# Lights/Generator



## redneck3131 (Jul 20, 2011)

Alright been bowfishin for a few years. Decided to step my game up and get a deck put on my boat. It should be done tonight, buddies of mine is doing if for free and also suppling all the parts for free. Im going to run 2 250 watt halogen lights on the front and 3 500 watt halogen light on each side. I was wondering in the 2 250 watt lights on the front will be enough light. Also im going to buy a generator i found a champion at tractor suppply it is a 4000 watt peak. I will be running 3500 watts of light. Do any of you see a issues with this? I have a 8500 watt generator but it weighs close to 300 pounds, im fishing out of a lowe rough neck 16' cc with deck on front and in my opion this generator is to heavy and to loud. Thought opions shoot'em at me.

Thanks


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## TexasCowboy (Jul 7, 2011)

Be careful with your wire size to the generator plug. One 120 volt circuit should only have 1,920 watts, according to the NEC (National Electric Code). Use at least #10 wire back to the generator. Dont start all the lights at one time. Let some warm up, then start others. This is Texas, you obviously can load more than the code allows, but just watch it for a while and feel the wire to make sure it dont get hot enough to ignite.


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## redneck3131 (Jul 20, 2011)

thanks


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## bowfishrp (Apr 5, 2007)

I see a few issues with that setup. First you want your brightest lights on the front so put 2-500s up there instead of the 250s. Then you can try to balance out from there.
The other problem is that those cheap champion generators are 4000 PEAK but they are 3500 RUNNING watts and you should never run the rated running watts for too long. Generally you should not run over 80% of the RUNNING watts to make a generator last long. If my math is right that would be 2800 watts of lights. With this in mind you could run 2-500s on the front and 1-500 and 1-300(or 250) on each side.

If you can find them see if you can get some 350 ultra halogen bulbs. I used to run them next to 500s and could never see a difference. The problem is they are hard to find now....GE used to make them.

Make sure you space your lights out so you get the best coverage too. Oh and Harbor Freight sells cheapo generators too. We think they are all made in the same factory because they all look exactly the same, just are different colors and stickers.


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