150 watt power inverter?

[ndthwacker]

If i take a 150 watt power inverter and wire it to a 12v battery can i plug in 120v led rope lights to it? and also can i do the same with a 500 watt flood light? IF so would my 12v battery be able to power this for at least maby a few hours. If i did do this could i hook up my magneto from my boat motor to the battery with out frying any parts on my motor??

 

[ndthwacker]

If this would work would it be better to get like a 400 or 500 watt inverter??

 

[screwballl]

Those power converters drain the battery quick. You are better off finding 12V options for the rope lights and light bulb. As for the light bulb itself, you may be better off finding a 150W equivalent 12V LED "bulb", or check some local marine, RV or hardware stores for a "flounder bulb", which is usually a 100-200W 12V bulb.

 

[georgiaken]

Those power converters drain the battery quick. You are better off finding 12V options for the rope lights and light bulb. As for the light bulb itself, you may be better off finding a 150W equivalent 12V LED "bulb", or check some local marine, RV or hardware stores for a "flounder bulb", which is usually a 100-200W 12V bulb.

X2

Converters are fairly inefficient and will burn through your battery power prematurely. It's not so bad in a vehicle, as the alternator is putting out plenty of juice.

I wouldn't "design" a battery dependent system that required a converter, but rather use a converter for emergencies if needed.

I definitely wouldn't want an outboard trying to power lights through a converter. It's often better to go with what is there (12v) then to use an adapter or converter to get around stuff...

 

[jixer]

Get 12v lighting, like said an inverter will drain the battery quicker, we have them on our work vans and they drain fast. They waste energy with the electronics that make d/c into a/c. You can get led rope light in 12v and led would be the way to go to save batteries. I have 2 55w halogens and they will drain the battery pretty fast if left on, you will need to have a way to charge the battery if you want to use a 200+w bulb for extended use.

I dont see inverters being safe in a tin boat on the water. Our inverters have gfci's where you plug in, but my little 150-200 ish watt personal one does not so in theory you could get shocked from it depending on the specific inverter you have and what protection it offers.

The only really safe/reliable/cheap 120v lighting I have seen, Is the bowfishing guys that use small campsite generators to run alot of halogen lights, but that is probably real noisy, and portable generators have gfci's for their 20a 120v plugs, But like I said I dont know how they are keeping them quiet.

My personal inverter also has a battery protect low battery cut off, I know my boat battery is always around that or below (no recharging on my boat) so if I did put it in my boat, I would have to figure out how to get around that or it would just shut off when I hit the trolling motor and it saw the voltage drop.

 

[ndthwacker]

so any 12v rope lights will owrk to be wired strait to a battery? and i am assuming that the shorter the rope the the longer the battery life?

 

[screwballl]

When it comes to battery power, LESS is BETTER. So many people want all these conveniences of extra light and fans to cool off and extra battery powered devices. The best setup is only use battery for a fishfinder, trolling motor and maybe livewell pump for daytime, and one small low powered light for night time. Nothing else. Adding extra lights and extra devices causes an increase in battery drain and you run the risk of getting stranded on the water.
If you fish at night, bring some lanterns, flashlights or other light sources that do not use your boat battery.

 

[georgiaken]

When it comes to battery power, LESS is BETTER. So many people want all these conveniences of extra light and fans to cool off and extra battery powered devices. The best setup is only use battery for a fishfinder, trolling motor and maybe livewell pump for daytime, and one small low powered light for night time. Nothing else. Adding extra lights and extra devices causes an increase in battery drain and you run the risk of getting stranded on the water.
If you fish at night, bring some lanterns, flashlights or other light sources that do not use your boat battery.

That's what I do...I have a compact fluorescent lantern, a regular flashlight in lantern size and a few strap-on head lamps. I keep extra batteries for the headlamps (AAAs) in a Ziplock bag.

The new boat has a 12v lighter socket, but I doubt I'll use that much...