Fish Finder Battery?
 

Hey guys,

I bought a Lowrance Elite 5 fish finder/gps combo (color) and I was wondering what type of 12v battery can I get away with? Should I get a deep cycle Marine Battery, Dual Purpose, or can I get away with those smaller 12v batteries that they use for atv and such? I was at BPS looking at the batteries and the guy there thought I'd have power issues with the smaller ones, your thoughts? I figured most of you kayak guys use as small of a battery you can get away with.

Thanks

I use a deer feeder battery in my kayak. I ran it all day on a charge no problem

I'm with JD on this, I also use a deer feeder battery from wally world about $20.00, last me all day, small and light, if size /space is not an issue with you, try a lawn mower battery for a few bucks more

I replaced some 12v batteries in a handi cap chair lift. Kept the batteries, thought I'd find a use for them. Here is a link to them:

http://www.rakuten.com/prod/bruno-st...ngId=286989542


Hammy

12 volt Sealed Lead Acid battery...aka deer feeder or alarm system battery. The main thing to look for is the amp hour rating. The reason the amp hour rating is important is because it determines how long your depthfinder will run on a single charge. Most depthfinders draw around 1/2 amp per hour of use, with newer multiple-function models drawing more. I would check the spec sheet for your depthfinder and find the unit's power draw. Then find a 12v SLA battery that will run long enough on a single charge to suit your needs. I use either a 7 or an 8 amp hour battery, depending on which one I've charged. My depthfinder draws 1/2 amp per hour, so a single charge gives me 16 hrs of continuous use on a fully charged 8 ah battery.

I can also power my submergible light with these batteries. They are great since they are leak-proof, waterproof, and lightweight. The 8 ah battery weighs around a pound or so.

I would also strongly recommend getting a battery charger with an automatic shut-off. These batteries will burst if overcharged.


Chris Bryant

Thanks for the replys guys. Chris, I appreciate the info on the amp hour rating. I looked at the power specs in the owners manual and I'm not really sure which info I should be looking at for amp hour rating? This is the information in the Specs: Transmit Power(4000W PTP, 500W RMS), Power Requirement (10-18 Volts DC), Voltage Input (10 to 17V), Current drain (Typical: .75A). I'm thinking its the Voltage Input, but I'm not sure. How do I translate it to amps/hour?

Thanks,
Jamie

The current drain is the one you need. It says it will draw .75 AMP's per hour. So if you have an 8AMP batter you will get around 10 hours of use.." I think".

Jdkxtreme is dead-on.

Chris Bryant

Current drain is what you want to use for calculations. For 0.75A draw and an 8 Ah battery, for example:

8 Ah/0.75 A = 10.667 so on a full charge you theoretically will get about 10 and a half hours of use. This will vary and as the battery gets older you will get less usage time so I agree with Chris that you might want to go for a 10-12 Ah rated battery. If you check out Batteries Plus Bulbs, they have a fantastic selection. Look for the Werker brand SLA batteries. I also got a charger with LED indication of when it's charged up. 70 bucks total.

Awesome. Thanks for the answers guys. It helps a lot! Saves me some money too.

Also to calculate how fast it your can fully charge up:

A 12 V, 1 A charger will charge a 12 V 10 Ah battery in 10 hours (theoretcially) and a 0.5 A charger will fully charge it in 20 hours. Keep this in mind when you buy your charger so that you plan ahead of time to start charging for the morning fishing outing.

Good work guys. I was going to ask which model because the Elite 5HDI draws 1.1 Ah

Make sure you use an inline fuse rated at 3A between the battery and the unit.

Battery capacities are rated in AMPS, there are 1000 mA in 1 Amp

You will want a 12V battery regardless

A 12V 10Ah battery will last approximately 10 hours being used by something that draws 1 Ah, 20hours by something that draws 500mA, or .5A

I use the Battery Tender Plus charger. It automatically switches to "maintenance mode" when the battery is fully charged to prevent overcharging. It charges at a rate of 1.25 amps per hour. I can't recommend this one enough.


Chris Bryant

I use my sons power wheels charger. I already had it on hand

Thanks for all the great advice guys. I went to Battery Plus this afternoon and bought a 12v 12ah battery and a Battery Tender Junior (the Junior was on sale for $10 off, but the Plus wasn't) for a total of $80. Now its time to get the fish finder boat ready.