Have you ever tried to work your hot dog cart after the sun went down?
It can be a real challenge unless you have lights on your rig. In this article I’m going to show you how to light up the night easily and cheaply, plus – I have some video footage of me slingin’ in the dark using the solution I’m about to share with you.
HotDogProfits.com customer Brandalyn writes…
Hello Steve,
I am getting things in order to start my own hot dog business and have bought your books and everything! I have a question that I’d like some feedback on from you and possibly other hot doggers. I will be doing some business after the sun goes down and was wondering what type of lights would be best to use for optimum light but not blinding and low heat output. I will be using a generator for those items so a good low wattage light source would be good. I was also thinking of dressing up the hot dog trailer with some rope lights, what do you think? Thank you for all the input!
Brandalyn
*************************
Hey Brandalyn,
When I’m slingin’ after dark I put a string of Christmas lights up inside my umbrella. The amount of light is perfect. Not too dim, not blinding bright. They are just regular old 120 volt lights (the small style) that I snagged from the holiday decorations box in the attic. Please don’t tell my wife 😉
I have a 12 volt deep cycle battery inside my E-Z Built Hot Dog Cart that is used to run the water pump. I hook up a power inverter to the battery, plug the lights into the inverter, and presto! A nice soft glow that is easy to work by.
Want more wattage in your cottage? Use two strings of lights instead of one, or use white lights instead of colored ones. That will pump up the brightness for sure.
Here is some video of a school fundraiser I did a few weeks ago. Although Christmas lights are plenty bright for serving hot dogs, they are not quite bright enough for shooting video so pardon the underexposed footage.
Also note that 20 pound propane tanks are not allowed indoors in many counties. We switched over to a one pound camping bottle during set up and took the 20 pound tank back to the tow vehicle outside.
How about you fellow slinger? How do you shed a little light on the subject when the sun goes down? If you have a cool lighting solution please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
-Steve
P.S. No juice? For those of you who don’t have batteries on your hot dog cart check out this solar powered umbrella with built in LED lights
Love the lights Steve! It looked pretty funny seeing you roll your cart down empty hallways…ha! So do you travel/tow with that stuff bungied down? As you know I’m not active yet but should be by July if that helps you out at all…great job!
Hey Kevin,
Yes, I travel with all that stuff bungied down. It works really well. I live out in the country so highway travel is mandatory wherever I go. Even at 70 MPH the cart tows like a breeze. Keep us posted on your start up!
Quantum Umbrella Pole Light
Thanks Chris – this is awesome!
Steve noticed you didn’t have any gloves on…
I have a technique where my hands never touch the food. Watch the video again to see how it’s done.
looks good Steve,I believe we have a health code against glass bulbs or breakable lighting in my next of the woods(Ohio).not sure exactly what is good or bad but I think led lights are ok with them.nice to see the videos on the site.more vids of people working the carts are all positive feedback for us newbies.
Interesting. It’s never been an issue with my inspector but it’s good to have the LED alternative just in case. Glad you like the videos and the new site Mark!
Hi Steve,
Loved the video! How long will a 1lb propane tank last? Can you do 4 – 6hour gig with a 1lb can? I am working outside a courthouse in the good weather and they have a lovely ramp like the one at the school in the video. I have used the power inverter idea with an LED sign that I bought that is a very cool Hot Dog Sign. Other doggers can find the sign at affordableled.com . Just type Hot Dog into their search bar. Thanks for all your good work Steve! You are a blessing to the world.
Thanks Mary Jayne! A one pound cylinder will last several hours. Take a spare along and you’ll be fine – they don’t take up much space 😉
Appreciate the link. I’ll have to check them out. I love your comments Mary Jayne – keep ’em coming!
P.S. I love the new look for hotdogprofits.com. For those who don’t want to use gloves, I open all the buns with gloves on in my commissary kitchen and put them back in the bag. Then when I’m at my cart, I use Steve’s technique. I buy regular hot dog buns that are joined together when you purchase them.
