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Looking for some answers on battery powered lighting...
- Thread starter ctbreitwieser
- Start date
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I did this with LED driving lights I got on ebay. 20.00 and they are bright and last a long time. I use them off my ATV or trailer when I am in the woods. The battery was small and a car battery should run them a long time. The new LED's are better now and mine are about 2-3 years old. I think I have around 30.00 total in my set up and its quick to set up and works well. Good luck.
I'm just looking for a cheaper route to put lighting on my boat for bowfishing. So it needs to be bright enough to shine down into water. I'm currently using AA powered LED spotlights mounted on a bracket. It works good but I'd like to have a rechargable battery.
As others said, go LED. Same or more lumens, but probably 5x the battery life.
bulletsmith
Master
As stated. LED lamps would give you far more bang for your buck. However, to answer your question: Yes, it can be done. As to how long the battery will last requires more information. If you are talking about using a car battery, you can pretty much answer your own question. They will last as long as your car battery does when you leave the lights on. Auto lights are a surprisingly large current draw compared to a typical flashlight, and need something like a car battery to get the kind of runtime you may be looking for.
Depending on the battery configuration of your spotlights, you may be able to power them from your trolling motor battery (i'm assuming here) and get a lot more run time out of them.
femurphy77
Grandmaster
I would definitely go with LED's Longer battery life, smaller, same power.
Yeah I know it's already been said but I've never been a bandwagon jumper and thought I'd give it a try!
Yeah I know it's already been said but I've never been a bandwagon jumper and thought I'd give it a try!
17 squirrel
Shooter
- May 15, 2013
- 4,427
- 63
It's easy.....
The lights = E over R equals I
The battery = How many amp hours is the capacity.
Lights turn on and use xyz amps per hour
How many amp hours in battery equal how many hours lights will run.
The lights = E over R equals I
The battery = How many amp hours is the capacity.
Lights turn on and use xyz amps per hour
How many amp hours in battery equal how many hours lights will run.
I would look at something like these
http://www.amazon.com/Eyourlife-Lig...fN3bLxL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160,160_
http://www.amazon.com/Eyourlife-Lig...fN3bLxL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160,160_
Conventional car headlights will work with a switch and a battery. They draw about 5 amps each, two would be 10 amp hours draw that will suck an average (40-50 ah, not to be confused with "500 cranking amps" that is a momentary rating) car battery dry in 5 or so hours. I lit my shed with a car headlight 30 years ago when that is all we had.
The LED lights make plenty of light and will get lots of hours of use out of smaller batteries. A 1.5 amp LED system would light for days on a deep cycle trolling motor battery. That would be a way better choice.
The LED lights make plenty of light and will get lots of hours of use out of smaller batteries. A 1.5 amp LED system would light for days on a deep cycle trolling motor battery. That would be a way better choice.
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Bingo!
Use a deep cycle battery and you should be able to light up the night.
17 squirrel
Shooter
- May 15, 2013
- 4,427
- 63
I think it was Ohm's law that stumped them...
femurphy77
Grandmaster
Murky water is going to greatly limit the effectiveness regardless the type of light. Think driving in heavy fog or snowfall with your high beams on. I've done many night dives and any silt in the water limits your vision greatly with the light being reflected right back in your eyes.
bulletsmith
Master
Yep.
On a side note, the resistance of the lamp will be very different when the lamp is at room temp compared to when it is glowing.
What about the high lumen Fenix or Thrunite handhelds that will take a 18650?
Mount them up to easily remove the tail caps and have a box of charged 18650's to reload as needed?
They are sealed/waterproof. So you might even be able to run them under the surface, avoiding the glare?
I don't know your boat setup, but if you have adjustable rod holders, it seems as if PVC pipe sections with the Two Fish mounts would be simple to setup and take down.
A setup like this would do great dual duty for other lighting, security and carry also.
Mount them up to easily remove the tail caps and have a box of charged 18650's to reload as needed?
They are sealed/waterproof. So you might even be able to run them under the surface, avoiding the glare?
I don't know your boat setup, but if you have adjustable rod holders, it seems as if PVC pipe sections with the Two Fish mounts would be simple to setup and take down.
A setup like this would do great dual duty for other lighting, security and carry also.
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Short answer to OP: yes. You just need to pick a lighting system that runs on 12VDC, a switch, some wire, and a battery. There's a difference between a starting battery and a deep cycle, and you'll want the deep cycle for this. If you run the boat on a troll motor, that's what you have. If the lights you pick run less than 12V, you'll want to adapt them one way or another, but that's its own question. LED will be the most efficient, but halogen can be a lot brighter.
What about a power inverter with a deep cycle or combo marine (deep cycle but also used to start the boat motor) battery? Then you can run AC lights. We take this set up camping with us to run a fan, charge cell phones, etc., and it lasts all weekend. If I think it might be running low, I switch it out with the battery on the boat and it charges back up while driving around in the boat. You could still use LED lights to minimize power usage, but it would just give you another option (AC or DC).
OutdoorDad
Master
I reject Ohm, and his law. He is mentioned nowhere in the constitution and there are many in law enforcement who will refuse to enforce it.
When our next president dissolves the EPA, Newton and his "conservation of momentum" crap is out the window too.
I say FREE to the eff to the arr to the double eeee!
But yea, leds rock. They are more than tiny light bulbs.
