LED lights

[mrth0201]

Wondering if anybody has bought the 96cm LEDs from besthonLED for their portable. Would two 48cm LEDs work better?

[luckydave]

mrth0201, I had the same dilemma. I decided to order two of the 48cm as I thought it would give me more flexibility/options to move them around to avoid shadows, etc. Mine are on the way and I'm anxious to see how they work.

[jwhjr]

I ordered and installed 2 of the 48cm strips as well. You won't be disappointed regardless of which size you order.

[sirsunnyslayer]

White or warm white?

[luckydave]

I ordered white based on previous posts.

[jwhjr]

White

[jbird68]

( Note from Admin, please read forum policy before posting again. Thank-You.)

Where do you keep your batteries so they don't flop around in the bottom of your sled? I was trying to find a way to mount the battry in a box with a rocker switch to turn it on and off. And also be able to store the light in the box when not in use. My best box idea so far was an old metal ammo box. Maybe use a quick disconnect to be able to put the light and wires in the box too.

[jwhjr]

I'll either hook them up to my Vex battery, or I'll have a spare battery in one of the compartments in the sled that I can use.

[pathogen]

I mounted my two strings of Hong Kong LEDs on two of the cross-members in my portable with zip ties. I cut the wires short and soldered on male plug-ins. I keep two vexilar batteries in a small playmate cooler, along with a length of wire that has alligator clips on one end and female plug-ins on the other. The wire is spliced so I have two sets of female plug ins. When I need light, I just flip open the little cooler, clip the alligator clips to one of the batteries, and plug in a set of lights. If I feel I need more lighting, I can plug in the second set. I have reflectix in my house (small Otter den) and it does wonders for bouncing additional light down---not to mention the insulating qualities. Works like a champ for me, I rarely need the second set of lights---but who knows, maybe I'll decide I need a tan in January!!

[Coon]

Quote:

---

I mounted my two strings of Hong Kong LEDs on two of the cross-members in my portable with zip ties. I cut the wires short and soldered on male plug-ins. I keep two vexilar batteries in a small playmate cooler, along with a length of wire that has alligator clips on one end and female plug-ins on the other. The wire is spliced so I have two sets of female plug ins. When I need light, I just flip open the little cooler, clip the alligator clips to one of the batteries, and plug in a set of lights. If I feel I need more lighting, I can plug in the second set. I have reflectix in my house (small Otter den) and it does wonders for bouncing additional light down---not to mention the insulating qualities. Works like a champ for me, I rarely need the second set of lights---but who knows, maybe I'll decide I need a tan in January!!

---

any chance you could snap a pic of this setup...??

[pathogen]

Coon, unfortunately my rig is in Crosslake and I'm in Edina. Next time I go up, I'll snap a few pics. Hope it won't be too late for you, might be a couple of weeks.

[schweady]

Wondering if these are the ones you guys are talking about:

"LED Tube, Flexible & Water Proof in White, 48cm [YouNeedAuthorization] $13.51 each" or

"LED Tube, Flexible & Water Proof in White, 96cm BMS96W $23.65 each"

When you described them, you said 'strips' and besthonLED's link to "LED Tubes, LED Strips" only shows what they call 'tubes'...

Sorry to be so particular, but know from discussions last season that there are very good solutions and others that seem nearly identical that turn out very bad.

[pathogen]

Yes, the 48cm are the ones I purchased.

[schweady]

Thanks, pathogen. Looking forward to those pics.

[Scott K]

I have a question about some of the led lights. Has anyone tried the 48 led style bulb shaped lights. The ones I was looking at are 12 volt and have 48 leds in them and are shaped like a bulb. My hunting shack runs off 12 volts for now, and was wondering if replacing the 12 camper style bulbs with these 12 volt led's would give out good light, or should I go to a 12 florecent bulb? Just looking to save some battery power!

[Coon]

Quote:

---

Thanks, pathogen. Looking forward to those pics.

---

ditto

[iafish4fun]

pathogen, where did you get the two wire connector? What size is it? I would think that it would be a small connector.

The reason that I ask is that I tried this past weekend to install the wire through the tubes in my shack and fried one string. I am not so sure that won't happen to the other two when I need them the most. Also, now the poles don't move as nice as they used too.

I guess I would also like to see some pictures as well. Sounds like a great idea.

[so haaad]

Here's my set up. (Link) One of the northern minnesota staffers, maybe Paul Waldowski had this setup at the Portable Modification even last year. It works really well because all the wires are out of the way, and they "expand" with the poles when you set up your shack. I also put shrink tubing over all exposed wires.

I know a couple people (including myself) who have experienced a lot of problems by putting the wires inside the poles, because the wires end up shorting out, cut or stuck in the sliding poles. The wires have to move or "double back" when you set up and take down your shack. so over time the connections inside the poles start to pull apart or get beat up. And it's a pain fixing the problem when your wires are inside the pole. Maybe it will work for you, but I would recommend putting the wires on the outside.

[rusty ironMan]

I've got a couple of the 48cm lights on the way, and was wondering if anyone had an idea of what size of fuse I should wire them to?

[pathogen]

No fuse necessary. They are ready to connect to 12V DC. You're going to love those lights!

[MN]

Ok - if you have 2 strips you need to run them in series - correct? If you go in parallel will they work, and will they be as bright? Are they designed to run in series? Am I correct to think these would need connectors on both ends to make them work in series??? confused...

MN

[so haaad]

MN, the LED strips have one positive line, and one negative line. There is no "connector" line on the back end of them. Go back a page and follow the link to my picture, it should give you an idea. To hook two strips together, I tied the two positives together, and the two negatives together.