# DIY Green Light



## truittsosebee (Sep 20, 2011)

I just couldn't pony up $150 plus for a submersible green fishing light so I made my own 48" one for about $60.  
Ordered the inverter/ballast online ($20), bought the bulb at a light bulb store in Atlanta ($12), 48" of clear PVC from McMaster Carr ($25) and a couple of PVC fittings and some wire I had lying around.  Very easy to build.  Used it this weekend and it works great!
I put a 28 oz chunk of steel in the bottom end and it floats just right.


----------



## tonyf (Sep 20, 2011)

Looks great. Can you post the part numbers for the items you used?


----------



## truittsosebee (Sep 20, 2011)

Thanks and sure..
The ballast is made by Thin Lite and it's an OIB-153. A few solar power places sell them online.
The bulb is an F40/T12 GREEN and I got it at Atlanta Light Bulbs (don't ask why I had to go back and get a 2nd one, these things are fragile before they're inside the tube).
The clear PVC from McMaster Carr is 49035K27 (1 1/2" clear schedule 40, 48" long).
The rest of the PVC fittings are just 1 1/2" fittings from Lowes or the hardware store.
If your interested in building one, pm me and I'll sketch a wiring diagram and send it to you.
Me and my buddy both built one. It was a very easy and fun project.


----------



## truittsosebee (Sep 21, 2011)

For anyone interested, I put together a sketch of how I put mine together:


----------



## fulldraw74 (Sep 21, 2011)

How "battery friendly" is it?


----------



## geaux-fish (Sep 21, 2011)

Very nice illustration, thanks!


----------



## truittsosebee (Sep 21, 2011)

The bulb pulls about 3 amps.  I run mine off of a 7 amp-hour lithium ion battery and should get about 2 1/2 hours per charge.  I carry several batteries with me in my kayak for backup.


----------



## BigBubbaBass (Sep 21, 2011)

Very cool; but what's the purpose of the green light?


----------



## truittsosebee (Sep 21, 2011)

The green light wavelength travels further in water than white light attracting plankton and baitfish and thus bigger fish.  Oh yeah, and they dont attract bugs.A lot of striper fishermen use them to catch threadfin shad, crappie fishermen fish under them, etc. Check out Hydro Glow and Green Monster for commercially available units. Mine uses the same ballast and bulb as the 48" Hydro Glow unit.


----------



## Gunsmoke (Sep 22, 2011)

I bought one at Academy for 19.99
Works great


----------



## Bust-A-Hawg (Sep 22, 2011)

Thanks for the great diagram.  I got all my parts a couple weeks ago but light was not working...now thanks to your wiring instructions I see what I was doing wrong. Cant wait to get home and fix it.


----------



## truittsosebee (Sep 22, 2011)

Gunsmoke said:


> I bought one at Academy for 19.99
> Works great



Glad you're happy with your light, but you cannot buy a 48 inch/40 watt light for $19.
I also have one of the less expensive, smaller lights that works well for what it is, but these larger, more powerful units are a different beast.


----------



## Gunsmoke (Sep 23, 2011)

Yes i think mine is about 24" i didn't even look at the wattage


----------



## caver101 (Sep 23, 2011)

I have one of the 24" lights from academy. Its a decent light, but I can tell from the pic that your DIY light is a monster! This is definitely going on my to-do list! Thanks for the info!

The green lights bring shad in like a fat kid to the buffet!!


----------



## Teambuckslayer (Sep 24, 2011)

Does  the bulb  fit tight in the tube does it move around? Just wondering how carefull you have to be after you get it in the pvc. It looks like a good light to have and a lot cheaper.


----------



## truittsosebee (Sep 24, 2011)

Bulb fits pretty tight. Bulb diameter is 1.50" and tube ID is 1.590", so there is only 0.045" between the bulb and the tubing. With the wire in there that runs to the bottom there is hardly any play at all.


----------



## Cricket Chunker (Sep 29, 2011)

Here is a GON thread on the same subject from 2008.  Has a few more photos. That guy did not use the sch 40 PVC but used the lighter bulb protectors (I would go with sch 40 PVC IMO).

GON 2008 thread on how to build a green fishing light


----------



## RockyS (Nov 8, 2011)

Thanks guys I just ordered enough pvc and ballasts to do 2 of them. I let yall know how it turns out. Anyone got other pictures of their home made ones.  What did everyone use for the wiring and attaching the wire to the pipe?


----------



## Lake_and_stream (Nov 8, 2011)

sticky this ?


