Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge  

Go Back   Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge > Kayak Fishing Forum - Message Board > General Kayak Fishing Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 12-10-2008, 09:36 AM   #1
forefrazier
Senior Member
 
forefrazier's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: OC
Posts: 397
AA's for fishfinder

Anyone using AA Batteries to run their fishfinder? I noticed that Hobie makes a fishfinder install kit that comes with a AA battery holder (8 AA's) and looks like it would be much lighter, smaller to use than the larger 12v batts. How long do the AA's last?
forefrazier is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 10:01 AM   #2
prowlerdude
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Clairemont
Posts: 116
I bought that kit and the AA's work fine for my piranaMax 215.
prowlerdude is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 10:06 AM   #3
forefrazier
Senior Member
 
forefrazier's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: OC
Posts: 397
How long do they last?? All day?? More than one outing?? Wondering if I need to buy two sets of rechargeables and carry a spare or not.
forefrazier is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 10:07 AM   #4
Flatinfifth
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: North S.F. Valley
Posts: 51
AA's for fishfinder

Here is what I know. Alkaline AA's put out 1.5 volts per cell. NiCd AA's put out 1.2 volts per cell. Assuming you are using NiCd batteries you will need 10 cells in order to have 12 volts. With alkaline batteries you only need 8 cells to arrive at 12 volts. I have not experimented with these cells yet but I can tell you that I tried a smaller sealed led acid battery of 800 mA rating and I can only get one 8 hr day out of it before it quits....that kinda sucks as I thought it would last a lot longer.

You can get more time out of the battery pack if you go to higher capacity batteries.....say C or D sized cells. They range in amp rating of 1200 to 2000 mA and that is big enough to get plenty of time out of the battery pack. You can find these battery packs at Radio Control Car outlets....try Hobby People/Hobby Shack to get an idea of cost, etc.

I think the added complexity of charging a NiCd or NiMh/LiPo pack is not worth it. Try to stay with a nice sealed lead acid battery and you will have unlimited, stress free voltage every day you go out on the water at a slight penalty in weight...about 2 lbs worth.

Flat
Flatinfifth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 10:16 AM   #5
forefrazier
Senior Member
 
forefrazier's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: OC
Posts: 397
Exactly what I wanted to know....Thanks very much.
forefrazier is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 10:42 AM   #6
prowlerdude
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Clairemont
Posts: 116
Sorry the first post was limited, a "client" came in.

With the AA's, they have lasted all day no problem. I always recharge them the night before. I also keep spare regular AA's in my Plano box if needed.

flatinfifth hit some good points. When I upgrade to a larger FF with gps or color, I will also upgrade to a sealed lead battery.
prowlerdude is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 10:53 AM   #7
forefrazier
Senior Member
 
forefrazier's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: OC
Posts: 397
I have the Humminbird 383c Color/GPS so will stick with the sealed lead.
forefrazier is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 11:06 AM   #8
gcsasher
Junior
 
gcsasher's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 27
I have the hobie kit and I find that the batteries don't last all day, and yes I've tried both kinds. they also don't fit snug enough to stay in the holder so if you hit a good wake they will loose the connection and you have to push them back in.(a rubber band works ok for this problem) the dry bag that you get with the kit aslo gets soaked and with the wire running in it tends to get a bit of water inside. On that note I will be going to a battery box.
gcsasher is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-10-2008, 07:10 PM   #9
speedydk
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Orange County Ca.
Posts: 99
Send a message via Yahoo to speedydk
I use a Humminbird 383c as well. I went with the sealed lead acid battery since I was planning on a kayatank install and wanted a single power source I haven't run it dead in a single day but generally my days run 4-6 hr.s. My battery generally lasts 3 trips (figure a min. of 12hr.s) before I recharge, running the livewell has not proven to be a problem thanks to the timer I'm sure. I am also considering running a solar charging system so I will always have ample battery power. Has anyone else tried this I have heard of someone else doing it but woul like to know more?
tia
Darren
speedydk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2008, 08:28 AM   #10
PescadorPete
Senior Member
 
PescadorPete's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Leucadia, CA
Posts: 261
You want to use high capacity NiMH AA cells. You'll need 10 cells to get 12 volts. Here is how I do it. The batteries are 2.6 amp hours so they last a long time.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?page=19

http://www.all-battery.com/t-698810c...ries--new.aspx
PescadorPete is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-11-2008, 02:09 PM   #11
bluesquids
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Jamul, CA
Posts: 243
You don't have to have 10 AA's. 8 works fine. I've gotten 20 hours out of a charge on a 3 day trip. I have the 2300 maH. rechargeables. They won't hold the charge over many days or weeks like regular batteries will. I keep reg. batteries as a back up and they seem to last pretty long too.

Heres's the info on it....
"The operating voltage of an NiMH cell is 1.2. Eight obviously gets you 10.6v when connected in series. Since most FF's are designed to run on 12 volt boat batteries will this work? Not to worry. The literature says the operating range is 10 to 15 volts. Most will probably work slightly outside of this range but 10.6 works just fine. Incidentally, I emailed Humminbird on this and they said you need 12v to operate properly and my Matrix 10 will draw 1/4 amp. When I questioned them further they said they will operate on 8 volts. Society's litigiousness makes most companies err very much on the safe side when speaking in public. We all know we don't need the full 12v and I estimate the average draw on my Matrix 10 at 165mah."
http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/art...ak_Articles=23
http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/art...ak_Articles=39
__________________
Thanks,
bluesquids
bluesquids is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 08:41 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
© 2002 Big Water's Edge. All rights reserved.