feeder lights

[billythekid007]

I am putting up a new feeder and blind on my land... I am wanting to be able to see at night and I was going to put a feeder light up...

I did a search for "feeder lights" I couldn't find many and when I did they were a little more than I wanted to spend. So, I saw some at Lowes.. just solar night lights that come on at night. I assume these will work.

My question is... will this work? Also, do I need to use red bulbs? and other info you might know or have would be great!

Thanks so much!!

[hogdogs]

http://www.elusivewildlife.com/products.htm?section=22&p=productMore&iProduct=73
Click the products button for more products... These lights will make the area bright enuff to pick off a hog...
Red is required if you are entering a dark area then lighting it up. If it is on the feeder a white light will be fine but use what you prefer.
Brent

[armedtotheteeth]

oH, ME LIKEY LIKEY!! i HAVE GOT TO MAKE ME ONE OF THOSE!!! Its on this spring. I guess we will have to watch out for deer though!! Thanks for the link Hogdogs.

[Dallas Jack]

I've done the same search and came to the same conclusion. Too darn exspensive. So until I can come up with another solution I am going to use the LED ball cap lights scothlocked to the feeder legs.

With a little research I think I can make a set of LED lights with a day/night sensor that can run off of the feeder battery/solar panel.

I thought about the solar walkway lights. They should work if they put out enough light or you have a bunch of them. Problem is most of the ones I have seen put out a minimal amount of light.

All of my shooting will be done directly under the feeder (Coons) and I will not need a bright light.
Dallas Jack

[Rmart30]

we have used some of these for short hunts, this model will only last a bout a hr and 1/2, other better models will last over 2 ........

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94668

Also took 4 of these and put them around another feeder.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95388

Some of the LED lantern types will last a good 4 or 5 hours.

[fisherman66]

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago92.html

[Doyle]

I had a couple of those solar lights next to my house. What I found is that they need to get really good light in the late afternoon in order to last more than just a very short time once the sun goes down. In a feeder situation, it will likely be in a wooded area where the lights won't get good light except when the sun is directly overhead.

[fisherman66]

Doyle, that sounds like an efficiency problem. Not enough power is generated, or too much power is used. That's not hard to fix; either a larger solar array or a more miserly light or a combo of both is needed. Properly orienting the solar array to the south at a good angle is obviously important. The array and battery do not need to be very close to the light as long as a wire can be routed to the light. Cheap batteries that are not rated for daily deep cycling are not going to last very long.

[hogdogs]

With DC voltage, you need a larger wire gauge than A/C and the lower volts requires higher % of increased wire size for increases in distance or the amps drawn will be excessive. Remember the old Malibu foot light kits? They had 12 or 10 gauge wire to accommodate the 100 foot runs.
If it were me I would want the battery close to the lights. The solar charger can be further away and still do a good job.
for parts I would get an all weather solar maintenance charger as big as possible, a good name brand fairly large motorcycle battery, photocell from a low voltage light system, and for lighting I would look into the LED cluster lamps. Lumens would need to be as high as possible for me to think I would see the target animal well enuff to shoot.
Brent

[armedtotheteeth]

Yithian and I are in the proces of building one out of some Red LEDs. ( REad: eyesmoking lazer beam bright holy Crap that hurts lights) Im thinking just a simple timer to turn the lights on for about 5-10 minutes before the feeder goes off and have them on for like 2-3 hours.
For power I have 2- 6 volt feeder batteries wired to a Solar cell, in hopes of the Solar cell being able to keep them both charged. The feeder motor only runs for about 4 seconds a day, so, no big deal there.
We will see how it works after it is all completed. Red LEDS are cool as there is no filter over the light, and they use less power.

[Art Eatman]

Car battery. Regular electric wire, say 14-gauge. From a junkyard, old tail light fixture(s). Small solar panel for trickle charge. 12-volt switch.

Sit in stand, hit the switch, wait...

[fisherman66]

May I suggest a deep cycle marine type battery in lieu of the car battery.