Lighting for portable

[Gus]

Trouthunter and I were brainstorming over a way to effectively run the wires inside the poles to our lights to clean everything up. More to come on this I'm sure.

[captkev]

The above picture is of a Fish Trap Scout, and that model does not have retractable poles, as for my F/T Guide I ran the wires on the outside of the poles with tape and zip-ties.

[Trouthunter]

Photos turned out bad. Have to take more this weekend...

[iffwalleyes]

Just finished with my LED in my otter. All I can say is that I sure am not going to miss my lantern at all. I got some light from super brite. I got 2 of their 12"/12 light tubes and 4 of there 6 light models. It turn out rather nicely. I am pleased with the light that if for sure.

[captkev]

Now that everyone has there lights, lets see some pictures, lets compair how they are mounted, instalation time, and their effectiveness. I'll get pictures this weekend.

[pikechaser]

I picked up 2 12v flourescent lites from unclaimed freight in milaca 3.99 a piece..they are about a foot long and already in a tube I just wire tied to the poles & they have a 15' cord with both cigarette plug & alligator clips.. Im using the battery out of my garden tractor..so far have run them for about 17 hours without a charge and no change in brightness. Gives off more lite than ya really need, but I didnt think one was quite enough. each one draws 8 watts...nice & cheap & simple to install

[Trouthunter]

Here's the result of our work...we've been at this for about a year now...this is version 2.

No wires, cords, etc to get tangled or cut. We built a control panel which has switches for the lights, xm radio, external battery terminals for the electric auger, etc...pretty sweet stuff!

BD

[castmaster]

trouthunter,

i assume those are the 1157's? how many do you have in there?

how did you do the wiring through the poles without it getting jammed up when collapsing the poles?

[Trouthunter]

The other problem we have, was creating reliable connectors so we can disconnect the lights and pack them up so they dont get broken during transport.

It took Gus and I a couple of hundred bucks, trial and error, and about a year and a half to figure it out. Then one day at the bar, Gus says, "what we need is stretchy wire!"...

It dawned us both at the exact same time...

"TELEPHONE CORDS!"

check it out:

We have capacity for 6 movable, adjustable lights, We ran phone cord wires on all 6 sides...

We have 4 19 LED 1157 bulbs and 2 30 LED bulbs. We were able to also make 2 additional utility lights that have wires not run in the poles that we can hang whereever we need, for spot lighting.

I don't have good closeups yet of the box they are wired to with the switches for hi/lo/off, but basically the outside has phone jack outlets for each of the lights to plug into.

Gus and I will post additional pictures soon. We also are in the process of wiring our fishtrap pro's this same way. More pics to come as well.

What do you guys think? Gus, anything else to add?

[Gadgetman]

Looks great! Only question I have is do you have to run all those lights at once? I have a buddy that is thinking that he wants to put in two of the 19 led 1157 units in his Otter lodge. Do you feel that would be adequate or should I tell him to ramp it uup from the start? He likes my superbright LB1 units but doesnt want to spend that much $. I think after he buys all those individual bulbs he may be in for as much or more than the LB1 units. What are your thouights?

[Gus]

Last year we ran the entire season using 2 12LED bulbs. We did just fine. It's kind of like a sip of beer or a good cookie. Once you get a taste it's hard to stop. Let's just say we are happy we have the Hi/lo switches wired this year.

[Trouthunter]

depends on what you like for lighting. Gus and I like to tan while we ice fish. Last year the lighting was good, but we primarily fish with spring bobbers and hate to strain to see the tip move. Let's just say that we've got the ability to close up the windows and turn on the lights DURING THE DAY.

As far as turning them off...we can unplug them if we need to. Both ends of that springy phone cord plug into sockets. So it's easy to disconnect/reconnect if needed.

[captkev]

WOW... thats a great looking set up! but 200 bucks and how much time...? I didn't want to take mine out every time, so I went with the smallest, and brightest I could find so they could stay in the house all the time and they would be right there on the next trip. something inexpensive, and water proof. fold the house up and the lights stay with it, protected in the fabric.

[Scott M]

I've got a problem getting my LB1 to work. Please check it out in expert equipment/expert information forum.

Thanks to all

[Scott M]

Nevermind. Problem solved.

[not_nuf_time]

For anyone still interested in the Gander Mountain rope lights, don't waste your time looking. I bought a set early, used them once they werent bright enough. I went back several times to get another set, but all sold out. Well I'm glad I didn't spend another $10.00. The second time I used them over 3/4 of the lights were burnt out. I would not buy them if I were looking for lights. Just trying to save some people some coin.

[Trouthunter]

I suppose if you were looking for a downside to our lighting setup, it could be the cost or the time. However, I'm not sure that any hobbies could be classified as "economical" or a "waste of time"...

[Walleye Patrol]

I get sick of the fumes, and i like light wherever i look so a headlamp is the way for me. I like the CAT'S EYES by NASCHEM they clip to a baseball cap and are relativly inexpensive. Just don't look your buddy in the eye cause blindness is worse than darkness!