Thanks Mary Jane. The info here has always been up to date. Now the site looks up to date too. Glad you like it!
Hey steve
Hot dog cart indoors? What about propane?
Hey Nick,
We swapped out the 20 pound tank for a one pound camp stove cylinder using this adapter:
Steve, Are you aware that you can buy the exact lights in a 12VDC format already?? No inverter needed.
That’s cool. But mine were free – if you count stealing from the wife’s Christmas decoration box as “free” 😉
I like the short video’s of positive ventures in the community…. GOOD STUFF..
Donny
Making money is fun but helping the kids is twice as fun. It was really a blast! Always love your positive attitude Donny!
Wow, love the idea. And that Quantum Umbrella Pole Light that Chris showed is amazing! I can’t wait to be able to put these ideas to use!
Keep us posted on your progress Wonder Dog!
Steve the power inverted does work great, even for a small radio. For lighting I added some under body LED lights with 32 different flashes/dancing colors. These are the lights that you see people when they want to ‘pump-out’ their ride. They are fun and attractive especially since I started out doing bar nights at the local university. They were also simple to connect right to the battery.
Hey Steve, sometime soon, can you share more on your shelving hook up. Those extended planks are very nice. Having a large variety of toppings for the dogs gets to be a real hassle with limited space. I’m probably doing too much for the size of the cart, but so far it’s worked out. Neeeed mooooore spppaaaaace Stevie!!!!…or power Scottie. Bad Trek reference.
Dammit Duke, I’m a hot dog slinger, not an engineer! (another bad Star Trek reference).
Oh, wait – I AM an engineer, lol. Yes, the “wing shelves” as I call them are really nice to have. They are pre-made shelves from Lowe’s mounted with shelf brackets and a conduit strut. Everything goes together with wing nuts for easy assembly/disassembly on site.
Send me some pics of your rig all lit up with that fancy system of yours. I’d love to share them here!
Hey Gary, I looked like crazy and did not find 12vdc lights. Where might I get some of them there lights?
I would like to see how you have your side tables set up on your cart!
Nick,
See my reply to Duke a couple of comments up…
Duke try truck stops, I know they have them
Steve, great idea for the school children! love your cart.
Thanks Marge! What a fun business this is, and when you get to help out a good cause in the process that’s icing on the cake. Send me some pics of the Twisted Dog!
For my lighting I found an actual “Umbrella light” on e-bay. It goes around the pole, is battery powered and provides excellent light!
Mark
TopDawgs!
Thanks for the tip Mark!
hey steve, how do you hook up a 1 lb. bottle to a 20 lb. bottle connector?
I tried but connections are different and my hardware store couldn’t figure it out either.
thanks, theresa
Hey Theresa,
You need an adapter. I put a link to it in one of the comments up above.
sorry question was already answered. but could you draw a diagram on how to connect the 1 lb. adapter. when i went onto amazon it shows a pic. but not large enough to see it.
The adapter screws onto the one pound bottle. The other end is a 1/4 pipe thread which you can screw into a hose which in turn connects to your gas line.
I do about 5 events a year that are after dark. Call me old but I went to Walmart and bought two silver looking can lights with little clamp mounts and bingo, let there be light. Just a note: During night events I also sell glow in the dark bracelets sell great 2 for $1.00 (get these free) and neckless 20″, sell great at $1.00. Only issue I have every had was the little flying bugs.
Duggs Doggs
Good!! Good!!
Nice!
May I make one suggestion on the new website design?
The “Previous Post” and “Next Post” buttons would be more convenient at the top of the article rather than at the very bottom because sometimes there are quite a lot of comments and readers would need to scroll to the very bottom to see the previous and next posts. I really enjoy reading (and re-reading) your posts, Steve, even the archived posts, but I am someone who often can only find time to do this once a week, or once every two weeks, and must, therefore, click the “Previous Post” and “Next Post” links to catch up on things. Thanks!
Things are going great, BTW, with my new Hot Dogging Biz.
Good suggestion Daryl, I’ll look into it. Glad things are going well for you 🙂
Hey Steve!
