Q. Can I use LED Greenies with other light types?
A. Hopefully you aren't sharing light field of the LED Greenie and a non LED light. The LED light field is unique, and its effect on your ability to see and capture shrimp is compromised if you mix light fields. Also your ability to spot deep runners is compromised by mixing light fields. Because the LED light field is flat, you'll think the brightness is not as high as it would be with a flouro Greenie. This is an illusion looking down, as the cloudy water doesn't light up much between you and the LED position. Takes a little getting used to - seconds - as the light below reveals the bugs, leaves, weeds floating thru this un illuminated zone. The effect is pronounced, as other LED users have already discovered.
Q. Why aren't shrimp and fish spooked by the LED Greenie, like other type lights?
A, The LED Greenie Light pattern is unique compared to other type of lights. The LED Greenie light pattern is essentially a fat disk of light, radiating most of its light below the water surface in a circular disk. The shrimp and fish aren't really illuminated much. You see them as dark shadows as they swim between you and the light disk below them. Their natural reaction is this zone is safe compared to what's below them. It's not. The darkened zone reveals them to you with a very distinct, easily defined profile. Even in deeper waters.
On the other hand, all other light types radiate a spherical or oval (flattened spherical) light patter, reflecting off all objects floating through the light field. By objects, that incluses planktom. mud, weeks, debris, everything that floats. It's all illuminated. Your problem is getting the brain to process all this information so that you can distinguis what you want to catch out of this brightly illuminated, foggy appearing water that has little contrast between objects floating by.
Q. Why do I see shrimp and fish actually swim toward the LED Greenie?
A. The inherent LED light has a limited viewing angle that is a detriment to room lighting, where you want to see everything in the room. The LED Greenie takes advantage of this inherent limitation by arranging the LEDs in a circular pattern to brightly illuminate a disk of light. There is actually no light generated directly above and below the disk axis. As you move away from this dark axis area parallel to the disk axis the illumination increases. This creates a cone/funnel shaped area of darkness starting with bottom of the funnel at the top of teh LED Greenie light. How large is this funnel? That depends on how deep the light is below the water surface. For all practical purposes, the width of the funnel is just slightly larger than the distance from the surface to the light. If the light is 5 foot below the surface, the funnel shaped dark zone is just slightly larger than 5 feet in diameter. Lower the light some more, and the dark zone gets larger. This is the primary kill zone that shrimp will try to seek out as the float into the light disk area.
Q. Will I catch more shrimp with the LED Greenie?
A. Absolutely. If the shrimp are there, you will be able to see and catch more of them than with any other type of shrimp light. That is what LED Greenie users are actually reporting. Better contrast and the ability to spot shrimp deeper in the water than they could do before switching to LED Greenie type lights. Reasons explained in other FAQ.
Q. Can the LED greenie be deployed horizontally/parallel to the bottom?
A. you can, but you would look at the edge of a disk of light, Like a coin shaped pattern. Not catch any shrimp to speak of with this arrangement. Deploy the LED Greenie vertially.
Q. Other light types have a hot spot of light. Why does the LED Greenie have no real hot spot?
A. You are looking into the funnel shaped natural dark zone of the LED Greenie. This dark zone will get brighter if the LED Greenie is tilted more than approximately 30 degrees from the vertical position. When you pull the light out of the eater at the end of the session, you'll tilt the light more than 30 degrees. It can be temporarily blinding under this condition. This transition zone between dim and bright light is fairy abrupt, but it's normal.
Q. Does the LED Greenie work out of the eater without failure?
A. Yes. The G-51 model is the brightest model, and can be used for hours out of the water, with only a slight warming to the touch, never hot.
Q. What size battery do I use?
A. The smaller case size 24 marine battery is typically rated at 85 amp-hrs. Typically, you should not discharge to less than 50% of rated capacity if you want the longest number of charge/discharge cycles of the battery. With this condition, you can run 1 LED Greenie for 42 hours, 2 LED Greenies for 21 hours, $ LED Greenies for 10 hours, and still have lots of reserve battery power left over .
Want a smaller battery for only 1 or 2 LED Greenies? There is an advanced glass mat type battery (AGM), commonly called Gel Cell, that is widely produced by several suppliers, tha are 12 volt 35 amp-hr capacity. Ideal for pier or bridge dippers. This battery can sit in the bottom of a 5 gal bucket and weighs just 25 pounds. It will run 1 G-51 LED Greenie for 17hours and 2 for 8 hours and discharge the battery to about 50%. Google search for "12350 battery" without the quotation marks.