Keep em tight and good fishing

[tightlines]

They are definetly a joke. Early this season I bought a set and set them up. Took em back and the guys says ya need to install more than 1 set. OK, I bought 2 more. Needless to say all 3 went back. Back-up led set-up in my house now and couldn't be happier. Plenty bright and burns on marcum battery for at least 24 hours and I have 2 going. 1 would have been enough but if 1 is good 2 is always better.

[rod bender]

If someone wants and easy and cheap lighting option, here you go. Go to Sylvania's websit to see where you can find their "Dot-it" lights. It's a puck syle light with 3 LED's in it. Cost 8.88. Buy two and put some self adhesive velcro on the back. Then put the other part of velcro in several places on your shack bars. They also stick to your velcro that holds your tent to your bars. I put them down towards the hole so they're facing horizontal instead of down the hole. When your done for the night, put them in a tupperware and leave them in the shack. Easy, cheap, and will more than likely last the season without replacing the 3 AAA batteries.

[castmaster]

Rodbender,

how much light do those little 3 led lights put out? i have found some other cheap lights with only a couple led's, but was leery about how much light you get out of em. paying almost $10 for 3 led's vs buying one $20-$25 unit that has 30 led's seems like a waste to pay $8 a piece if it would take 8 or 10 of them to light up the shack.

the lights kev posted seem like the best i have seen yet....now its just how the heck to get my hands on some!!

i picked up some other things that i think will make for a nice setup. i got 2 switch boxes out of the jc whitney motorcycle catalog. they are made for mounting on cycle handlebars, bolt right around 3/4"-1" tubing. each switch unit has 2 switches and the box has weatherprrof conncections. i plan on runniong 4 lights, 2 on the bar over where you sit, and 2 on the bar that runs along the top in front. each will have its own switch, i box per side, so they can be turned on and off individually. i picked up 2 of the mini ram rail mounts so i can attach ram ball to the rails on each side of the cshack to mount a vex to, so no more blue box taking up floor space. and then i have a friend making me a frame for a stroage system out of square aluminum tubing. the frame will be welded right to the support bars for the otter bench seat. it will be finished with marine plywood, and will have a box at each end for 2 vex batteries (with wiring running to the switch boxes on each side) and then a bulk storage compartment in the center. because its welded to the bench seat bars, it will lift up out of the way along with the bench seat for loading/unloading other stuff into the sled.

[mamohr686]

I just completed my LED light project. I used a similar light to the LB1 previously posted but this one is a rear back up light that is totally sealed and intended for trailers. You can do a google seach on vehiclelight and you should be able to find it. The item is under the parts and accesories section called the thinline LED utility/back up light. It uses 11 superbright leds but is kind of spendy at $74. It puts out plenty of light, enought to tie up your lures. Mine is still running after 24 hours on a 7Ah vexilar battery.

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It has single positive and negative lead that come out of the rear of the unit through the plastic housing. because of this I decided to run the leads through the poles.

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This turned out to be a much larger project than I anticipated. First I had to totally remove my center pole from my otter cabin. I had to drill through each of the black plastic caps including the center cap between the sections. I also drilled out the hole for the wires for the light and predrilled the holes for the mounting screws. The major challenge was where the square bar meets the curved bar on the frame and is screwed together. I had to widen out the kinked bar so that the wires that ram through it would not be cut when I screwed them back together. I also glued them in place so that when I raised or lowered the frame, the connections wouldn't get pulled loose.

I did offset the light so it wasn't placed over the center velcro strap and was away from my support bar. I'm very happy with the entire setup. The only thing I can see that might be a problem is that the far corners are not as bright but it will still be much better than a lanter or rope light.

[IndyEFI500]

Rodbender:

Where did you find those Sylvania lights? I looked at their HSOforum and the only WalMart in the TC area was Brooklyn Park. I went there and they thought I was insane. I would like to try these as an extra source to what I created tonight.

I needed new lights for my trailer. I went to Fleet and they have new LED trailer lights. These include a license plate light that is 5 white LED's and un-needed in MN anymore. I popped them out and now have the two of them wired off my Vexillar battery and they aren't too shabby in a 10 x 12 room. Not enough to read a magazine by but at least enough to see what came up the hole. Should be even better in my Clam 5600.

Does anyone know how much a newer Vexillar or Marcum draw for current. My 10 LED's draw 130 mA and with my old FL 6 on, the total is 250 mA. It's been a long time since I had to calculate this but does that mean I should get 28 hours off my battery with all running?

[ScottND]

I like the tail light bulb setups I've seen and have done some researching. Autolumination (Contact US Regarding This Word) has many variations of the 1156/57 led's that are pretty trick looking and inexpensive. Where's a good resource for the tailight sockets at a reasonable price?

[JohnMickish]

I ordered one today and I'll let you know how it works. I found it by doing a search for LED bicycle headlamps. I think it's the ticket.