----------



## basser (Nov 9, 2011)

I use 28 watt T-5s for the last ones I made.  The smaller tubing makes them a lot less expensive.  The only down side to them is it is easier to break the bulbs since the tubing flexes.  $8.40 for the pvc tubing, $3.00 for the bulb, $12.00 for the ballast. and $6.00 for pvc parts and wire.


----------



## spes (Dec 5, 2011)

Hello,
I recently found this thread and am quite excited at the thoughts of building one of these lights..
 I have not been able to find anywhere online that will sell ONE  F40/T12 GREEN bulb. Atlanta Light Bulbs website says minimum of 6.
  Anyone know of a place that will sell 1 bulb?

Thanks,


----------



## Cricket Chunker (Dec 5, 2011)

Basser,

Clear schedule 40 PVC should not flex in that short of a length.  That stuff has thick walls.  I have seen them made with the bulb guards which are much thinner.  Is that what you have?

You can get sch 40 clear PVC at McMaster Carr on Fulton Industrial Blvd in Atlanta.


----------



## basser (Dec 6, 2011)

No, it is schedule 40 PVC, but again it is 3/4 inch not 11/2 inch.  Using the smaller 3/4 inch in 4 ft sections does indeed flex especially when some steps on them in the boat.  The first ones I made were done with 2 PVC and are indestructible, but costly.  Going to the 25 watt t-5s and the 3/4 inch tubing reduces the cost by more than 1/2.


----------



## basser (Dec 6, 2011)

At one time I was think about making a massive one out of an 8ft piece of tubing and a 96 inch high intensity T12.  I was thinking hanging it horizontally down the length of the boat instead of vertically.  It would be cheaper than making 2 4 ft ones and use only sightly more power.  100 watts instead of 80 watts.


----------



## spes (Dec 10, 2011)

Are you folks finding the bulbs locally or online?


----------



## RockyS (Dec 10, 2011)

I found mine at a lighting/ electrical place in covington.


----------



## reeljustice (Dec 11, 2011)

If you were going to place one of these permanently at a dock, would you be better off with an 8' submerged horizontally or vertically OR a 48" submerged vertcially??


----------



## basser (Dec 12, 2011)

I used colored sleeves instead of the colored fluorescent tubes.  The T-12 sleeves are about $4.00 each online with no minimums, and when the bulb fails you can get a replacement bulb at any store that carries fluorescent tubes.


----------



## spes (Dec 16, 2011)

Couple more questions if I may,,,
What guage wire do you use?
Are you soldering the wire directly to the bulb pins?
Anyone know if a G13 AUTO LOCKING-MED BI-PIN socket would fit in the pvc tube?
And lastly what keeps the whole thing from wiggle'n around in the tube?
Thanks


----------



## spes (Dec 28, 2011)

No replies?
Parts are ordered I could use the help...

One more question...
The threaded plug on the top will have a hole drilled for the power cord to pass thru,,, Does that mean the entire guts, bulb and ballister have to spin around when inserted into the tube and that plug is screwed closed???
I bet there's a pucker factor in that!


----------



## basser (Dec 28, 2011)

You don't have to solder the wire to the pins.  I used solderless conectors and just forced them onto the pins.  That way they can be easily removed.  You can also use the bulb sockets from a light kit. but you will have to use duct tape or something else to hold them in place.


----------



## spes (Dec 28, 2011)

Tks Basser,
I was thinking of that also,,
But either way,, you still have to screw the top fitting on where the power cord feeds thru right? Am I missing something here? To me that means everything inside has to spin around as you tighten that top pvc plug


----------



## RockyS (Dec 28, 2011)

The fittings i have for mine has a rubber grommet on fitting where it goes in.  I can put the wire in, and then tighten the cap down on the wire.  i found the fitting at ace hardware, its used for a service entrance into a outside breaker box.


----------



## basser (Dec 28, 2011)

Spes, you are makeing it harder than it has to be.  You have threaded fittings on both end of the light.  Run the cord end first, and put the ballst in the bottom portion.  Most likely you are going to have to add weight anyway.


----------



## chico80x (Feb 16, 2012)

truittsosebee, thank you for the great write up and I have one question for all of you. I already bought all the parts I needed to build the lights with the exception of the "service entrance into a outside breaker box." that RockyS suggested. I went to ACE Hardware and they had no ideal what I was talking about so I'd like to know if any of you can post a picture or a part number of the part you guys used to seal the wire going into the light?

Right now this is the only thing holding me back so if any of you could explain how you sealed the wire, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance!


----------

