Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions pls

[chriscraft254]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

Christmas lights on a boat, what are you crazy!?!?

 

[tazmajazz]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

hmm, here is what the inverter manual says about low voltage:

"The inverter will operate from input voltage ranging
from 10 volts to 15 volts. Optimum performance will
occur when the voltage is between 12 volts and 14 volts.
If the voltage drops below 10.5V+/-0.3V, an audible low
battery warning will sound. The inverter will shut down if
the input voltage drops below 9.5V+/-0.3V. This protects
the battery from being over-discharged."

so do I understand correctly that as the battery gets drained, it outputs less and less voltage? so how can I calculate how long it will take to drain the battery to the point where it is only outputting 10v?

taz

 

[JDA1975]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

I used to decorate my big rig with LED rope lights, with color changing LEDs and a musical pattern controller...ran about 60 feet worth of lights on one 800 Cobra inverter....I had mine connected direct to battery, and would leave them on all night, but had a 4 battery bank to draw off of...If your only running a parade, connect 1 inverter direct to battery and hook up your lights...your engine will be running and I doubt you will have any problems, dont sweat it much! Bring some jumpers if your really worried in case, if your in a parade I am sure you can find someone willing to jump ya if the unforeseen happens. The inverter is designed to shut down at low voltage to protect your battery and allow the engine to start, so before complete discahrge it will shut down...worse case you end up running part of the parade without christmas lights

 

[tazmajazz]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

I am planning on hooking up the lights to a battery that isn't connected to anything else (so it will NOT be connected to the engine) so I can isolate it from the rest of the boat. I think I will run a test tonight with the lights, battery, and inverter and see how long it will run and then will know for sure and if necessary will buy an extra battery to bring along at the last minute.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

Think about it. If battery voltage didn't drop as it was being used, it would never go dead! Boy would the electric car makers like that huh! So yes -- battery voltage drops as it powers any device(s). Now consider what happens to current as voltage goes down. You still need to have xxx wattage/amperage on the output side of the inverter in order to make the lights (or whatever you are powering) continue to function. Lets use 240 watts as that requirement. This equates to 2 amps at 120 volts. On the input side you still need to INPUT 240 watts at 12.6 volts but with voltage having dropped to 10 volts the amp draw has raised to 24 amps plus any internal losses in the inverter. So as the battery dischages, the current demand goes up and this creates a downward spiral in run time and the battery quickly dies. At 11 volts a battery is on the edge of being quickly flattened. Look at discharge curves for batteries and you will see a very sharp dropoff in the curve at lower battery voltages but with a constant current draw. Increase the demand and the curve drops off even quicker.

 

[tazmajazz]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

gotcha, thanks so much for all the info. I bought a deep cycle 92ah battery and have the 400w inverter and everything hooked up right now to see how long it will last and then will just recharge the battery as soon as it dies. Cross your fingers! I just need 2 - 2.5 hours out of this! I figured the 92ah compared to the 79 would give me some extra room to work with.

taz

 

[tazmajazz]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

check it out here (almost 2 hours in) and "like" it to help us win the contest!

http://www.facebook.com/TampaAttractions?sk=friendactivity

 

[JDA1975]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

clicked it and it said no friend activity found.....which one is yours? they all looked good.

 

[tazmajazz]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

ours is #17, the ZETRO. it is probably the smallest of the bunch. We've got a big snowman on the bow

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

Don't run the battery so long the lights go out. Batteries don't like to be run totally flat.

 

[tazmajazz]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

thanks for the tip, I actually just unhooked the lights and started to recharge the battery so it will be full for tomorrow. I had all the lights up and running for about 2 hours 45 mins and they still looked real bright and the inverter was only warm, not hot at all. Thanks guys! I would have really been guessing without the kind folks on this forum giving me advice

taz

 

[JDA1975]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

still not seeing it..dunno can you post us a picture here? I would like to see how it turned out for ya!

 

[tazmajazz]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

here we go!

 

[JDA1975]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

cool, have a good time at parade, it looks good!

 

[tazmajazz]

Re: Putting Christmas lights on our boat for the first time, looking for suggestions

Thanks!