Great posts on here guys, and Owen youre doing some great things man !!!

I've got a few questions, I am buying a set of rails and lights 12 total lights at 50w a piece LED 12v 600 total watts. I want to capability of running them with a generator. I did some research and found the power max PM3-55 converter.
My questions are:
Would I be able to run this off of a 7.5 amp 900 running watt capacity whisper generator ?
If I can run them would I be able to do so using a single 12v deep cycle Marine Battery? (I prefer the interstate 31)
Furthermore I am new to this and want to fully understand, I would be plugging the Converter into the generators 110 AC and plugging the lights into the other end for DC, I understand that it is essentially a rapid re-charger would I be safe saying that it would keep the lights going for a strong 7-8 hours If i were to go this route ?

I understand I can parallel batteries together but if im at the camp all weekend and I want to fish all day then go bowfishing for a few hours I dont want to have to depend on recharging a battery back at the camp.

Thanks for all of the help guys

You'd hook the genny to the converter, converter to battery, then lights/tm to battery. The 55a converter should keep your batteries topped off indefinitely if that is all you are running. If you're running a tm in addition to the lights or any other accessories, you will still draw the battery down, just at a slower rate. A 55lb TM draws about 50amps by itself at full throttle...Your lights are going to draw about the same..

A 900w generator is right on the edge for a 55a converter. At full power, I'd allow around 1000 watts, and they get much less efficient if you drive them past their limits, which means they're capable of drawing more..

Alright guys I just called power max and I was told that they offer a "Bow fishing edition" Converter, Where it disables the battery charging portion and it can be plugged directly into your DC lights. The only down side of course is having to have the generator running for the entirety of the trip. My question now is

I know that these lights don't necessarily draw the amps that the calculations say they do. With that being said math states that my Custom fitz lights should draw 4.7 amps a piece. Does anyone know if this is accurate? If it is then I'll have to up to the 75 amp converter because 12 lights at 4.7 puts me at 56.4 slightly above 55

Thanks for all of the help guys

Before buying too big inverter or charger, check the actual amp draw of your lights. I doubt a 50 watt led draws 5 watts.

Most simple volts meters also have a dc amp meter built in (rated for a few seconds test at 10 amps)

Just to throw it out there, if you're running into a capacity issue, the vast majority of LED lights will work from 9-36 volts meaning you can run two 12v batteries wired as 24v and cut your amps in half and 3 wired as 36 will cut it in thirds which also increases your time likewise. Generally speaking you'll only run the capacity down to 60% to avoid shortening the lifespan of the battery. Think of a 300aph battery only giving you 180amps per hour with a 50amp draw, that's roughly 3 1/2 hours of run time. Like stated above, amp check your lights and that'll give you total true run time. If you have 600 watts, that's 50amps on a 12v, 25 amps on a 24v and 16.6amps on a 36v circuit...

Doesn't really make any difference either way... Running 3, 12v, 1000ah batteries in series gives you a total of 1000ah at 36v, at 1/3 of the load, running 3, 12v, 1000ah batteries in parallel gives you 3000ah at 12v with three times the load...six one way, half dozen the other, if you're using the same batteries. Only thing running at 36 would help with is heat or allowing you to run a smaller gauge wire. Doesn't change the run time if you are using the same amount and type of batteries.

I have a couple of the customfitzf lights, they draw 4.0 amps apiece in a 12v system

Perfect thats what I wanted to know JD,
So I can run them in a 2 Battery 24v System they will draw roughly 24 amps,

So would I be safe going with a power max 35 amp converter ?

Check that 30 amp converter for 24v system

The powermax 35a is a 12v coverter , isnt it? You'd have to run two of them to get 24v. I wouldn't run them without batts either. The batts give u a "cushion" if you overdraw the converter for any reason.

The 30a would work then. Don't see how it would save you much money though unless prices have come down. The 24v converters used to be a lot more expensive, and would also mean you'd need to get a second battery. The 55a 12v, should suffice...and cost less money.

Alright then well 55 amp converter to a single 12v and a Genny that can push 900 running watts easily so im thinking a 1200 running watt 4 stroke champion or sportsman.

I think thats gonna be my best route

Thanks for all of the help fellas, and if you all ever need any medical advice im a Flight medic applying to med school next year lol so yall give me a shout if ever theres anything in that category !!!!!

Buddy of mine runs two of these with two 55a converters... http://www.championpowerequipment.com/p ... rs/73536i/

Little more power than you need, but they'll burn a lot less gas and be quieter than one that's running maxed out all the time. They are super quiet...you can sit underneath the platform they're on and carry on a normal conversation. When the TM run's wide open for a while they'll throttle up out of econo mode, but even wide open, they're hardly loud...

I do have one question though, if you're gonna run a Genny, why use 12v LEDs?

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My buddy runs 24v led's and a 24v troller. The genny/converter setup allows us to fish indefinitely (so long as we have gas, and they'll run a long freakin time on a gallon), and not have to worry about charging batts to go again the next night. Also run the stereo, interior lights, etc...never have to worry about drawing the batteries down.

And just FTR....I would prefer to run at the highest voltage that makes economical sense... If you can run at 24v for about the same price and don't mind the weight of the extra battery, go for it. I don't think there is any REAL benefit though, so if there is a large difference in price, go the cheaper route. If the lights will run on 12v, then they should be able to dissipate the extra heat created by running at lower voltage..def not gonna hurt anything to run cooler if you can though.