I haven't switched yet but am seriosly considering it.

What light set up did you have and what did you switch to? (Watts and # of lights)
I run [2] 250 hps & [4] 150 hps but am considering [6] 100 watt leds
How does the brightness and penetration compare between the two set ups?
The leds should be slightly brighter.
# of batteries and battery life?
n/a since mine will run on the genny.
Pros / Cons of switching? (Besides running quiet lol)
I am considering switching so I can run a smaller genny and free up some floor space in the boat. I run converters so the genny stays. Losing the ballast weight and switching from a Eu3000 to a Yamaha 2400 should cut about 125 lbs and allow me to mount the genny in a different location

 

1. Had 6 150 HPS & 3000 WATT generator - Went to 16 27W 12V LEDs

2. HPS have a different light & cast a further distance (Not sure there is a benefit - I can shine a Q Beam 100 yds, but can't shoot that far). HPS are "brighter", but I get comparable water penetration with LEDs

3. Batteries - probably overkill on my part, but I have the room. I have 1 27 series battery that I use to crank the motor, power running lights, and all instrumentration & 2 29 series batteries hooked in series for 24 V troller. These are connected to a 3 bank charger. The lights are connected to 2 Trojan 150 AH batteries on a seperate 2 bank charger. i haven't "taxed" the batteries yet, but the longest I have been out with this set up is 6 hours. My calculations tell me I should get a minimum of 8 -10 hours shooting light. All I have to do after a night of fishing (last night) is plug the two chargers up!

4. To me a simplier, cleaner, quieter set up with less to go wrong. As I have stated before on other threads, you really can't compare the two. The LEDs are directional & offer PLENTY of fishing light. Depends on how much light you want?

I would not switch back if you bought my HPS lights & generator for me.................. but that is a preference on how I want to enjoy my fishing experience.

 

I always wondered about leds. Then we went fishing for Stingrays with Florida bowfishing. There were two halos up front and leds on the side of a tiny deck. And the water was crystal clear. And you could easily pick up fish under the halos but had to really look hard to pick them up quick enough under the leds before they took off. After that experience in water clearer than I'll ever shoot again. I would never even think about going to leds. Besides its not like I can make my fan any quieter.

 

Never shot stingrays, so I don't have anything to compare that experience with? I have had no trouble picking fish up in the LEDs. "Tiny deck" - How many LEDs did they have? I have 16 on my 1660.

 

PM Sent

 

Any comparison to halogens!! I run 13 225 ultra now was thinking bout 12-14 27watt LEDs!!

 

There should be a requirement that before you can get an account and post, you have to type the following sentence: "I understand that this forum has a search feature, and I hereby promise to at least attemp to use it prior to asking questions."

 

DDM, it's all good man! It took me a while to find my way around the forum too when I was new to the site. I do like the "advanced" search option where I can type in key words to help me find pertinent threads of interest.

As far as a LED to Halogen comparison is concerned, from my reading I believe that a 50W LED would be comparable to a 225 Ultra or 300W halogen. It would probably be safe to say that 2 of the 27W LED's would be comparable to one of the 225 Ultras or a 300W halogens as well. I have fished under (6) 225 Ultras on a friend's boat and it worked just fine. I could see the fish with no issues. Thanks to Old Bald Guy's help in the electrical department, my next setup will be (8) 50W LED's, (2) 12V PowerMax PM3 75 converters powered by a single Honda EU2000i inverter and utilizing the same two batteries for my lights and troller.

 

Andy thank you!! That is exactly the info I was needing ! Were about to put together a new Gatortail boat together and trying to figure what size and how many lights I need to rig it!! 90% of my time I'm on here is on my iPhone so it really make it hard to get around on a new site!! Ill try to use search feature more !! Lol

 

Didn't mean to be rude or upset you DDM. Next time i'll just post some links for ya.

Sometimes the best answer is to tell folks to use the search feature (or post links for them). From your post, i assumed you had not even searched because there are threads comparing the LEDs to Halos. Archer-Andy is about right, but personally i would give a bit more credit to the 27w LEDs in comparison to 300w halos. Just my .02. If you want, you can read my review and let me know if you have any questions.

Oh, post count doesn't mean anything -- Wisconsoncarpkiller probably has more than most people on here...

 

E man no worry I have really thick skin lol!! But I have read your review and it did sway me in the direction I wanted go go !! But with what Andy said images of the 27 the 50 could be a better coice for me!! But any way I think I made my mind up and thank y'all for y'all help

 

Have you decided exactly which lights you're going to use?

I have a buddy rigging out a boat for bowfishing and I was telling him about theses LED's...Thanks in advance for any info.

FYI--eman, I used the search feature and stumbled upon this thread.

 

bigger is better!

 

Bigger is better, but that also means more expensive. The positive note with the higher wattage fixtures is you don't need to buy and mount as many of them to get the desired light output. However the 27W LED are very affordable and there are several people here on the forum like eman and dedi, who are very satisfied and pleased with their performance. It really boils down to personal preference in how you want your setup to look and how much you want to spend in the process. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

What is the price now for the 50W LED's?
Any one tried the 100 W LED units yet?

 

Seen the 50w on ebay for 96 or something last week. From what I've read and seen I think I'm going to wait for the price to continue dropping on the 50w and buy a set up of those eventually.

Thanks again to everyone that chimed in. Much appreciated.

 

Switched from 7 500w halogens to 15 of the LEDs. I would say two LEDs almost make up for one 500 w halogen. The LEDs don't light up the surroundings or inside the boat near as much as the halogens, but I think they penetrate the water just as well.
Pros
- able to replace my heavy 6000 w gen with 2 batteries for LEDs ; that's an extra person I can now carry
- run all 15 and a 55 lb minn Kota for about 6 hrs on the two batteries
- no more replacing a couple bulbs every trip
Cons
- went from 7 to 15 lights to get about the same amount of light
- have noticed more glare, especially when the water isn't slick

Result
Will not even consider switching back since now there is no noise, less weight and more room in my 14 ft skiff. The only thing I may considering is upgrading to larger LEDs, but I don't see that happening until they get cheaper or I get a larger boat.

 

Switched from 7 500w halogens to 15 of the LEDs. I would say two LEDs almost make up for one 500 w halogen. The LEDs don't light up the surroundings or inside the boat near as much as the halogens, but I think they penetrate the water just as well.
Pros
- able to replace my heavy 6000 w gen with 2 batteries for LEDs ; that's an extra person I can now carry
- run all 15 and a 55 lb minn Kota for about 6 hrs on the two batteries
- no more replacing a couple bulbs every trip
Cons
- went from 7 to 15 lights to get about the same amount of light
- have noticed more glare, especially when the water isn't slick

Result
Will not even consider switching back since now there is no noise, less weight and more room in my 14 ft skiff. The only thing I may considering is upgrading to larger LEDs, but I don't see that happening until they get cheaper or I get a larger boat.

Some guys on here are playing with "amber" colored film tape or "gel paper" placed over the LED lens. verdict seems to be that it cuts down on glare but does not affect water penetration. Im sure if you do a search you can find the thread, Think its "my led review"