Electronics power

[ronaultmtd]

Large screen color fish finder chart plotter has a power usage much much more than the simple sonars of a few years ago...I purchased a 7inch Lowrance this winter and installed it as an upgrade from my 5 inch Hummingbird unit I installed on my Daughter’s new Compass kayak...the peak draw is One amp...with full brightness, GPS charting, down scan, side scan and chirp sonars screens all displayed...so you figure that a SLA 12v battery has a power output curve that gradually reduces voltage and amperage so that electronics are degraded after a drop off of more than 50%...I have had very good success from a 12v9ahr SLA battery with my Hummingbird unit for six hours use or less...that very same battery setup is good for only five hours with the larger screen Lowrance...most folks rarely fish more than five hours in any one trip and this wouldn’t be a big deal, but I want the ability to fish for a full day. Looking at options, a bigger capacity SLA battery to a 12v12 ahr adds a much larger and heavier battery that will not fit in my Hobie battery holder...the Lithium battery is an option, but then the costs are much higher...and the charger has to be specifically designed to safely charge Lithium batteries...there are at least a half dozen lithium battery companies manufacturing batteries designed for use in the kayak fishing industry and more coming...the two major options are the Nocqua 12v10ah Lifepo4 battery and the Dakota Lithium 12v10ah lifepo4 battery...there isn’t much difference in price between these...both have a large following and endorsements from kayak fishermen...both have a reputation of dependability. One thing that got my attention is the size, shape and physical deminsions of the batteries and the electrical connections...I made my choice on three factors to go with Dakota lithium...assembled in the USA...it fits exactly in my Hobie battery holder and uses the same push on connectors as my present SLA batter so I do not have to re-wire my kayak...just plug in the battery...that all matters to me.

[justeric]

Hi Ron,

Where did you buy the Dakota Lithium battery? Did you buy a recharger for the battery? What type?

Thanks,
Eric

[justeric]

Hi Ron,

Where did you buy the Dakota Lithium battery? Did you buy a recharger for the battery? What type?

Thanks,
Eric

I found there is a Dakota Lithium battery charger for $20 at the Dakota/Lithum website. Thanks.

[ronaultmtd]

Hi Ron,

Where did you buy the Dakota Lithium battery? Did you buy a recharger for the battery? What type?

Thanks,
Eric

eBay...$99.00 free shipping...and they shipped same day...I had a 12v. 4 Ah older lithium battery (Battery Tender brand) and lithium jr. battery charger I bought three years ago...gave the battery to John Dillon but kept the charger...it does a great job with my 12vSLA batteries...seem to get a better charge in them than my other battery charger...

[Oldbayrunner]

I've been using the 10ah Nocquas for the last 3 years with my Lowrance 7" sidescan FF'ers and I've gotten at least 9hrs without turning down any of my features. I use one for my FF and one for my lights and as a backup. They have held up great even to being submerged. For my use both are small enough to fit in my electronics pod but now I'll have to see how they work with my new hds live since it uses more ah. Regardless which lifepo4 lithium one gets they beat the heck out of running sla. If I can interject it's best to run a constant output smart battery charger for lithiums. The decreasing amp type wont charge a lithium battery to full capacity.

[NattyBoh74]

I went the FPV power pack, the 17ah one. I also used their voltage regulator to maintain 12v more consistently. Good modular setup although a bit pricey.

[nhunter344]

I have had very good success from a 12v9ahr SLA battery with my Hummingbird unit for six hours use or less...that very same battery setup is good for only five hours with the larger screen Lowrance...most folks rarely fish more than five hours in any one trip.......

Is this typical power consumption on average? I only ask because I run a 12v8ah SLA on a Garmin with full gps, down scan, side scan and chirp for 8+ hours without issue.

[ronaultmtd]

It is from my three year old SLA battery..can’t say about others...but when it was brand new it lasted all day...I bought two identical SLA batteries and swap them out after every trip and recharge the one I pull...been fine for three years...but now I am running a Hook 2-7TS...so I am upgrading all the way around, battery included...only possible because I won my fantasy football League championship...$$$

[ronaultmtd]

Finally recharged my Dakota Lithium battery after using it on three fishing trips...I can give an honest review...gotta say all the things you hear about these batteries being much more useful than SLA batteries, powering your electronics without fail is true...just the purchase price is the biggest put off, but it is just under a $100 dollars...$120 if you don’t have a Lithium battery charger...is still affordable when you consider the investment in our electronics...Very satisfied with my purchase, recommend it...

[ronaultmtd]

You can figure the purchase price as roughly three times the initial costs of a SLA battery..a good, deep cycle 12 volt battery for a trolling motor would roughly be $150-175...figure the comparable LiFEpo4 would roughly be around $400..

[mike o]

Had a battery issue when I was in Florida. Went to a battery store and bought the biggest one they had. A 14ah sla . I think I paid $70. When that goes up I'm going Lithium

[Jaspratt]

I just switched to using a lithium polymer battery. After the winter killed my sla. Double the amp hours, a 10th of the weight. I bought my battery from china 35$ with a charger only catch is its rated for 2.5amps max. Which happens to be perfect for the elite ti 7. Only draws 1.5amps but with my power pole also running on the same battery the max draw of both ends up at 3.5amps. So I ended up buying the 200$ battery pack for the pole.

[Oldbayrunner]

The difference in using Lipo vs Lifepo4 Batteries; First off the lipo are prone to overheating and have an outside chance of explosion, especially if submerged. Ever feel the back of your phone get real hot? They are really meant for smaller drawing applications such as mentioned. Lifepo4 are safer (mine submerged without damage) and they are designed to power larger applications such as cars, boats, TM etc. I've been running lifepo4 batteries for a few years now and the pricing is all over the map for good quality batteries. So far for a quality battery My Bioenno lifepo4 has been the best pricing. The Dakotas are also well priced up to about 50AH @ around $495 with a 3amp charger, The Bienno 50ah is $509 with a 10amp charger, hence the difference in price. Trust me a 10amp will charge a lot faster, 5hrs for a complete charge vs 16.5hrs for a fully depleted 50ah.

[Huntrava]

I've been running lifepo4 batteries for a few years now and the pricing is all over the map for good quality batteries.

Bolded for emphasis.

I paid $269 for my 50ah lifepo4 battery (which included shipping and a charger) last year. Since then I've seen the same battery for twice the price, and I've also seen it for almost half that price. As far as I'm aware, the raw elements required to build lithium batteries are almost exclusively produced in poor parts of the world with manufacturing and assembly happening in China. The batteries are then branded under dozens of different labels and sold for wildly different prices by retailers who often make dubious claims about the efficacy/superiority of their batteries. For that reason it isn't uncommon to see pictures of the same product sold by different retailers with customers reporting varying rates of success with the batteries (quality control issues).

When I buy a battery, I try not to pay for the brand, but rather the reputation of the retailer. There's always a chance you could wind up with a dud, but if you buy from a decent seller you should be able to return the battery for a refund. I'd rather have a white-label battery with a 5-year warranty from an established retailer than a name brand battery from a fly-by-night operation.

[jbowers679]

This is a battery box that I made from a waterproof box from Home Depot, 2 blue brick lithium batteries form eBay, a small fuse holder and volt meter. all for around $70 and I got over 13 hours of use testing it on land running my Hummingbird Helix 5 CHIRP SI GPS G2 with gps and all scan modes running. since then I have used it on back to back 6+ hour days of fishing without it dying. it only weighs 3 lbs. and fits away nice and out of the way in my hull.


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