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Joined: Mar 2007
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I was thinking of rigging a cheap light feeding system for the BGs. Do LED lights attract bugs well in a very dark area??? Tell me what you guys think. They have some other models I was looking at as well. I was thinking of putting it on a pole out over the water from the dam. http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_...84+4233&pos=n12
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Whatever you do, make sure you install a GFI (Ground Fault Interupter) in there somewhere. Electricity and water invite Murphy every time.
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yeah, just started looking at some submersible solar lights but I think I might find something that works since I have no power down to the pond.
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Joined: Jun 2005
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Keith,
That looks like a nice light, and at $30 you can't go wrong. I may get a couple myself. You can't beat solar for safety and reliability. I suspect it would store up at least a couple of hours of light even on a cloudy day.
I don't see why bugs wouldn't be attracted to an LED light. If I remember correctly, they were attracted to my LED flashlight last summer.
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they also have some small white floating ones for like 20 a piece which could go inside a feeding ring or something. I would really like a submersible spotlight rigged to a solar panel and battery setup but the rig will cost more than $30 and even if you ruin a $30 dollar light, so what.
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Joined: Oct 2005
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I've had some different types of solar lights in the past and they don't give off very much light at all. I think they are more for decoration than anything.
Some days you're the bug, some days you're the windshield.
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Joined: Aug 2006
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Bobad, was that you that was working on a solar powered bug whacker last year? If so how did that project turn out.
Pond Boss subscriber ever since I joined the forum. Thanks Bob!
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I'll take the $30 gamble and see how it works out. If nothing else I'll have a new patio light. The reviews say that one really is bright but I'm sceptical too. It has 3 led's and the old solar lights were incandecent so I thought maybe they have a better product now with the leds, guess well see. I have a little LED flashlight that is pretty dang bright. This field the pond is in is pitch black at night so if it is decent I think it will make some additional bugs crash into the water.
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I almost bought the wrong light. It turns out the up side to LED in the outdoors is that they emit a different spectrum than bugs see so I found a solar powered flourescent that will work much better. Unless you use UV LEDs they wont attract bugs. There is a UV LED solar bug zapper you could hang over the water if you wanted to feed your fish cooked bugs. Here is the link to what I think will be my first purchase in this area: http://www.solarhome.org/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=132
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Joined: Jul 2003
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I'm looking for a cheap solar outhouse fan with light; that with a storage battery might be the starting point. Let me know if you find anything like that.
Chip
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Joined: Feb 2007
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I have always wondered that if you mounted a mirror a foot below the water directly under the light would the bugs fly toward the reflection thereby hitting the water? Clear water would be a must and you would probably need to clean algae off the mirror regularly but if its mounted on a dock that shouldn't be to hard. Any volunteers?
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
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Originally posted by FamilyTradition: Bobad, was that you that was working on a solar powered bug whacker last year? If so how did that project turn out. Sorry for the delayed reply FT. I was planning one, but it got kicked to the back burner. When I complete a couple of other projects, I can get on it again. I think I will need a 15-20w solar panel, a small charge controller, a cheap 12v utility battery, a timer, and 12v motor and LED light. Since very little power is required for the light and rotating wire, I will look for an efficient little 12v motor. An important key is to prevent the battery from discharging below 80% of full charge. If it discharges below 80% too many times, it won't last more than a few weeks.
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Originally posted by DJT: I have always wondered that if you mounted a mirror a foot below the water directly under the light would the bugs fly toward the reflection thereby hitting the water? Clear or muddy water reflects light just about as good as a mirror. Maybe you could mount the light very low, shining on the water at an angle. It wouldn't cost much to try it! http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95388
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From what I've been reading they say to stay below 50% battery consumption for long time use. I guess we'll see. Maybe I'll just run it for a couple of hours.
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Originally posted by Keith Wolfe: From what I've been reading they say to stay below 50% battery consumption for long time use. I guess we'll see. Maybe I'll just run it for a couple of hours. I think 50% would be OK for a deep cycle battery, but it would quickly ruin a standard battery.
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Joined: May 2006
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Are you just using the light to fish by or are you intending to have the lights draw in the bugs and the end up falling in the water? So you are using AC to power your lights? inverted from the dc to ac. I may be thinking in the wrong direction(I do that often) Would you really need a bigger wattage inverter if you are only using 128 watts. where would the bigger inverter come into play? If you used more watts you would be required to have more Battery standby to be converted. Have you seen any of the bug wackers in the forums? I am waiting for the bugs to get to flying this year because my fish are big enough to eat them now.
A little snow, Please!
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I am going to be fine with the inverter but like you said, more battery will make the system great. I'm going to use a 35 amp hour connected to the inverter which also has a 17 amp hour battery its self. I will use a 30 watt solar panel to recharge the system. It's been a task getting my head around the best way to do this. The only thing I wonder about is the fan constantly going in the inverter. It has a one year waranty and is cheap so I guess I'll roll ahead. I was not going to do the feeder with the moving parts becasue of the wattage requirements but those sure look cool. Maybe one day when I have more power down there.
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Joined: May 2006
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I will try to get to the pond and fire mine up tomorrow to see how much amp draw it has and let you know.
A little snow, Please!
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Joined: Jun 2005
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Originally posted by Keith Wolfe: The only thing I wonder about is the fan constantly going in the inverter. The fan doesn't use much juice, and will run reliably for years. However, the inverter itself uses a LOT of current to do the conversion from DC to AC. Inverters add 20-25% to current usage just to convert from DC to AC. There are cheap 12v lights, timers, and motors that are much more efficient and safe than their inverted AC counterparts.
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