts each. I power them at 120v with a 5000 watt generator. I would like to find a better way; the generator is noisy, heavy, and consumes a fair amount of fuel, plus emits fumes. I'm happy with the amount of light, and the quality of light(but whiter is always better). 

Here's the problem; I've read for hours, but I still can't really tell what LED outdoor floodlights might replace my halogens. I need something that gives as much light, they will be used 4-5 hours at a time, once a week or so through the winter. They will be rigidly attached to the front of a boat and occasionaly get splashed, but never(hopefully) submersed. Something 12 volt would be great, or something with low enough draw to use an inverter, so I can get away from the generator, and let the outboard engine charge the battery. If neither of those are possible, at least I can get a much smaller(quieter) generator. Heat output is of no conern. 

OK, advise me. Are there lights out there that will do what I want? Are they durable, and affordable? Is there something other than LED that I'm overlooking? I've looked at metal halide, but the warm up period is unhandy at best. 

Thanks in advance,
Jeff


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## HarryN (Aug 21, 2009)

Hi - That is some serious lighting with 4500 watts.

Improving your power situation substantially will really drive 3 changes in your lighting approach:

#1 - Focusing the light where it is really needed
- At the risk of sounding silly, this is really the number 1 gain
- Are you interested in how well the light penetrates the water, or just seeing well enough to fish?

#2 - Using the light colors that give the best vision results
- Incan lights are actually very good - IF - you need the entire spectrum of white light. The truth, is that often times you don't, and sometimes, this works against you. 

- Think of it like white light being made from the colors of a rainbow - each color you want takes energy. If you try to exactly duplicate an incan's white light output, the efficiency gain is smaller than you might imagine. White LED efficiency at least in part comes from supplying only part of these colors.

- Example A - I have a flashlight that is only red / orange (same as a traffic light red). It is great for night use, as the red allows retention of a lot of the night vision when it it turned off, but I trade this off for not being able to see items that are blue. My risk is low, as I am not worried about big green animals around here, but maybe that is a concern for you.

- Example B - If the light is intended to attract fish, it is possible that some colors are more effective than others.

- Example C - If the goal is water depth penetration, then consider using cyan (the color of a green traffic light) and put the head in the water.


#3 - LED Powered
- Combining all three of these together, it might be feasible to cut your power needs 50 - 70%, but you are still in the 1,000 watts range IMHO.

Perhaps the easiest way would be to look in the custom and home made area, and see if one of the custom builders can make up some "modified" mag light bodies that will run 10 - 15 watts each from your 12 volt source. This should not be too hard to find, and will put you in the range of $ 100 - 200 per light (mostly parts cost). You will just need the heads for your project - sort of what is called a "canister light". They are more common for bicycle and diving use. The nice thing, is that you can buy a couple of these and experiment with them in your actual use.


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## SFG2Lman (Aug 21, 2009)

if you want a fixed floodlight. perhaps the CSM-360-W from luminus devices would be a good way to go. Here is the link and they can run well on 12VDC, so there may not be a need for a driver, waterproofing might require some elbow grease, but if you use your whole boat as a heat sink the LEDs should not get too hot. They are probably a little pricy, but at 6000 lumens each you would only need a few and you could probably scrap the generator...Thats what I would use...:naughty:


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## SFG2Lman (Aug 21, 2009)

as a matter of fact i may make some sweet fog lights for my truck outta those once i get back and i find out where to purchase them directly...for off road use only of course:devil:

edit: they can be bought here although it seems they are out of stock right now


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## defloyd77 (Aug 21, 2009)

HarryN said:


> - Example B - If the light is intended to attract fish, it is possible that some colors are more effective than others.



Green is said to attract fish, but I'm unsure of it's legality.


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## blasterman (Aug 22, 2009)

> I was hoping the "whiteness" of LED's would allow me to have less light, but yet see better.


 
True. HID would work as well.

I'd avoid generic Chinese lights because you really have no idea what you are getting. Also, given this is outdoors, you want light rigs that are weather sealed and designed to handle moisture, etc.

My initial advice would be to look at off road LED/HID lights in flood configuration. You probably want two lights aiming port/starboard to get the coverage you want and then run them off of a 12volt marine battery. Vision X perhaps?


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## JohnR66 (Aug 22, 2009)

Your outfit produces 100,000 bulb lumens. Fixture lumens will be somewhat less. I assume the application requires a fairly wide flood of light.

Forget LEDs. You will need hundreds of expensive power LEDs to match this kind of light.

I see a lot of boats using HID. I would go three 400 watt metal halide fixtures. This will cut your power requirements down to almost 1/4. You will still need a generator, but you could use a smaller one.


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## Andde (Aug 22, 2009)

check that "spotlite for fishing" thread from spotlight/hid section too..
im pondering on same issue..


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## 65535 (Aug 23, 2009)

Get 3 400-600 watt Metal Halide HID lamp housings and if you can 4500K-5000K lamps for it. Then get a Honda compact quiet generator.

Problem with most LED's they won't cut the fog, and the price per lumen is outrageous.


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## nightfisher (Aug 23, 2009)

You guys have the same idea I had. Three 400 watt metal halide outdoor fixtures, one small halogen for instant light, and a super quiet Honda generator. Those Honda generators are $1700, but I can use it for other things. I'll keep watching though, as time goes on I think LED's will get more affordable and more option will become available. 

Again, thanks for all the responses.


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## HarryN (Aug 24, 2009)

For the amount of light you need, I think the general answers are correct. You could do a rather inexpensive test with a couple of 3 D mag led lights to see just where you are at.

I realize the challenges of running into things, but I would still be tempted to run a set of the cyan lights just under water around the front of the boat. If you want to try it out for fun, I am game to help you build it "at parts cost".

Harry


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## blasterman (Aug 24, 2009)

65535 said:


> Problem with most LED's they won't cut the fog


 
Getting off topic, but please provide me a list of LEDs that cut fog well and others that wont.


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## nitefisher (Sep 24, 2009)

HarryN said:


> For the amount of light you need, I think the general answers are correct. You could do a rather inexpensive test with a couple of 3 D mag led lights to see just where you are at.
> 
> I realize the challenges of running into things, but I would still be tempted to run a set of the cyan lights just under water around the front of the boat. If you want to try it out for fun, I am game to help you build it "at parts cost".
> 
> Harry


Hello Harry, 
 
I am also interested in green boating/fishing lights. 
 
I am wanting to place approximately 6 to 8 lights through the bottom hull (3 or 4 down each side of a 19' boat) 
 
A flush mount method is preferable - they sell brass and plastic thru hull fittings for boats.
 
The lights currently on the market are very pricey and am wanting to know how to make my own or get them cheaper.
 
"oceanled" is one maker and "perko" is another.


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## Calina (Sep 24, 2009)

You might be interested in this new light: http://www.ledsmagazine.com/products/19775


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## HarryN (Oct 8, 2009)

nitefisher said:


> Hello Harry,
> 
> I am also interested in green boating/fishing lights.
> 
> ...



Hi Nitefisher. I tried to send a PM to you but I guess you need to post a few more times first.



Take care,

Harry


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## nitefisher (Oct 14, 2009)

Thanks for your help Harry. Keep me in mind if you come up with anything reasonable that may work.


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