12 Volt to power Xmas Lights???

[B-assman]

Help - need some 12v advice. Here's the situation:

Our street is very wide and has a grass median down the middle. There's a perfect 10dt balsam fir directly in front of my house on the median. I want to put christmas lights on it this year. Since i can't string 110v extension across the street to the median and I cant dig under the road - i came up with this solution

I wired a 12v battery to an inverter and connected it to 3 strands of standard outdoor xmas lights. The battery, a switch for easy access and the inverter are all installed in a cheap plastic tool box I bought at bennys. It works great except for one thing. The inverter has a safety feature that shuts off the power when the voltage drops to 10v or less. So the lights power up for about 30 seconds then shut off for about 10 seconds and then power up again. It actually works pretty well and looks ok - but I'd like to get a steady power stream of power to the lights so that they don't blink. This contraption holds out for about 8 hrs - then i have to throw the charger on the battery and its good to go for another 8 hrs.

So - do i need a new inverter? Any tips for keeping the voltage above 10v? Or is there a better way to get lights on this tree? FYI - I couldnt find 12 volt lights anywhere.

Thanks and happy holidays.

[BigFish]

I got a set of 12 volt lights at Ace hardware store last year, they are on the front of my Jeep and they look great! I would try there! Good luck!