# lights



## huntmore (Mar 21, 2011)

Does anyone know which light has more lumins a 400 watt halogen or a 400 watt metal hilide.


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## FOD (Mar 21, 2011)

mh has more light,but it comes at a cost.


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## castandblast (Mar 22, 2011)

let the numbers speak for its self.

500W Halogen produces 9,600 Lumens.
150W Metal Halide produces 16,00 Lumens.

Now, they cost WAY more but you can run a smaller genny and get more light. However, they take longer to fire up and get bright. With Halos you can just flip the switch and your fishing. 

Im switching to 400W HPS and MH soon as my fan setup is done and I have some more cash in the bank.


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## MDL (Mar 22, 2011)

where do y'all get lights without droppin a fortune on them?


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## bullardsls1 (Mar 22, 2011)

I have a 400 mh and several 400hps lights I am really loving the combo but the hps is a faster lighting light and does really well in muddy water


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## castandblast (Mar 22, 2011)

MDL said:


> where do y'all get lights without droppin a fortune on them?



Thats the million dollar question there. I had found a person that said that they would sell them to me a good price if I would buy them in bulk. But I couldn't find enough people to go in on it and the deal fell through. I didn't want to be stuck with 30 lights at $65 each.


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## Bullfrog81 (Mar 22, 2011)

Gv lighting on eBay is the cheapest I have found. Call him you get a better deal not going through eBay.150 watt hps for 50 shipped.


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## Augustabowhunter (Mar 22, 2011)

the 5 min wait time for the MH  lights to come on is well worth the wait most of the time you can start the gen and turn the lights on and after you have your boat in the water and the truck parked they are ready to go. We had 750 watt halogens and thought we had lights. went to MH and wow.  worth the money to me


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## MDL (Mar 22, 2011)

thanks for the tips


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## huntmore (Mar 22, 2011)

castandblast said:


> let the numbers speak for its self.
> 
> 500W Halogen produces 9,600 Lumens.
> 150W Metal Halide produces 16,00 Lumens.
> ...



I was thinking about getting 4 or 5 400 watt mh. Do you think that will be to much, if there is such thing. Also did you mean 16,000 were you stated 16,00? If I can get 16000 out of a 150w mh 5 of those may be plenty.


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## Hard Core (Mar 22, 2011)

Metal halides all the way. We have shot the cleanest water and the rollin Mississippi with them. Worth the initial investment.


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## castandblast (Mar 23, 2011)

sorry, yes I ment 16,000 lumens for a 150 hps. I may be wrong but I think HPS and MH produces around the same of lumens. According to http://www.venturelighting.com/techcenter/metal-halide-techintro.html  it says that a MH will produce 65 to 115 lumens per watt. so a 400w is aroud 26,000 to 46,000Lumens compared to the 9,600Lumens of a 500w halo.

Hardcore, Tarbaby, and someothers may have better info on this but from what I understand, HPS is better for muddy water. MH are better for clear water. However, if you go with HPS the water will always look muddy due to the orange/yellow glow they put off. Just depends on what kind of water you usually shoot in.


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## JpEater (Mar 27, 2011)

I would go with some HPS's. Most any boat out there does great with four 400s HPS's. They don't have that eye burning glare that MH's have either! I would quit bowfishing if I had to put up with the glare from MH's all night long...........

Whatever you do, get a HPS light right off the bat. You can run a probe start MH bulb in an HPS fixture. BUT if you buy a MH ballast, you are stuck with MH. HPS ballasts will run both and give you the option to see what you like.


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## JpEater (Mar 27, 2011)

castandblast said:


> sorry, yes I ment 16,000 lumens for a 150 hps. I may be wrong but I think HPS and MH produces around the same of lumens. According to http://www.venturelighting.com/techcenter/metal-halide-techintro.html  it says that a MH will produce 65 to 115 lumens per watt. so a 400w is aroud 26,000 to 46,000Lumens compared to the 9,600Lumens of a 500w halo.
> 
> Hardcore, Tarbaby, and someothers may have better info on this but from what I understand, HPS is better for muddy water. MH are better for clear water. However, if you go with HPS the water will always look muddy due to the orange/yellow glow they put off. Just depends on what kind of water you usually shoot in.



HPS's don't have all the glare that MH's have. That helps with visibility tremendously. Also there is just something about the color of the light that just makes a carp or sucker stick out like a sore thumb. They just "glow" in the HPS light. 

Don't be fooled about the myth that says MH's are for clear water. HPS's work just fine in clear water! I can shoot 8-10 feet deep no problem when the water is clear enough at Clarks Hill late summer.


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## JpEater (Mar 27, 2011)

huntmore said:


> Does anyone know which light has more lumins a 400 watt halogen or a 400 watt metal hilide.



A 400w HPS puts out 50,000 lumens of light and pulls 475 watts.

A 500w Halogen puts out 9500 lumens and pulls 500 watts. 



If you went with the 500w Halogens you would need 6-10 lights to get coverage on an average size boat and not have darks spots. 

If you went with 400w HPS's, you would only need four lights.


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## GT Whitetail (Mar 27, 2011)

http://www.e-conolight.com/floods/medium/medium-flood/e-hr4h40qz.html


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## huntmore (Mar 27, 2011)

Thanks guys


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## Tarbaby 212 (Mar 28, 2011)

My .02, halogens. I have shot hps lights and got sick of thinking the water was murkey everywhere I went. I also think the 400's throw so much light it spooks the fish to early. This is just my opinion. You can see fish better in murkey water with hps.


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## StikR (Mar 28, 2011)

JpEater - I thought HPS lights only came in the big ugly square housings.  What are those housings in your avatar?  Something you had custom made?


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## thompsonsz71 (Mar 29, 2011)

those lights in his avatar are some that trey made..... they look even better in person


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## j_seph (Mar 29, 2011)

Lots of knowledge over on bowfishing country website


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## StikR (Mar 29, 2011)

thompsonsz71 said:


> those lights in his avatar are some that trey made..... they look even better in person




Oh reaaaalllyyyyy???


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## thompsonsz71 (Mar 30, 2011)

yes sir..... trey does an excellent job.....


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## j_seph (Mar 30, 2011)

thompsonsz71 said:


> yes sir..... trey does an excellent job.....


 x2
NEVER DONE ANY FOR ME BUT HAVE SEEN SOME OF HIS WORK!


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## Hard Core (Mar 31, 2011)

He makes some sharp looking fixtures for sure. Hit him up and check them out, definently nice!


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