I need to know from those who have them, what type are you using and how has it worked for you? Details, details, details please! Good parts, bad parts, options you wish it had, what you like about it and don't...ect.

I'm in the process of building one myself (2 ft with 40 ft cable) and in for about $150 including battery. Found 3 part youtube video on how to build it, and making slight modifications such as better LED's and clear pvc outer cover, but so far till my other parts arrive this is what I got...

I made one of these last year and didn't get to use it much. Made mine around 4 feet long and it has a 25' tether and wire that does the trick. I put the clear sleeve polycarbonate on it to try and make it water tighT. As it turn out, water got inside anyways, and probably was a good thing since it got hotter than expected. Using the waterproof led lights reassured me that it didn't matter. My kids use it as a light saber now but I hope to use it later this year for its intended purpose.

Question, what battery are you using? I'm using a simple 12v battery from the local electronics store. And all things considered, I spent around 50 buck for everything, but I had some stuff laying around before hand.

I just had a 12v deep cycle 35 amp battery delivered for it today. $60 Amazon. I'm using 5050 size led strip, which are some of the largest square ones availible now. The LEDs do seem to get a little hot near the connection side of it, but I got a clear 2ft pvc sch 40 pipe coming tomorrow for the outside.

I wish I could make a longer one, but I would need 2 5 meter strips to cover 4 ft. This is pretty much a tester for durability, then I can go larger if it tests well. The main cost was the battery, but I can use that on another rig as well when that time comes.

My clear pvc just came in and cable glands for the top to close the wire through the pvc tight and waterproof. Much gluing needed now and then letting it cure for 72 hours.

Here is part 1 of the video in case anyone is interested, the series is 3 parts long and it's pretty cheap but slightly time consuming to make one.

http://youtu.be/MqIv992HrGk

Use acrylic tubing and a flat piece of acrylic, use acrylic glue to glue them together then put a coat of epoxy around the seals for piece of mind.

I got some E6000 from Home Depot for the seals on the pvc. I went with the clear pvc just to make it more durable since I'll basically be tossing it from the banks or suspending it from bridges submerged. The extra weight should help it sink easier too.

Mine gets a little warm around the connector side, seems like it might warp thin acrylic?

I wrapped 32' of 5630 LEDs around 2" PVC after spraying with 3M adhesive. Sealed the entire thing with clear flex seal. The lights will start to dim near the end of the strip when it is that long so I ran the power to the middle of the PVC and then wrapped my two 16' strands of LEDs from the middle of the PVC towards the ends.

How are the 5630's? Those are the rectangular ones, right?

Very cool that you ran power to light both strips evenly. I thought I might run into the dimming issue, but since I only have 5 meters it is pretty even. I was ready to run the power down the center of the pvc and connect both ends of the led strip if it became an issue.

Thanks for your input!

The 5630 are brighter than that 5050. That's why I chose them.

Cool! Appreciate the input.

Alright, I screwed up on the 2 ft light. I already glued one 2 inch pvc end on the light while waiting on a 2 inch x 2 ft clear pvc from ebay. Received clear pvc pipe a few days ago and the inside diameter was 2 inches, not the outside diameter. Guy had it listed on ebay without full in/out dimensions, so I got screwed. So now I ordered another that explicitly stated 1.9 inch outside diameter and waiting on it.

In the meantime, I started a new 4 ft light. This time I started with the outside clear tube and am working my way inside, so I know it will fit.

Going to try a 4 ft clear CFL protective tube instead of clear pvc. It is thinner and hope it won't get too hot. Ordered (2) 5630 green led strips and will run power to both ends of tube to help keep from dimming, that's 32 ft of strip. Got 3/4 pvc tube for the light strips to wrap around on the inside. If the outside casing holds up, this is going to be one bright bad boy!

Keep you posted on the progress for any that are interested.

How long does it freaking take to cut a 2ft piece of pvc and get it shipped? Ordered that shyte on the 27th and they haven't even shipped the thing yet...

What diameter are you looking for? I have a few pcs of clear PVC lying around in my shop. I got away from using it due to poor clarity. I didn't like buying the brightest LED's I could find then placing them behind a filter.

I now use polycarbonate (lexan) tubing for my submersibles. More durable, has UV stabalizers, and clarity is MUCH better than "clear" PVC. Only drawback is you have to tool PVC fittings to fit due to Poly tubing being "true dimension" where PVC is not. Acrylic tubing is just as clear as lexan, and cheaper, just not as durable.

PVC lens on left, Lexan on right.




As for heat, my lights will run a short time out of water, but testing has shown mine usually fail on cooldown when the lens contracts at a different rate than the core, which results in a cracked lens. But even then, I have to run them extended periods of time to get them so hot they'll fail. As long as I keep them in the water they'll run indefinitely without failing.

I power my strips from both ends on the lights I build. This results in even lighting over the length of the strip. Slightly more amp draw, but not enough to worry about on such a low current device.

Thank you very much for the offer! I already have 1 2ft clear pvc I ordered, but it was 2 inch ID instead of 2 OD. I ordered another from someone else and it is 1.9 OD which is what I need to fit the 2 inch couplers, just waiting on it to arrive. This one is for my short 2 ft light and you're right...the blue tinting will dim them, which all the clear pvc seems to have on it.

As for the 4 ft, I'm using the brighter 5630 leds (32 ft) and just waiting for them to arrive as well.

Since the 2ft one was delayed because the outer pvc situation, I started the 4ft one from the outside in. I got a clear CFL 4ft tube protector (acrylic I think) and am using a 3/4 pvc on the inside to wrap the leds around. Much thinner than the 2ft and I hope as durable but the CFL tube seems really thin. Hoping it can handle the 5630's heat. I'll have to only run it submerged as well to disipate the heat, I'm sure they'll be much too hot out of water.

If stuff goes south with these orders, I'll definitely give you a buzz. The battery alone was more than 1/2 my investment, so I'm in till these things get done right.

Very nice lights by the way!!! Look really nice!

In testing my 4' models on the water, I discovered that having 100% coverage on a 4' light is not necessary (not really necessary on a 2' model either). I have tested them, 100% coverage on one end of the boat and 50% coverage on the other end of the boat, and both attracted bait equally. My advice, save some money and build 2 lights out of those two 5 meter strips. I rarely catch anything in the bright area anyway, most fish come on the edge of the light.