FF battery advice
 

I'm currently running my fish finder on an 8-pack of AA batteries. It usually lasts about three trips before I have to swap them out, but I'm getting sick of keeping Duracell in business. I just went on Amazon and searched 12v rechargeable battery and got a ton of results.

The interesting thing is that in the same or similar form factor, the mAH ratings for the batteries are much lower than what 8 heavy duty AA's will rate. We're talking about 4800 for the rechargeable, and close to 10K for the alkaline non-rechargeables. I need something that will guaranteed last at least one long day on the water. I don't particularly want to buy one of the larger batteries, as my Hammerhead attractant (read: bait tube) doesn't need any juice. You guys got any advice on buying a smaller rechargeable battery for the kayak?

You could just buy some Ni-Mh AAs if you want to keep things small. Or just get at 12v lead-acid battery.

I bought one of those blue Li-Po batteries of eBay (security camera battery), but killed it pretty quick by letting the charge get too low. Those are also all way below their stated capacity, and I think pose higher risks of fire than other batteries.

if you go with LiPo you have to make sure to get enough capacity for what you are doing. A better bet is LiIon, it is a little heavier but less chance of fire but still much lighter than lead acid. If you go LiPo you can't let them get to less than 3volts per cell or you kill the battery for good.

Any RV store, farm supply, or WallyWorld will have small, sealed 12 batteries. Look up what the "draw" is on your fishfinder, and divide the battery capacity by that to get the approximate number of hours the battery will last. Most FFs draw less than one amp, usually a lot less. So even a 7Ah battery will last all day and then some.

What fish finder? We sell a 6ah 12 volt sealed gel cell for $20 and a 10.5ah for $39.95 the larger is 7.5 pounds the smaller less than 4 lbs

color fish finders start around 1amp draw, the Elite 4 Chirp is 1.1 ah, so the smaller batter is only going to give you about 5 hours vs 10 hours with the larger.

The LiIon battery pack I linked to in my first post only has a capacity of 4800mAH, which seems like it would be right on the edge of a single day's use. But that's just based on how quickly I go through non-rechargeables. If you know of a slightly higher capacity LiIon battery pack, please let me know.

The smaller 4lb 12v lead acid batteries Iceman mentioned sound like a decent compromise.

It's a Lowrance X50 DS. It got terrible reviews on Cabela's before it was discontinued, but it seems to work just fine out on the water.

The PDF manual states a current draw of 170mA with the lights off. 8 AA batteries gives me two and a half trips (about 5 hours each trip).

4800/170 = 28.23529411764705

Should be plenty for two days on the water

Dakota Lithium makes a 12v 10ah battery that sells for about $100, ten amps should last you all day and you will need a dedicated charger but once you have that the battery should last you forever

I run a Bioenno 12v 12a battery on my HDS, they're not cheap but the power they produce will outlast most Hollywood marriages.

When I was going through the forum archives, I saw your previous posts, but the links were bad. Thanks for the active link! But ouch! Can't afford that right now.

Think twice about buying everything cheap. Could end up costing you more in the end when something breaks. If you're committed to the sport, do it right the first time.

Committed is right...

If your gonna stick with it, do it right the first time. Pay the money!