Christams lights

[hatteras]

This may have been on the forum before, but I did not see it in the search.
I want to be in a boat parade and want to hook up the christam lights to a ac/dc converter, so I can plug them in and us a battery.
Has anyone had luck doing this? I would rather not use a generator on board a 20' Oday.

[Vasco]

Unless you're using led lights there's going to be quite a draw on your battery and I doubt, judging from the size, that your boat has enough amps.

[hatteras]

Thanks Vasco
Where are all the festive people tonight with good ideas?

[Boracay]

What about those 12V strip lights the custom car persons use. They look like LEDs and are not expensive.

They have them flashing with the music. Maybe Jingle Bells?

[David M]

Find out how many amps each string of lights draws. Multiply the amps times 120 and that is the number of watts each string draws. How many watts can your inverter produce? How many amps or watts can your alternator produce at a reasonable output? Figure on some loss from the inefficiency of your inverter.

Its not impossible....you just have to do the math to see how many strings of lights is reasonable for your boats electrical system. Obviously don't try to max out your electrical system.

[Stillraining]

300 lights = 1 amp 2.5v outdoor lights ( non LED )
10 amps will run 3000 of them

[BlueWaterSail]

I have one of those emergency starter units on my boat - battery clamps, 2x12V outlets and a 400W inverter with 2 standard ac outlets all in one compact unit. Bought it from Sears, $125 as I remember. The battery provides 10A/hr.

I keep it onboard as a backup for the starting battery, as well as to power any power tools, etc.

If Stillraining's calculations are correct, it would power 3K lights for 1 hour, or 1K lights for 3 hours - plenty for the parade I've signed up for mid-Dec, and all without messing with the house/starting batteries onboard.

BWS

[irwinsailor]

We were in a light parade with a string of lights about 400 feet long and I ran them from a 600Watt inverter with no problem.

[bstreep]

25w per 50 light strand, I've heard. I hope...

[scotte]

My wife bought a number of solar LED Christmas lights at a Target or something like that. Each strand is about 20' and run for 6 hours or so after dark (unless it's a really dark/cloudy day). Might be an option for some folks, if you have them available...

[hatteras]

Thanks for the replys. Still not sure what we are going to do yet, but It will look good!