where do you live bro.. i can personally say they are the **** i will never use anything but led's

 

I'm in Jacksonville al. How many of what light are you running? And are you running them on batteries or generator?

 

Does anyone know how 14 27watt leds would compare to 8 150watt hps ? If I go the hps route ill Probly add two more later. And im really curious if eitither setup would be enough light for my boat.

 

Well I'm not going to say that any lights are ****, but my personal opinion is to go with the 150 watt hps lights with caps. I've seen hps, mh's, halos, and LED's and prefer to go with hps with an inverter genny. The main thing that would steer my decision if I were you would be the type of water that you are shooting. The amber/yellow colored hps lights tend to work better in stained to muddy water conditions, and the mh's and LED's white/blue light tends to be better in clearer water conditions. Generator or not.....up to you. I just hate having to charge batteries personally. I'd rather run a quiet inverter genny that just requires gas. Just my .02 Good luck! You will get more opinions than you can shake a stick at on here so read between the lines and pick what best suits you.

 

Man with all the clear water here in alabama I would go with MH. You can get 150W PSMH and pull less amperage and run a smaller geny. All about choice but I have fished with all different styles and colors. If you have never fished with MH you can come with me and see how the MH do.

 

What lakes/rivers do you fish? The ones around here can get pretty murky. Alot just depends on when it rained last and what not. I would like to check out your setup one night. All I've ever seen are halos.

And I really appreciate the replys and I know ill Probly get alot of mixed opinions but I really need some suggestions as to how many lights with what generator. I want a honda but just can't drop that kind of cash. I want a small quiet one but I need to make sure it will push the number of lights I need it to. I can do the math I just don't know how many lights to run.

 

I fish all over the state bro. Guntersville, wheeler, warrior river, smith, logan martin, mobile delta. As an example you could run around 8-10 150PSMH with a honda EU2000. I am about to go with 11 400WMH so I have a 6300W Yamaha inverter. Even though I have an airboat the only time I hear it running is if the boat is off and you can still sit right beside it and talk without screaming. I just dont want to mess with batteries.

 

Alot of guys on here are running smaller boats and putting a ton of lights on them. The deck on the front of my boat is huge compared to some of the smaller boats.

 

Go to hps, leds are for little boys

 

How did you get so much stupid into such few words?

 

I went all led this year and wouldnt go back to listening to a genny all night for nothing and im not a little boy ^^.

 

I've heard alot of people bad talk leds but everybody that has them seems to like em.


Hacksaw how many and what size are you running? And what size boat and what did you have before leds?

 

I mainly fish wises lake, neally henry, and the coosa river. Do you ever fish logan martin? I'd really like to check out your setup.

 

I fish logan martin a good bit later on in the summer when it gets up to full pool.

 

Does anyone know how much the batteries to run 14 27watt leds would cost?

 

Personally I would use a generator even if u get LEDs just get a small Honda/Yamaha that way u don't have all the batteries and my Honda running low watts on Eco is very quite

 

From what I've read the 27watt leds are 12volt only. Can I still run them with a generator?

 

I've fished off them all, and to me I want the best light coverage with water penetration. That would be hps or mh lights. I prefer hps. Quiet genny is the way to go. Leds are no where close to the lighting of hps's. Were not deer hunting so why take away half your lighting just to be quiet? On a 6' deck we run 6 150hps lights. 8 would be plenty for your boat and that prolly would be the best bang for your buck. Now if your pockets are deep, dad has 4 400hps on a 5' deck with custom housing, and that's the best lights I've ever shot under.

Not downing y'all led guys, it's just not my cup of tea. Each his own

 

I like the hps but im just not sure on a few things. Like do I have to take the bulbs out when in tow? Can I run 10 150s on a generac 2000 with out getting caps and do I have to build a ballast box or is that just to cut weight?

 

Not sure about the genny size but the movement of ballast and all is a wieght distribution issue more than anything else. You pull the weight out of the light housings becasue they are not designed to hold weight and bounce all over the place while in tow on the trailer and on the water. These housings are made to sit on a pole or wall in a parking lot. The movement will also allow you to move the weight to a different location on the boat so your front will we lighter. Not a huge shift in weight but there is some advantage. I have ten 150hps with remote ballast boxes and I may have moved 50lbs +/- from the front by doing this. I did it to reduce stress on the housings so they wouldn't crack. The lights in the housings can usually be moved so that removing bulbs while off the water isn't an issue. My buld sockets are on the bottom of the fixtures so vibration should allow them to tighten rather than loosen (not always true). But even if your lights can't be reoriented, a dab of high temp silicone on the bulb at the socket will stop it from vibrating loose while in to or what ever else.
We use HPS becasue on the water conditons we shot over. You need to see as many different set ups as you can to make your mind up.

 

Or could I just wire up 8 without caps and later add 2 more lights and a ballast box with the caps and be ok with the generac 2000? Its 2000 continuous watts not peak.

 

I don't know anyone that has a setup I can check out other than night addiction that offered in this thread.

I've been reading and searching post for a week straight it seems like. And still not sure of alot. If I could find out exactly what I need to run 8 of the $45 econo hps I'd Probly go with that.

 

Ive got a 28 foot pontoon with 30 27s 2 43s 2 50s wired into 7 29 series batteries we like to fish all night is the reason for so many batts they will run from dusk till dawn also 3 10 watt for boat and deck light.

 

^^^ this is one reason I don't like the idea of LEDs....... 36 lights and 7 batteries...... Not for me

 

I had bought 6 27 watt LED's from customfitz. I didn't put them on my boat becuase I am in the process of selling my little 12' right now. I did however hook 1 of them up to a battery and try it on the ponds behind my house. 1 - 27 watt LED lit the pond up great. I did already sell the lights to someone onw here or I would have already sent you a message to see if u want them. If I were you I would go the LED route with a couple batteries and a converter and a genny. You will love it!

 

HPS. LED's are weak man. The best thing to do is sell the loud a** generator you got and put that money towards a honda or yamaha (they are super quiet) and run the HPS. The LED's can not compare to the HPS or metal halides as far as light output goes.

 

Id put my 4 LEDs up against 4 400w HID.

 

Really? What kind of LEDs you have?
I've never seen a led that could put out 48,000 Lumens as just 1 400hps does.

 

I dont need that many lights or batteries i just like to go big we had 22 halos and 2 gennys on it before.

 

I saw where custom fitz posted 27-30" off the water was best for the 27s. Is that about right.?

 

High Pressure Sodium Lights are better all around lights. They penetrate murky water better than LED's and you can see just fine in clear water too. Plus that you don't have to worry about all these extra batteries in the boat. When a battery runs out of juice your night is over, When a generator runs out of juice you fill it up again and continue on your marry way.

 

Where is everybody getting that you need all these extra batts?If you want you can get a big enough converter and run EVERYTHING off two!!
Nights not "over",when the juice runs out either

 

Guess I've havnt shot from them all, just 27s and 50s. I'm sure LEDs will continue to grow. But in Louisiana we don't have clear water like a lot of y'all have.