Battery maintenance

[J Francho]

13 hours ago, Fishing Rhino said:

I used their D8 that weighed in at over two hundred pounds.

 

Suitable for canoes and kayaks.

[Further North]

On 10/9/2018 at 7:54 AM, Troy1985s said:

I use a cranking battery for my outboard, it also runs my electronics, and live well pumps.  I've never had any issues with cranking the engine, even after running the pumps and electronics all day long.

I had my boat set up the same way...until a short in the charging cable for my TM remote left me with a dead battery about 7 miles from camp...up on a Canadian lake where wed not seen another boat all day.

 

Got back on the trolling motor...but it was a long haul, and a little tense.

 

Installed an extra battery, charger and wiring dedicated to the electronics the week after we got home.  It had the unintended consequence of delivering the cleanest SI and DI images I've ever seen on my electronics.

 

Would jumper cables work?  Sure, but they'd be a PITA (my TM batteries are below my rod locker and a darned tight fit, that's a lotta stuff to move, disconnect and re-connect once I've got the big motor running.

 

Would a solution like a starting pack work?  It sure would, and I've been considering it, but it'd still leave me with a dead system for the day and a problem to diagnose on a dock at a Canadian fishing lodge...When it's 5 hours to "town" and 6 or 8 hours to anyplace that'll have a new battery, I want redundancy.

[Troy85]

12 hours ago, Further North said:

I had my boat set up the same way...until a short in the charging cable for my TM remote left me with a dead battery about 7 miles from camp...up on a Canadian lake where wed not seen another boat all day.

 

Got back on the trolling motor...but it was a long haul, and a little tense.

 

Installed an extra battery, charger and wiring dedicated to the electronics the week after we got home.  It had the unintended consequence of delivering the cleanest SI and DI images I've ever seen on my electronics.

 

Would jumper cables work?  Sure, but they'd be a PITA (my TM batteries are below my rod locker and a darned tight fit, that's a lotta stuff to move, disconnect and re-connect once I've got the big motor running.

 

Would a solution like a staring pack work?  It sure would, and I've been considering it, but it'd still leave me with a dead system for the day and a problem to diagnose on a dock at a Canadian fishing lodge...When it's 5 hours to "town" and 6 or 8 hours to anyplace that'll have a new battery, I want redundancy.

Once I had to crank my engine off my trolling battery, but it was because my cranking battery was going bad.  If you don't want to worry about jumping from trolling to cranking battery in an emergency.  You could always buy a portable jump box.  I picked one up from Walmart for about $60.  I plug it in when I charge my trolling batteries, its a nice little insurance policy.

[Further North]

8 hours ago, Troy1985s said:

You could always buy a portable jump box.  I picked one up from Walmart for about $60.  I plug it in when I charge my trolling batteries, its a nice little insurance policy.

That's what I was referring to above by a starting pack.

I am "off the grid" enough that I really like the idea of redundant systems so that if I have to I can limp through a trip if something goes Tango Uniform on day one.