[Haywood04]

I think you would be happy with a 2000 suitcase inverter - honda or yamaha - and a bunch of warm white leds.

You start talking 400 HPS, and having 1 2000 inverter kinda goes out the door...

BUT, you don't know what your budget is....SO SKY IS THE LIMIT... so grab yourself a 3000 honda inverter and 6 - 400 HPS

looking at about $3500 for that set up

Whoo- Doggie that can get steep fast!

 

[Rock213]

I would love to have 250 or 400 watt hps with digital ballasts but it wasn't in my budget. I run (6) 150 watt hps on a 2000 watt champion inverter. The lights were old street lights (free from a buddy that is a line man). The only real money I have in the set up is the generator. I built my own light housings and my light rail. If you are handy you can get set up for under a grand...probably much cheaper if you are thrifty.

 

[Haywood04]

I would love to have 250 or 400 watt hps with digital ballasts but it wasn't in my budget. I run (6) 150 watt hps on a 2000 watt champion inverter. The lights were old street lights (free from a buddy that is a line man). The only real money I have in the set up is the generator. I built my own light housings and my light rail. If you are handy you can get set up for under a grand...probably much cheaper if you are thrifty.

I'm Thrifty, But not Handy!

PS. What is an inverter? (again, you see Idiot!)

 

[Payphone Jones]

I would love to have 250 or 400 watt hps with digital ballasts but it wasn't in my budget. I run (6) 150 watt hps on a 2000 watt champion inverter. The lights were old street lights (free from a buddy that is a line man). The only real money I have in the set up is the generator. I built my own light housings and my light rail. If you are handy you can get set up for under a grand...probably much cheaper if you are thrifty.

I'm Thrifty, But not Handy!

PS. What is an inverter? (again, you see Idiot!)

Generator that makes DC power and inverts it to AC is an inverter generator. They make "clean" electricity.

 

[awaldro7]

Generator that makes DC power and inverts it to AC is an inverter generator. They make "clean" electricity.

also they are alot more quite than a regular generator. That is the main advantage. Another thing to note is that you can use sheetrock mudpans from harbor freight for light housings if you really want to save some money. They are around $4 each rather than $80 for a custom housing. If you paint them flat white inside they are just as bright as any custom housing. It will help you get out on the water for now and then you can buy housings later.

 

[-dirt-]

Generator that makes DC power and inverts it to AC is an inverter generator. They make "clean" electricity.

Inverter generators are the quiet ones you'll read about. Non-inverter style are generally the louder "worksite" style models.

 

[kmadkins93]

I run 4 150 watt hps on my boat with a 2000 watt Honda inverter. but the boat I tournament fish out of has 6 250 watt hps with digital ballast and we run a 2000 watt inverter. to me nothing beats the brightness and penetration of an HPS , but if you were to run leds I would recommend getting warm white in color (to me the orangish color penetrates the water better but it also depends on water clearity). lve fished off a boat with 8 50 watt warm white leds and ran them on a 1200 watt inverter on eco and it was almost dead quiet. but like everyone else has said it all comes down to your budget. I personally like HPS but they work better for the waters I shoot

 

[Haywood04]

Great information so far..
If I get the HPS lights, and I think I understand the light housing and the generator stuff.
BUT what is the Ballast then or Digital ballast. Is that not already part of the light I would buy?
Trying to get it all straight in the ol noggin.
Pics help, so if you have them post them.

 

[-dirt-]

http://www.lumatekballast.com/

Pics of ballasts there. They power the bulbs. You can't just screw these type bulbs into a socket and plug the socket directly into power like you can incandescent bulbs.

Basically you are making/building/assembling everything past the generator to the bulb.

 

[Rock213]

The top picture is my homemade ballast box. What you see in this tool box are the ballasts, ignitors, and capacitors that came out of old street lights. There is a little wiring involved on your end if you want to go this route but it is less expensive than going with digital ballasts. But the digital ballasts give you more options and are simple since you can just "plug and play".
The second picture are my homemade housings. The only part in these housings that came from the street lights are the sockets and the bulbs. This keeps the weight down on the front of the boat which makes it less destructive on the light housings. You can see my ballast box at the back of the boat below the generator. The light rails and generator rack are all made out of electrical emt conduit (cheap). Like others have said, you can go and buy metal mud pans from Lowes to make your housings out of which will be easier on you since you said you were not handy lol.

