http://www.environmentallights.com/products/10364/C6_Auto-Boat_LED_Xmas_20_LED_Xmas_Str_PW?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=products
and this other site how to convert normal lights to run on 12V
http://michaelbluejay.com/batteries/dc-christmas-lights.html
Disclaimer is I have not looked into this just a quick search is all I did, so do not know how reliable this is.
> Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 10:14:00 -0700
> From: crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM
> Subject: Re: Camping Christmas Lights
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>
> I've put warm white Xmas strings across the front and side of the house to
> light the pathways (we don't have streetlights here in Crescent Beach) and
> the colour is pretty acceptable. I'd love to have a 12 volt string for
> camping.
>
> Jake
>
> On Wed, May 19, 2010 at 10:08 AM, Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" <
> camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Rewiring a factory-made light string from 120V to 12V might be a big
> > challenge. There's also the current draw to consider: you didn't say if
> > you were wanting to run incandescent bulbs or LEDs. A string of 25 C7
> > (the big outdoor seven-watt) bulbs would be (25 Bulbs X 7 Watts = 175
> > watts, which is about 15 amps at 12 volts (not counting inverter losses)
> > so running that string for, say, eight hours would need 120 amp-hours. A
> > darn big aux battery.
> >
> > Far more energy-efficient would be those strings that use LED bulbs.
> > I've seen strings of 70 LED Christmas lights that use only 3.5 watts. A
> > third of an amp-hour per hour. My inverter doesn't draw much excess
> > current and thinking about it, it would be fun to bring a string of
> > those things along in Mellow Yellow to festivize the site.
> >
> > A nice warm white might be hard to come by, the LED strings I've seen
> > use the cheaper colder bluish-white LEDs.
> >
> >
> > Richard Koerner wrote:
> >
> >> Went camping recently, had shore A/C power at the campground, and ran
> >> a string of white Christmas lights outside the vanagon laid on the
> >> ground....just for the fun of it.... but provides just the right
> >> amount of light for illuminating the area. Girlfriend likes it, too;
> >> now, she wants them all the time, even when out in the middle of
> >> nowhere.
> >>
> >> I have an aux battery per the GoWesty kit. So one option is to run
> >> the Christmas lights off a 120 VAC inverter.....easy smeasy I guess
> >> to do that. The other option is to "rewire" the string of lights so
> >> as to directly operate off 12 VDC; my string has 50 bulbs so normally
> >> 120V divided by 50 is 2.4 volts per lightbulb....thus need to "group"
> >> about 6 or 7 bulbs in series across the 12 volts of the auxillary
> >> battery. Yes, much more hassle than simply using the inverter, but
> >> probably more electrically efficient, and I could "derate" the bulbs
> >> by putting them in groups of 8 or 9 thus with slightly dimmer light.
> >>
> >> Anyway, I suppose a third option is to buy 12VDC Christmas lights
> >> from someplace....they must be available. But that takes all the
> >> challenge out of it!
> >>
> >> Just wondering if the List has any clever ideas on this; basically it
> >> provides low-cost, pleasant, lighting around the campsite in the
> >> immediate vicinity of the slider door area. So would candles and a
> >> kerosene lantern I guess.....but candles blow out, and don't want to
> >> carry 2 or 3 kerosene lanterns, too bulky.
> >>
> >> Rich 85 Vanagon San Diego
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> > 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> > 74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
> > Bend, OR
> > KG6RCR
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Jake
>
> 1984 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX 'The Grey Van'
> 1986 Westy Weekender/2.5 SOHC Suby 'Dixie'
>
> Crescent Beach, BC
>
> www.thebassspa.com
> www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27
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