Power Usage

[lenogris]

So i now have two fishfinders on my boat. I have the garmin 93sv, and the striker 4. I became a little worried after spending a couple hours fishing and my 93sv said the voltage was at 11.2. I currently run both the fish finders off my starting battery, and it gets charged when i run, but for two hours of just floating that seemed awful low. I know car batteries when you get under 11 volts you are rolling the dice on starting.

 

Just wanted to see if thats normal or if should i look for a house battery.

 

The bettery in question is about 1 year old group 24 interstate.

[Ratherbfishing]

This doesn't answer the question posed however when I tried to share my cranking/starting battery with my Helix 7 fish finder, it didn't like it whenever I tried to start the motor (it freaked out and/or shut off).  Your fish finders are okay with this?

 

IMO, it's better to have a dedicated battery for electronics.  Then you never have to worry about excessive use (should you forget to turn them off or over use them) and/or the problem I described above.  

[junyer357]

We used to use a group 24 cranking, but when we increased our electronics to hds units (from just a flasher and hbird pirana), we upgraded to a group 27 dual purpose when we needed a new battery and have had no problems yet. 

[lenogris]

Nope no freak out even when it was low and cranking. i figured i may upgrade to a 27 when this battery is due for replacement, and just carry some jumper cables just in case.

[Further North]

Newer electronics draw a lot more than older units...this is the reason I went to separate electronics battery ( use a 31 sized AGM on it's own, isolated charger).

 

I experienced the same thing as @Ratherbfishing with my electronics shutting off when I started the boat, and in one instance, found myself 5 miles from the lodge on Lake of the Woods with a starting battery that wouldn't crank the motor (not electronics related, there was a short in the charging cable for my trolling motor remote).

 

Also, in my experience, on smaller lakes, the limited charging your big motor does for your starting battery does not get the job done.  The lake I fish on the most is about 2500 acres, all in, and there's not a spot on it I can't be in less than 10 minutes...my starting battery always needs a bump when I get back to the house...

 

I am on my 2nd year with a dedicated battery, the first with a 798si and 1198si, the second with a Helix 12 and a Helix 10.  No problems with having enough juice for the electronics and my starting battery is as strong at the end of the day as at the beginning (I run little else on the boat: no radio, no live well, no accesories).

 

There was an added benefit that showed up when I went to a dedicated battery and charger for my electronics: Zero interference, anywhere.  Best images I've ever had.  I can't prove it's a result of isolating the system, but given the other benefits above, I'll never do it any other way.

 

...also, not knowing what size boat and motor you have, or what other accessories you might be running off your starting battery: Is a 24 series enough battery for your rig?  I use a 29 series lead acid for that duty.

[Jig Man]

It sounds like you need a larger battery (27,29,31 series) depending on how much space you have and how much you want to spend.  The larger series and more CCAs will help you with this problem.  I am running 3 units, power poles, aerators, off my cranking battery.  If you don't have an onboard charger with banks for all batteries you would be better off to buy a charger for the cranker and hook it up after every trip to make sure it is always topped off.

[lenogris]

The striker 4, and 93sv plus lights and aerator and bilge are all that's on the battery. That battery has its own charger, and the motor is a Yamaha f90. Most likes ill run for 5-10 minutes, and looks like it gets charged fully. I wanted to run another battery, but i would have to put it else where in the boat as my battery area is full up. I have 2 27 series for the trolling motor, and one 24 for the motor. I think i could fit a 27 for the motor. boat is a 2017 G3 spotsman17.

[iabass8]

Running 5-10 min WOT isnt fully charging your battery...even if “it looks like it”. Takes a lot more than that. Also, units can give false readings. Use a volt meter to check it.

 

Best solution-get the largest battery you can afford and charge it at home after every use. You dont have electronics that require a house battery. I use larger graphs and can sit in the TM for hours with everything running and my 29g fires up and hardly dips below 12.3 after hours.

 

have you tested your battery or just assumed it was good? Charge the battery full, remove everything off it and let it sit for a day. It should read 12.65. If its lower you have a bad battery that isnt holding a charge.

[Sprocket]

I run four Garmin units plus Panoptix, along with the live well on a series 27 battery.  If I'm out for more than about 6 hours and leave all the units running all the time, I've had starter issues.  If I turn the two console units off when I'm at the bow, I've had no problems.  I would definitely move up to a series 27 and be sure to maintain it.

 

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