12V lighting Question

[SmellsLikeFishNH]

Hey guys,
Those of you with more electrical knowledge than I have. On my boat, I bought from Cabela's some rope lights, the kind you see at Xmas everywhere. They wired right up an work perfectly for lighting up the whole back of the boat. If I were to buy some more of those from Wallymart or some other place like that, and I cut off the cord, would I be able to use them and run them off of 12V battery source? They look exactly the same as the stuff I bought from Cabelas and those are $15 for a 6 foot set. I want them for the inside of my Shack but don't feel like spending $30 plus shipping if I really didn't have to.

Thanks!
-Scott

[gulp]

Look at the plug in. If it looks like a box it should tell you what the input power is (120v) and the output power(12v). If the output power is not 12v or if the lights have a regular plug you will not be able to use it. You might also want to see if it tells the amp rate. This will let you know how much batt it would use up while on. With that said I have rope lights in my shack and seldom use them. They dont give off enough light to tie on hooks ect. I have a four led cap light that works great. I can see in the dark to pick up gear check tipup ect. Can find them at walmart cheep. Good luck

[crappiman]

Dido,dido,dido Gulp.Some lights are AC(120)and some are DC(12) definitely not the same.

[beeverfishing]

I agree... But I also know that you can take a 120 volt "Christmas tree bulb" and light it with a 9 volt battery...  and it is very bright !!  Some have used these bulbs as strike indicators on tip ups at night.  I have tried it and they are bright, Just never got around to connecting one up to a tip up... YET...
Not sure of how bright an entire string would be using a 12 volt power source, Or if they would light at all..... I'd suggest trying it on a small sting of lights and see if it works... Might be surprised...

[$ignmoney]

My old lady bought a set of "battery powered" lights and strung them up our stair case. Looked awesome for 15 mins. and the size c battery's were spent. Got more battery's since the others must have been dead.15 mins. max. in other words they sucked a lot of power.  A deep cycle battery will run them for a while, how long who only knows. Worth a try. Let us know how you made out!