BHK Lights...again

[JigginIsLife]

I finally got my order of BHK lights in on the 6th i picked them up. It took about a month and 2 weeks. wow. anyways so I know how i want to hook them up and i want to poke/drill a hole into the side top of the end bar of my 5600. i have a few questions and conserns with this though. first is the wire too small to rely on it to be stury so instead of putting the actual lights wire through the hole should i place a different bigger gauge through the hole so it has a small chance of breaking. second does anyone else use them in thier 5600, how did you rig them up. and third, most guys have the flip over style houses, how well do the wires inside the teloscoping poles stay decent (do they take much wear and tear). any answers, comments or how you did it suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Jig

[Sandmannd]

I ran small gage speaker wire through my poles. Didn't even drill holes, just went in where the poles meet up. If you drill holes, buy some rubber gromets (Any hardware store) and put them in the holes so your wires don't rub. I just connected the speaker wire to the BHK lights by wrapping them together and taping with electrical tape. Have had them a year and no problems as of yet.

[jwhjr]

I decided not to go inside the poles because I was worried about the wire getting pinched or crimped inside when collapsing the shack. I've seen some who have posted that they use coiled wire (like phone cord) so that it expands when the poles are extended. I know there was pictures of it, but I can't find the thread that had it.

[BoxMN]

I just tie-wrapped mine to a piece of 12 ga. romax, and use that to "hang" it on the bar. I spliced the tiny wire to an old lamp wire, and then put inside a plastic shield with the slit in it (like you see on trailers, etc.). It just hangs there out of the way, thewire just runs down the side, and you can either leave it up there when folding down, or you can use it elsewhere - i.e. you can leave it lit even when shack is folded up and get light. It is portable I even put a rocker switch in mine, and the quick connect connections to line right up to a vex battery. Works slick. Good luck.

[Nutty Fisherman]

JIL where did you get your bhk lights? I ordered mine from BHK lights and got them in 2 weeks. BOY are they bright.

[JigginIsLife]

i ordered them from BHK i have no clue why it took so long, i mean i can understand if noone wants to come up this way to moorhead, i mean its cold and windy all the time. but for real i have no clue. but it took forever.

[cjac]

I did the lights on mine (not a 5600) with wires on the outside. I used thermostat wire, so the pos and neg are also individually wrapped inside the main cover. Bends nicely, but rigid enough still not to kink up and be a problem. I would recommend 7 inch zip strips, the 4 inch ones are just a tap flimsy, and depending on your house often are just barely long enough.

Wired to a Ze-Rust box I mounted to the corner of the sled with a couple bolts, and added toggle switches so I don't have to mess around with battery connections in the cold.

Did the spot lights in the back, rope overhead, and flush mount for the under the seat lights. Works great!

Chris

[Scott K]

dam! I like that set up! I think I am going to rig a battery box up, and that just gave me some ideas!

[JigginIsLife]

hey that light mount on the sled near your feet is a new one i dont think i have seen that before. and the bat box is a nice touch except i cant do that on mine. but i will see how it turns out. got the two light strips up, and bought the grommets, all i need now is a drill to put the holes in the bars, should be easy enough, just dont have a drill up at school...dangit..

[cjac]

The battery box is nice, keeps everything like wires and clips together, no tangles and less "stuff" to snag up on something. Also nice to throw keys/wallet/license in too and know it's not going to somehow go down the hole like things often find a way to do!

Ran across a lake this weekend with the house behind a 4 wheeler, and set up and flicked a switch and there was light. Yeah, it's extra wiring to do the toggles, but not hard. I'm not what I'd consider handy at all, and I pulled it off. I did alligator clips to the batteries from the switches, so in reality I could do all three from one battery by piggy-backing the clips. Great part of the LEDs is minimal draw, so I don't have to recharge after every time out.

First time I saw those flush mount strips is when Dietz showed them to me at Cabelas. They are pretty sweet! They pan across the surface of the house perfectly!

Makes a trip out that much easier......

Chris

[JigginIsLife]

well dump, i got all my stuff together got the drill, rubber gromets, enough wire to send an electrical current to china and back, and guess what, the top of my teloscoping part on the end has a plug in it, soo...$%*# haha well you cant with them all so i will be wiring it up on the outside of my poles, in hopes to keep it out of harms way while putting up and taking down....ahhhh

[Sandmannd]

Cjac, where did you get those flush light? Those are slick as snot.

[harvey lee]

Jiggin

I have my wires on the outside of one portable and have never had an issue with the wires coming apart.

[cjac]

Sandmand,

I was pointed towards those lights by Dietz up at Cabelas, and yes, they are slick! Easy to mount, and the wires sit on/in the inner lip of the sled. Out of sight and harms way!

Jiggin..... I honestly think you're better off outside like Harvey Lee said, less opportunity for problems and easier to correct if there's an issue.

Chris

[hanson]

That is a sweet setup man! Very nice work!

[cjac]

Thanks Hanson!

Funny part is I'm not a "tinkerer" or good with gadgets/wiring, etc. Was pretty easy actually. I call it my Disco Dance Floor on ice!

It got me thinking how nice it would be to do something similar to the boat. Would sure make night time 'eye fishing easier.

Chris

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: cjac

It got me thinking how nice it would be to do something similar to the boat. Would sure make night time 'eye fishing easier.

Been tossing around some ideas the last few days for the boat as well. The goal is to do a lot of filming on the river at night this summer so we're going to need some ambient light in the boat.

[cjac]

I'm guessing the rope would be a good option, inexpensive and protected in the plastic sleeve. Run those along the floor boards and I'd imagine they would cast off nice and spread-out lighting.

The back lights are on rubber clips that would fit right onto a stern light post but are very bright. Might make filming tough.

I see an evening garage project in our future come Spring.....

Chris

[JigginIsLife]

well i got out to the lake today and one of my strips went dim... anyone know why this might have happended?? it didnt do this earlier when i had it up, then got out to the lake and one of the two strips were dim??? sure made me mad.

[BoxMN]

Jiggin, bad connection. Try rewiring. With LEDS it will be "on" of "off", and if you get dim it is a bad connection. But I am not an electrition, though I play one in my mind

[Offalot]

cjac, Sweet setup. I've been looking to do something with my portable but did not like anything I've seen. But I really like the lights on the side. Did you say you bought those LED's at Cabelas? Also, how many batteries are in that box is it heavy?

[wishing for walleyes]

Hanson..Consider trying out a clamp on light from your local fleet store.Put in a 25 watt bulb and extend the cord as long as you need it.I used one when i had a 16 foot lund.You can clamp it on anywhere in the boat and put alot of light right where you need it.

[cjac]

Offalot,

I have two 12v 7amp batteries, but could easily do with one. I put alligator clips from the switches to the batts so I could piggy back the clips and go off one batt, as the LEDs are such a low draw. So, not a lot of weight added.

Yes, the strip lights were from the marine dept at Cabelas. Pretty easy to mount and wire.

Chris

[castmaster]

Cjac,

any problems with breaking the strip lights when loading/ unloading or trailering behind atv/snowmobile? They look like they'd be a nice addition to my Otter, just wondering how tough they are.

[cjac]

castmaster,

That was my only concern, so far so good. There is a rubber backing for a little cushion and my sled cover does go over them. Just a little awareness of where they're at and I think it should be OK long term.

Keep in mind I'm not running to Garden Island on LOTW with it behind a sled but they seem pretty solid. I'm a little more laid back in my ice fishing than that, so not a concern for me, but we've run it out a few times and loaded in/out with no issues at all.

Chris