Alright guys I've bowfished for years, but I'm new to actually wiring up lights and all. I've done a lot of research on how to wire these lights but im seeing stuff about converters, inverters, capacitors, etc. From what i gathered you will really only use caps with HPS, but im still confused on when/why you would need a converter or an inverter. Why cant you just splice the wires from the back of the lights together, and connect them to an extension cord and run it to a generator? Also, im used to just connecting trolling motors directly to a battery, but im seeing where people are connecting their trolling motor to a battery, the battery to a converter, and the converter to the genny. Im about to drop a good amount of money on a set up, and want to make sure i wire everything correctly. So basically, if i run HPS lights, what needs to be connected to what between light and the generator, and what needs to be connected to what between the trolling motor and the generator and/or just battery? Im looking at 400w HPS lights, at least an 80 lb thrust trolling motor, and either a 3000-4000 watt Honda genny. Any help is greatly appreciated!
HPS/LED wiring questions?!
sixdeuce1537
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Alright guys I've bowfished for years, but I'm new to actually wiring up lights and all. I've done a lot of research on how to wire these lights but im seeing stuff about converters, inverters, capacitors, etc. From what i gathered you will really only use caps with HPS, but im still confused on when/why you would need a converter or an inverter. Why cant you just splice the wires from the back of the lights together, and connect them to an extension cord and run it to a generator? Also, im used to just connecting trolling motors directly to a battery, but im seeing where people are connecting their trolling motor to a battery, the battery to a converter, and the converter to the genny. Im about to drop a good amount of money on a set up, and want to make sure i wire everything correctly. So basically, if i run HPS lights, what needs to be connected to what between light and the generator, and what needs to be connected to what between the trolling motor and the generator and/or just battery? Im looking at 400w HPS lights, at least an 80 lb thrust trolling motor, and either a 3000-4000 watt Honda genny. Any help is greatly appreciated!
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Nothing gets connected between the hps lights and the generator. The capacitors are wired into the light and the light is run to the generator.
The converter is used to keep the batteries charged while fishing.
The converter is used to keep the batteries charged while fishing.
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Ok i gotcha. What exactly do the capacitors do for the lights? Is it a 'must have' with HPS lights?
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Last two questions...how do you know what size converter you need, and when you wire the lights, do you just splice one light into the back of another, and then plug in to an extension cord?
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The size of the converter depends on the amp draw from the trolling motor. Yes you can Daisy Chain all the lights together and simply run a cord to the genny. I really recommend you do a lot of research before you get started, I'm not trying to be rude but the questions your asking imply to me your not ready to take on this type of project yet.
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Yeah definitely look into it a little more. You are gonna be running a lot of current and using cheap splicing and not wiring well could be bad. By saying "splicing" them you are basically saying running the lights in parallel and thats what we all do just in different ways. I use a bus bar and wired each light into that individually. Then I have a hot from the generator powering the bus bar. This is definitely where the phrase "do it right, do it light" comes into play(no pun intended).
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Also, caps are only necessary for lights with magnetic ballasts and even some of them don't require them. You mainly hear about that when guys are using the econo-light brand of HPS. If you get digital ballasts you don't need them. That's another thing, I don't know if you realize it or not but HPS and metal halide lights all require a separate ballast between the power and the actual light. LEDs and halogens do not.
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Nah youre fine man i didnt take it rudely. Like i said ive bowfished a while but never done any actual set up stuff like this. Thanks for the help!
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