 

[SaLtY dAwG]

if you just want a plug in play system then I would just go with a show-me 400w custom housing... 4 of these lights are plenty for your avg boat... and over kill for your small boats...

show me customs run about 200.00 plus for each light... you can do it for much cheaper but you need to know what to shop for... I have 165.00 in each of my lights...

as far as generators go, there are some different thoughts out there on that...

Knock off (champion Style) 4000w Amazon generator $300.00 plenty of power and would hardly come off idle with a 1600w load

Champion 4000w Genny $350 to $500.00 - Proven to be a good reliable genny and would be the same as above with a better name behind it.

Knock Off Inverter (Generec - Smart Tool) 2000w $500.00 going to be a great deal louder than the 4000w so you may want two of them but they are going to vibrate and be louder than a Honda or Yamaha. they will also surge when those ballast ask for more than 400w so you may have to dim your ballast down to 75% power

3000w Honda or Yamaha Inveter $ 2k this will sip fuel and run smooth and not be too loud...

What I feel is the best option because if I am at a tournament or even out fun fishing far from home and a genny takes a crap on me I can still fish... 2 each 2000w Honda or Yamaha Inverters... you will get a 4000w of power and they will sip fuel and not come off idle and they run smoother than anything I have mentioned above from my experiences with the above options... you can use a Parallel cable kit or just run each set of lights off each genny... this setup is about 2k... but you have double the spark plugs and double the oil to change at the end of the year... but the piece of mind of knowing your not screwed is nice and your going to hundreds of hours out of them because your using 1/3 of the power they can put out...

 

[Haywood04]

How dependable are these lights with all the bouncing of the boat and the abuse that takes?

Haywood

 

[Haywood04]

Thanks to all of you!
Mudfish, Buck 25, Awaldro7, Dirt, Kmadkins93, Rock 213 and Salty Dawg!!
They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Well you guys are slowly teaching this ol dawg some!!
I am sure as I continue through this I will have several more questions, but you have started me down a good path!
Awesome! and appreciated!

 

[-dirt-]

It's been my experience that the bulbs can take a fair amount of abuse, in regards to bumpy roads. But I always carry spares. And if its an issue, you can always remove the bulbs after each trip.

And you are welcome!

 

[SaLtY dAwG]

here is some info on how to set up digital ballast lights...

http://bow.fishingcountry.com/forum...s/showthread.php?156969-Digital-HPS-MH-lighting-walk-thru&p=2138553#post2138553

 

[Rock213]

How dependable are these lights with all the bouncing of the boat and the abuse that takes?

Haywood

I've been fishing my set up for two years now and have never had a bulb issue i.e. burn out, break, or back out.....and I pulled my boat on several trips with a broken leaf spring on the trailer lol

I've had two welds break on the mounting brackets but no bulb issues. That leads me to believe they are pretty durable.

 

[Haywood04]

Is there a significant difference between 150w HPS and 400w HPS?
Again I am a starter and would I notice?
Just wondering.
Thanks

 

[Rock213]

Huge difference if you have the opportunity to fish over both. If you have never fished over them you wouldn't know the difference haha. I fish is pretty muddy water and my 150s do just fine. I have a buddy with 250s and I cant say I see enough of a difference for me to add a bigger genny and buy more lights. My 150s put me on fish in muddy water just fine. If I do anything, I may change my front two lights to 250s but that will be all I do until I upgrade to digital. But my current set up will have to fail before I make any upgrades and hopefully that wont happen any time soon.

 

[Haywood04]

Most of the water I will be fishing in is pretty clean. some dinge, (if it has been raining) but for the most part fairly to very clean water.

 

[Rock213]

I'm not trying to persuade you to any light. Some say 400 hps are the best and I tend to agree....but are they necessary...not to me. If budget wasn't an issue I would have 4 to 6 400 hps around my boat and a big enough inverter generator to handle them all and never get above idle lol.. Unfortunately I, like most am on a budget with family and what not to pay for. So with that being said I am a big DIY guy and I use what I can afford at the time. And at the time it was 150 watt hps and a 2000 watt Champion inverter and I am very happy with my set up. Could it be better???? Heck yeah...Do I ever feel hindered because I don't have 400 watt lights???? Never. If you want to go the route I did and are wanting to buy your ballasts you can follow this link to all of the parts you will need.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/high-pressure-sodium-ballasts/