Awesome video! I always wanted to know how to add lights to my cart! Just got another possible gig doing a nighttime event here in town that does “Concerts on the Common” which features local music talent. It’s so funny because I was just thinking over the weekend on how I was going to do the event in very dim to no light! (It runs into dark and the park and stage is lightly lit up). The talent at this event is so good that an entire park gets filled!! (It’s a couple blocks long.)
Thanks to the other slingers too for posting solutions! 🙂
Also, I LOVE the new web design especially the new header! 🙂
Thanks Julia. Sell ’em all at the fest!
I like the Star Trek reference… that’s funny Steve. Go get’em Julia!
Hey Ron! Tell the truth – my inner nerd is showing, isn’t it? 😉
As so many have said before The new look is great and thank you for the video, But mostly thanks for the tip about the 1lb propane adapter. Did I miss the answer to how long it lasts? Guess I will have to read again.
It should last a few hours depending on the btu’s your pumping out. I carry a spare so I don’t have to worry.
Steve, What size battery should we use for the lights and how long does the charge last? Is this a battery used for boats?
Hey Dugg … where do you get glow in the dark bracelets FREE??
Steve, love the new look to the site! I was thinking about lights as well with a possible gig into the night. Now I have my answer! I am working on something for the condiments and will share pics if I get it figured out. The cart is working great and is easier to set up each time I go out. Live long and prosper!
Nice work on the site Steve! The video was awesome with some great ideas. You never cease to amaze me. 🙂
Thanks Bravo. I really appreciate that!
Duggs Doggs:
When I used to be a photographer, I used colored filters to project the colors I needed. I would imagine that since the bugs are attracted to the white light from your lamps, maybe replacing the lights with those yellow bulbs would work to not attract those flying pests, or else using a yellow-colored filter over your white lights or LEDs.
We cannot use insect spray around the food cart, not even the all-natural type, and neither can we use those ultraviolet bug zappers, although I do enjoy hearing the bzzzzz *zap* noises, especially when a moth gets in there. Therefore, we can only resort to illuminating our carts from a bright enough source to reach our location, but far enough to detract the insects from us (and closer to the light source), or we can work in the dark, I guess…or try to illuminate our work area with non-white lights.
As a cop, we used red filters on our map lights to not harm our night vision (the purple, light-gathering cones in our eyes), so maybe that would work for us to see also, besides the yellow lights not attracting the bugs so much.
Good luck, Duggs Doggs.
Great ideas Daryl. Bugs suck for sure. In the daytime I keep a clear plastic bag half full of water hanging from my umbrella. The reflections mess with the bugs vision and they stay away. Not sure if that would work at night though. Thanks for the awesome input Daryl!!!
Great Job Steve, I also love your new web page.
Thanks Jason – send me some pics of the newest E-Z Built Hot Dog Cart in your stable. Your original “Campfire Grill” cart is still one of my customer’s favorites in the photo gallery.
You can do all the research in the world, but nothing beats seeing the pros with their business in action. Got a full page of notes out of that video. Thanks Steve!
My pleasure Al!
I have been using a pole light like the one Chris linked to for a few years now. It’s super bright and lasts for a very long time between charging. All you do is clip it to the pole…….let there be light…. I bought mine new at a tag sale for $8. I was surprised how bright it actually is. There is no need to carry around a separate battery and the lights themselves are covered by plexi glass. It takes all of 10 seconds to clip it to the pole.
Nice. Thanks for the mini-review Speedy!
Awesome, you must be a NewOps member lol. Nothing to add – Daryl said it all. Made it back to Colorado yesterday with my “everything”, 4 days on the road. Back to square ONE, can’t wait to get back to Hot Doggin.
Hey Hank,
Yes, this site was built using the very same system I teach over there, but being a member yourself you knew that, lol! Glad you made it to Colorado safe. Sometimes a new start is just the thing, I know I get itchy feet about every four years or so. Good luck brother!
I was looking into lights so thanks for the post. Great Job!!!
Glad I could shed some “light” on it for you!