Switch box for lights in portable

[JigginIsLife]

Hey guys, I am looking for what you guys use to put your switches in on your portable. I want to wire all my lights to my house to switches and I'm looking for something durable strong, and waterproof, but something I can drill into to put those switches in, any ideas?

I have been looking for portable mod threads but can't find any with the search... i guess I'm kind of an one-who-thinks-I-am-silly, but what can ya do?

[Naturboy]

I just put an inline switch on the power line between the battery and the light since it runs along the canvas support pole. The switch I used is the kind often found in the cord of hanging lights around the house. I use a simple toggle switch to turn the power on to that power line.

[Invader440]

Sent you a PM about this.

[Northlander]

Northern Bright Lights sold me some dimmer switches that I use and they are slick. I would check them out.

[AndRo]

http://fishingminnesota.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2680164/1

[bassmann77]

If it wasn't a pain is the a$$ to load pictures I would show you what I did,but I bought a gray outdoor electrical box at Menards and two of those electrical plates were you can attach multiple wires to and wired in switches to the top of the box. I had the two power wires for the battery come out of the hole I drilled in the bottom of the box to run for the battery. My original plan was to put the battery in the box, but that ended up being a bad idea because it was easier to have the battery out for charging. I attach the battery to the sled with velcro and mounted the box to the sled of my Guide where the poles come in and works great.

[djt311]

There are a quite a few threads out there on this as referenced above. I used an ammo box, bottom part is water proof I would say top hatch is water resistant but have had no issues. I wired it up with 3 switches and plugs, also a cigarette lighter plug in. Can run my led lights, fan, charge items and spare flasher battery if needed. the case work really well I store my led light strips in there along with computer fan and other small item.

[slick2526]

if your are just looking for switches to run wires too and nothing else I would buy a pre made 12 volt rocker panel. type in how many swtiches you want, like "4 gang marine grade rocker panel" in a search engine, or e b a y search and lots of options will come up. I like the ones with circuit breakers instead of fuses but thats just me.

That ammo box is a pretty cool idea also if want your power supply remain portable.

[JigginIsLife]

I was thinking ammo boxes but have only seen the old fashioned metal ones, i like the idea of having them be portable, battery keeps longer if you bring it in after a use or what not. that is a superb idea, where did you get the reinforced plastic one? fleet or similar?

[Chaws]

I built one in a plastic ammo box kind of like the one above. I can have 3 batteries in the box and if I wanted to, hook them all together. Right now it's just hooked up one at a time. In my flip over I have multiple different lights. A couple LED type strips across different hoops above my head, a fan, lights mounted to the tub facing the holes and some facing into the sled. They all run together and I've hooked them all together using a power supply connector like this http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/a/atx-24-pin-connector.jpg

That way I can pull the power supply box and just unplug one thing and everything disconnects. I also have the DC outlet on the top of the box for charging my cell phone for when I'm using my Navionic app a lot.

[a_jurek]

http://i1321.photobucket.com/albums/u553/Jurek_a/unnamed1_zps67f3ef47.jpg

Custom ... Not waterproof as you mentioned you wanted but its small and compact and fits/works well in my t650 cabin.

[JigginIsLife]

Im assumming you did the bending of the aluminum yourself? that is about as handy as it gets, attached to the side up out of the way, with rocker switches on it. Well done

[LightningBG]

I like the ammo box type for sure.

If you are looking for something really compact, radio shack has little boxes called "project boxes". I've used them for switches before. I dont think they are waterproof but you could probably put some silicone in there to make them more water resistant.

[leech~~]

19 minutes ago, sgtgreen said:

I just purchased this from bold north outdoors,  now i have everything running off of my battery box.  Its pretty sweet.  I found them on facebook, many people make them, but after the cost of purchasing everything it would cost more then what this company is selling them for

 

That's amazing, you have the same Avatar name as a guy who has been selling the same box on here since Sept. Did he give you a better deal then $80 bucks? 

[ZachD]

I bought one from them too I priced it out and it was about the same to build my own as to order from them so I just ordered it from them. Mine wouldnt be as neat as theirs haha

 

[slammer]

Dakota lithium has a cool little box like that.  Comes with a lithium battery thats half the weight but a bit pricey at around $200

[CJH]

14 hours ago, slammer said:

Dakota lithium has a cool little box like that.  Comes with a lithium battery thats half the weight but a bit pricey at around $200

 

The Lithium Battery is the most expensive part of the entire setup, so that's not surprising.  You can get a plate with a rocker power switch, voltmeter, usb, and cigarette outlet off of amazon for about $20.

[slammer]

Agree.  Gonna make my own.

[papadarv]

I have the Eskimo 949i hub. Put an RV light modified with 50 50 bright white LED strips above one ceiling support with battery in net storage. Light output equal to about 65 watt but draws about 14 watt. I carry one M18 6ah battery for both drill and light.