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En-"Light"-en me (Lighting potential)

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Magilke441

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
All puns aside, I've been bowfishing for about 14-15 years now, about 12 on the same rig. I am currently running a 36v system for 2 interchangeable 101 Minn Kota trolling motors.

For the lights, I have a mix of HPS, Metal Halide, and 300/500W Halogens. All of the lights are run off of a Honda 3000IS generator, along with a backup Honda 2000I generator in case any batteries need to be charged on the road).

I fish primarily in eastern MN (St. Croix) and western WI lakes but will be expanding across the state and possibly down to Illinois, so most of the water is yellow-ish to clear.

My general question is am I better off sticking with my current light setup? Or have LED's finally caught up to the Halogen/HPS/Metal Halide bulbs in terms of water penetration? I've fished on a boat with white LED's and wasn't overly impressed as they seemed to reflect a large amount of light in any water clarity less than clear.

Generator noise isn't much of an issue with my current setup, so I'm not very inclined to get rid of them. But, I have tons of space for more batteries. I would have to use a separate set of batteries to keep my max run time on the trolling motor if I made the switch to LED.

What I'm saying is, I have the potential to run virtually any light setup, and I need to be able to see in the yellower waters, so what is the best?

Any help is appreciated.
 
#3 ·
I think I know what my next video will be about. great first post BTW. sounds like you have a lot going on, it would be much easier on you to standardize the set up and stick with one bulb. for the most light of course hps are king, light output along with their color are hard to beat. LEDs are catching up, their are lots of color and power options now but most of the newer stuff won't be very affordable or easy to get for another 6 months. I am expecting a delivery today that might peak your interest. ill share if it arrives.



 
#8 · (Edited)
Got my test light today, and here are the pix as promised. these are about the size of standard 50w led housings but are filled with 54-3w leds. in the second pic you can see that the color of the Amber light is almost "a dream come true". Guessing its close to 1800kelvin witch would make this color penetrate the water very easily. but sadly after turning on the light against the barn wall at a distance of 10-12ft the light pattern is to spotty and the light output is no where near what I would imagine a 150w light. this may be a lot better on the water than it is in the barn although I would imagine these would need to be mounted close together. after thinking about the "light output" a little while the brightness is always effected by color a 10w 5000k light and a 50w red light would possibly be evenly bright.




 
#10 ·
yea I think each individual bulb has a lens. I was really surprised and disappointed at the pattern. wont be buying more of them. I have another style of lights coming in another color soon having them special made.



 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
whiteriverrambo said:
I think I know what my next video will be about. great first post BTW. sounds like you have a lot going on, it would be much easier on you to standardize the set up and stick with one bulb. for the most light of course hps are king, light output along with their color are hard to beat. LEDs are catching up, their are lots of color and power options now but most of the newer stuff won't be very affordable or easy to get for another 6 months. I am expecting a delivery today that might peak your interest. ill share if it arrives.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the insight, I'll look for your videos. I noticed the same with LEDs, seems that it costs $200 just for a 100w light. Sounds like I'll have to do some experimenting this year with HPS then. As of right now I have two 150w on the angles of the bow. What wattage HPS do you favor?

whiteriverrambo said:
how many hours do you fish?
Click to expand...
I usually make it out twice a week in the summertime, lasting usually about 8 hours average each night. Other times sunset-sunup if I can't find any fish.
 
#12 ·
I currently run 100 watt and 50 watt LED's. Some of which are seelite HPS color. the lights work great if you want to run silent. but I am buying some 250 watt HPS to replace them this week. the LED's just don't compare to the HPS. unless you spend $300 dollars per LED light.
 
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#13 ·
if you run 8 hrs a outing then "running silent" or any DC light isn't gonna work for you. if you like the hps then stay with them but maybe do some 250s on the front and the rest 150s on the sides. just to try to keep your watts down. I would keep the 3000 onboard and try to keep my watts down below 2200. this will keep the genny quieter cause it wont be under such a big load. it might last a little linger too. if you got good batteries a 36v system should allow you to run all night without charging. lots of ways to do it just whatever you dream up will work. sounds like you got a big boat, we all like to see pix.



 
#14 ·
If you have a 3000 Watt honda just run 400 hps. You literally own the best generator out there. So why make it complicated? Just order 400 hps and be done with it.
The only reason i see going to leds is if you wanted to run converters on your trolling motor.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
I'll see if I can scrounge up some pics of the boat, she's still in storage but I might have a few pics hidden in my phone.

Another question with HPS- if I'm not mistaken, doesn't the start up wattage spike significantly when initially warming up? I helped a buddy wire some lights not long ago that took up to 660w to start up. Not 100% on them being HPS, but they were damn near orange when fully warmed. We ended up wiring each light to an individual switch so we could turn them on one at a time to keep the draw down.

Could have been cheap lights too. (There was a reason he sold the boat after one summer)
 
#16 ·
Magilke441 said:
I'll see if I can scrounge up some pics of the boat, she's still in storage but I might have a few pics hidden in my phone.

Another question with HPS- if I'm not mistaken, doesn't the start up wattage spike significantly when initially warming up? I helped a buddy wire some lights not long ago that took up to 660w to start up. Not 100% on them being HPS, but they were damn near orange when fully warmed. We ended up wiring each light to an individual switch so we could turn them on one at a time to keep the draw down.

Could have been cheap lights too. (There was a reason he sold the boat after one summer)
Click to expand...
Simple fix to that and that's adding Caps to the lights. Reduces the amp draw on startup.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Ahh I was wondering what that sticky was for, the funny part is I'm guessing they are wired on my boat as well.

The story is that the boat was owned by a close family friend who had it built by silver dollar fan boats in 2005 as a blank slate. It initially had a pusher fan on it but it was just so damn loud for the results we got out of it. (Fan is for sale!) They then strapped on a Yamaha 115 with low hours, and wired the lights up. Family friend was extremely generous with letting my brother and I use it since she was built. Couldn't let the boat go outside of the family so I bought it.

Ever since it was built, we have been mixing and matching lights to see what works best. Hence the present situation.

As sad as it is, this is my only picture.
 
#18 ·
Sweet boat. If you want the best lights you can get right now. As far as getting the best light penetration and seeing the most you can. In the the present day 2016. Just go with 400 watt HPS with digital ballasts. Most digital ballasts will allow you to put metal halide bulbs(white light) in them if you want. But if youre like me you will get used to the hps and just stick with them.

Will Leds work? by all means they will work good for you in most conditions.

my 2 cents
 
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Magilke441
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