Question about running LED truck light in Otter Flip

[NDiceMan72]

Hey everyone, I am looking at how to do my lighting in my new Otter cabin pro xt1200 and I was thinking about running lights off either the center of my sled in-front of my center console or on the far corners of the sled instead of above me. I will also be running basic Led rope lights on the bottom side of my seat rail to light the sled and those will be on a separate switch. Anyway, if I were to run just one light in the center I was looking at this one: http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/traveller-725-in-36w-bar-light?cm_vc=-10005
If I were to run 2 lights one on each front corner of the sled I was looking at these: http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/traveller-15w-square-worklight?cm_vc=-10005

What would you guys pick? I'm thinking having the lights on the front of the sled rather than above would be nice and would keep the shadows down. Any opinions on this? I have 1 12v 7Ah vex battery, would I need to add 1 more to be able to power these lights? Would like to be able to have 6-8 hours worth of light usage for night fishing. What would you guys do? Thanks

[Warren_G]

While I am not claiming to be an expert, I think these are both overkill and more expensive than needed. They are designed to be outdoor floodlights and light up a large area. You may be better off with lower wattage lights that will not run your battery down so fast, but would still give you lots of light inside your shack. The first one is 2160 lumens, I have strip lights in my one man flip shack that is more like 200 lumens and it is like broad daylight inside.

Another consideration is what kind of light you need; is this to find stuff in the dark, or do you have trouble finding small items or tying knots in low light (like I do)? This may help determine if low floor-level lighting is going to serve you well.

This is very similar to what Clam markets as their shack light, only 18 w and 1/4 the price:
https://www.amazon.com/KAWELL%C2%AE-10-30V-Waterproof-fishing-Driving/dp/B00NPQV06O/ref=pd_sim_263_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NH9JSKXF86CDKH584Q9K

[Warren_G]

My post above is assuming this is the type lighting you are going for:
http://stores.clamoutdoors.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/c/l/clam_sled_lights.jpg

[buuddy]

There are several things that you want to consider, glare, shadows, and power consumption.
The lights that you're considering are fairly high power lights that would be blinding if you were to look straight at them. It's best to use low power led lights. Just use more of those lights to get the brightens that you require. Try to locate the lights so that your eyes aren't constantly falling on to them, but remember that if they are behind you, your body will be casting a shadow. That's why I added a few small lights under the floor of my permanent to deal with the shadow problem.
The lights are also too big in the wattage department. They give off more light than you need for your application. They will also drain your battery too fast. Your 7 amp/hour battery will supply you with 84 watts in total if the batteries are in great shape, even less if they are old. The 36 watt lights will only last about 2 hours on that battery. The 15 watt lights will run for about 5 1/2 hours.

[NDiceMan72]

I went over and picked up a 4 pack of single bulb led lights. They are 2" in diameter, 3 watts each and 180 lumens. I know the others were overkill! Lol. That's how I tend to do things. Gonna put 2 in on each front corner of the sled temporary and try it tonight in the dark garage and see how I like it before I go putting holes in things.

[NDiceMan72]

Got the lights all in and wired up and working. Tried them out tonight in the dark garage and they work phenomenal. I added a red LED trailer marker light to the bottom of the console to light up the sled. Let me know what you guys think.

[sandhillguy]

I went rounds about what I was going to put in my otter cabin for lights, decided to buy the clam lightstick to put above in my flipover, absolutely perfect, plenty of light, maybe a touch too bright even, got it on sale so reasonably priced too.

[Monticatgeek]

your light set up will work but just be careful not to hit them with the seats. if it was me I would of used one of the on the over head frame bar with the included s clips. it is the small bar and not the large one or the new mini as those two don't include the s hooks like the small light bar does. I run this in all my sled style portables and run 2 of them in my large hub house. the give off more then enough light.

http://stores.clamoutdoors.com/clam/accessories/light-stick.html

[NDiceMan72]

I checked before I even mounted the lights and they do clear the seats.

[chilly-willy]

I ran two 18 watt squares from eBay on my one man above me.. which caused too much shadowing showing the fish I am up there.. ran one it was bright enough for the one man  and most likely a two man..

[AndyJ]

A search in eBay for 'led dimmer' shows many types for not much cash. The amount of light can be metered for what is needed - lots for when things are happening to just enough not to trip over things.