Shanty lights

[Kybar]

Just bought some LED rope lights (6' long/First Ice brand) for my shanty.  Tried them last night by hooking them up to my cordless drill battery (18V).  They're nice and bright, and drill batteries are fairly light weight and easy to recharge.  Just wondered how long you guys think they'll last using this setup?  I have a couple 18V and one 12V drill battery.  Thought I could surely make it through the night with the 2 18Vs?  Anybody else tried this?     

[yankem]

Looking for a lighting solution myself...never tried powering anything from my drill batteries...my hardside is 4x6, those lights should be enough to perform surgery, eh?

[ice_fish]

A number of folks that I run across use another vexilar battery to support their power needs for lighting the shanties....

[Kybar]

Yeah, I've heard that the vexilar batteries work well, but I don't have one and was looking for an alterntive solution.  Basically anything that's fairly small and portable and that I can recharge many times without it giving up on me.

[jimmygunns]

12V may be ok, but I wouldn't use that 18V.  Those lights are only rated for 12V.  It may work, but it will shorten the life of them!  I've only seen the 12 batteries from other portable electronics used.  I'd stick with one of them.

[hardwatergrampa]

a small ATV bat should work iwould also try the portable battery packs or booster pack

[Kybar]

Yeah, I saw those, but they were around $40-$60, and I was trying to keep the cost down.  I don't mind buying an extra drill pack, as I'll use it for the drill too.  Just don't want to get out on the ice and have the thing give up on me after 30min.

[yankem]

I pull the 12v out of my lawn tractor every winter and use that for shanty accessories.

[wyogator]

You can get a flasher/fishfinder battery with recharger at Cabelas for 20 bucks.

[Kybar]

You can get a flasher/fishfinder battery with recharger at Cabelas for 20 bucks.

No kiddin?  Well maybe I'll have to look that up.  Does it matter what size they are (volts/watts/amps - I'm electrically ignorant).  Thanks guys!

[1977 Walleye Guy]

If your rope lights are l.e.d. bulbs, your current drain will be much less than standard bulbs. It should state somewhere on the package what they draw.

I would stick with a 7amp hour or larger 12v rechargable. You could also visit your fine folks at your closest radio shack, for help.

[Bluefox]

Would you guys say that these sets of lights ar bright enough not to need a lantern to see my fishing line? Was wondering before I bought them. Are they worth the effort and money?

[MacEnvy]

Would you guys say that these sets of lights ar bright enough not to need a lantern to see my fishing line? Was wondering before I bought them. Are they worth the effort and money?

With a 6' strip you should have no problem seeing your line ... and if you're anything like me you don't want it TOO bright.  Just enough to see what you're doing.

And yeah, using a higher voltage than rated is the best way to destroy LEDs.  The pins heat up fast on the solder around the base when too much voltage is applied and they burn right up.  At the correct voltage they should not get hot at all.

Using a deep cycle battery or something similar you should get weeks of light.  A 6' strip of LEDs is rated what, maybe 6 watts?  6 watts/12 Volts = 0.5 amps, 150 AH (average commercial deep cycle 12V battery)/0.5 amps = 300 hours = 12.5 days of light, 24/7.

Does that sound right to everyone else?  I'm bad at math this time of day ...

[trimmer]

Last year i bought a spare vex battery from sportsmans guide for $20.It even came with a charger.That should be small enough and light enough for what your looking for.

[Kybar]

Tried my 12V cordless drill battery over the weekend and am happy to report that it ran my LED lights from 5:30am until 11am (I just left it on after daylight to make sure it would keep working).  Not sure how much longer it would have lasted, but the fish weren't biting, so I headed for home.  I'm going to stick with it rather than buying one for right now. 

[zamboni]

Avoid the Clam rope lights at any cost- if a store is giving them away-JUST KEEP WALKING!! I am a HUGE Clam supporter- I have a 5600, and a Fish Trap Pro, heck, I even have a Clam hat I wear alot, but they really missed the mark with their rope lights. A Bic lighter gives off more light, and won't drain your Vex batteries.

[MacEnvy]

I find a small headlamp to be more than enough light for night fishing.  I got a cheapo Energizer LED (2 white plus 1 red) headlamp for $17, batteries included, and the batteries are supposed to last 50 hours.  I've had it out at night for crappies and it's worked great.  It actually puts out the PERFECT amount of light.  Any more and I'd be lighting up the whole lake.

My motto is, never use something more complicated than you need to.  Rope lights are cool, but they don't work any better than a cheap headlamp and they use more electricity too - plus you have to rig them yourself in most cases.

[MacEnvy]

I second that one. Just be sure not to accidently wear it into your local Wal mart.Ya get the strangest looks

Funny you should say that - I wore mine into the gas station on Sunday by accident!  Girl at the counter looked at me funny.

[sphynx_000]

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-x-38-LEDs-White-Light-Bulb-Lamp-WIDE-ANGLE-MR16-12V_W0QQitemZ300081344659QQihZ020QQcategoryZ43425QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

These work fantastic. Feels like daylight inside the shanty. I am using 2 of them and its more than enough light, plus the math says I could run 2 of them for around 20 hours off a flasher battery.

Here is a pic to give you an idea,

[artycat]

sphynx, do you have some sort of housing for the bulbs or just hook right up to the pins? Also, do you possibly know Dan thats in Wahpeton? if so, I have seen the lights he has

[Kybar]

I've also discovered that the 4' LED strings at Gander Mt. (First Ice Brand) are brighter than the 6' strings.  Maybe the 4' versions are the "newer" lights I've been reading about on other threads.  If you've got a choice, I'd go with the 4 footers.  They also seem to be a little better quality.

[DRabbit]

artycat, i have the same lights as syphnx, i got them from him, he had mounted them in a little piece of pvc i think.

[Zorros shack]

You can just get a genorator.

[Mainehazmt]

for my portable I take along a booster battery pack   I have a few of em     been really impressed with using the one with the built in inverter and running reg ol compact florescent 10 watt light in one of those clip on lamp holders   plenty of light   used the Light and 12 vt fan   was still strong 8 hrs later

[slider]

yep I concur to what macenvy said
(not that i have any idea what it meant but it sure sounded good)


























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[jbird68]

I found these last year but haven't ordered them yet.
http://www.pcboard.ca/shop/shopexd.asp?id=140

Where do you keep your batteries so they don't flop around in the bottom of your sled? I was trying to find a way to mount the battry in a box with a rocker switch to turn it on and off. And also be able to store the light in the box when not in use. My best box idea so far was an old metal ammo box. Maybe use a quick disconnect to be able to put the light and wires in the box too.

[winchester 88]

Yeah, I saw those, but they were around $40-$60, and I was trying to keep the cost down.  I don't mind buying an extra drill pack, as I'll use it for the drill too.  Just don't want to get out on the ice and have the thing give up on me after 30min.

Why not plug it in at home and let er run until the lights go out? This should give you an idea of how long the power source will last out on the ice.

Winchester 88

[ifishhi]

Why not plug it in at home and let er run until the lights go out? This should give you an idea of how long the power source will last out on the ice.

Winchester 88

that would be too easy

[zamboni]

What is First Ices website address?

[CrappieBuster]

Those lights that Jbird linked to look pretty sweet and cheap.  Think I might try 2 sets of them this year and see how they work.