LEDs, battery and kayak ?

[2050z]

For those of you using LED strip lights on your kayak which battery are you using? How many hours of usage are you getting?

[bulletpusher]

Just go with the smallest 12v deer feeder battery you can find. Usually the 7ah (7 amp hour) is what you find. These LED really sip the power, unlike the old incandescent hot bulbs. How long it last depends on how many lights you run and the total draw of all added together. Remember a milli amp is 1/1000 of an amp. So add up all the mili amps of all you light and divide that into 7000mah(7ah x 1000) and you will know how many hours it will run.

[jgirsh]

I ran a 16 ft led strip for 3 hours on a wildgame battery

[2050z]

Just go with the smallest 12v deer feeder battery you can find. Usually the 7ah (7 amp hour) is what you find. These LED really sip the power, unlike the old incandescent hot bulbs. How long it last depends on how many lights you run and the total draw of all added together. Remember a milli amp is 1/1000 of an amp. So add up all the mili amps of all you light and divide that into 7000mah(7ah x 1000) and you will know how many hours it will run.

I am running 54 lights using the 12v 7.5ah feeder batter.

Help

[denowt]

I am running 54 lights using the 12v 7.5ah feeder batter.

Help

I tested my entire 16' strip of 5050 LEDs and it was drawing 2.1amps.
Doing the math 7.5Ah battery/2.1A draw= 3.5hrs.
If you're using less than the entire strip, your time will obviously increase.
If you have a DMM, simply measure the current draw of your lights and divide it into the Ah rating of your battery to get a better estimate.

[2050z]

Please forgive me, but I am not very knowledgeable on using a multi meter.

I have a greenlee DM-40 Multimeter. How do I actually test it? Do I leave the lights plugged into the battery?

[denowt]

You set the meter to read amps.
Hook 1 of the wires from the lights to the battery as normal.
Hook the meter between the other light wire and other battery terminal, completing the circuit.
The lights should come on and the meter should show a reading.
If you have the meter hooked up backwards, it'll show a negative reading, but it will still be correct.

Clear as mud?

[2050z]

Oh ya clear as mud.

I have tried all kinds of ways, but no readings. Lights power up fine.

200m with the A - and ... underneath the line.

20m same as above setting

https://www.platt.com/CutSheets/Greenlee/dm-40.pdf this is the user manual for my meter.

[Bill's Unlimited]

Bulletpusher is on the mark. Although I haven't installed them on a kayak, I ran a test running off a feeder battery on an 8' length of 5050 LEDs. I think it was after day 2 (running 24/7) that they dimmed, and after a week they were still lit but very dim.

[denowt]

Basically you hook up the lights to battery as normal. Lights should come on.
You then disconnect 1 wire from battery, lights should go off.
Then hook up the DMM in between the wire and battery, completing the circuit once again and the lights should come on again.

I had a cut section of 3 LEDs that I was using for testing. I measured the current to be about 55mA for those 3 LEDs. That should give you a decent estimate.
If you're using 54 LEDs, your draw should be around 972mA. For simplicity's sake, we'll say 1000mA or 1A. Using a 7.5Ah deer feeder battery, it should last about 7.5hrs. 7.5Ah battery/1A draw=7.5hr run time.

Or you could just do it the long way to be sure. Hook it up and time it.

[denowt]

Just out of curiosity, what are your intentions with these LEDs?
Are they meant for you to be able to see ahead of you at night or for others to see you?
I've been wanted to install mine on my kayak, but I'm wanted them more for me to see ahead.
One of the places I plan to fish at night is Lake Texana in Edna. I would like to be able to see the gators and avoid them at night. I've seen a few during the day there and they don't seem to be bothered by the kayak. I'm not sure if they become more aggressive/curious at night.
I'm also concerned that the light may actually attract them toward me and I definitely don't want that to happen.

[denowt]

Oh ya clear as mud.

I have tried all kinds of ways, but no readings. Lights power up fine.

200m with the A - and ... underneath the line.

20m same as above setting

https://www.platt.com/CutSheets/Greenlee/dm-40.pdf this is the user manual for my meter.

Just reread your post.
You will probably have to move your red test lead to a different port on your meter in order to read amp draw.

[2050z]

only two ports on this meter.

[2050z]

[ATTACH]511896[/ATTACH]

[denowt]

I think I see the problem.
It looks like your meter can only read a maximum of 200mA current draw.
Using my estimation of your current draw above of 972mA, your meter can't read that much current draw.
My meter has an extra port used for up to 20A of current draw.