Need a battery,not a third hernia

[krul1]

Hello all, looking for some real world advice. Need to replace my trolling motor battery. Looking for one 12 V battery for my 35 lb Minkota used on a Pelican bass raider. Question is ,I am confused on the lithium battery literature regarding how much longer they last. Is that the time you can use it trolling or the time they last as in longevity of the product? One company rep suggested I purchase their 54Ah. Does this sound reasonable.

Thanx

[cyclops2]

Most all warranties for batteries are referring to date of purchase to end of warranty time period. Use it every day constantly. Or only 1 very light duty time.

 

  It is still for 10 years.  Or any other time period.

 

Call Minnkota Motors For the correct size of battery you would need for maximum pleasure  at minimum cost. 

[GaryH]

54 minutes ago, krul1 said:

Hello all, looking for some real world advice. Need to replace my trolling motor battery. Looking for one 12 V battery for my 35 lb Minkota used on a Pelican bass raider. Question is ,I am confused on the lithium battery literature regarding how much longer they last. Is that the time you can use it trolling or the time they last as in longevity of the product? One company rep suggested I purchase their 54Ah. Does this sound reasonable.

Thanx

Are you asking how long they last over years or how long do they last  while on the water fishing? 

[krul1]

How long they last while fishing

[krul1]

Hello again. Not really concerned with longevity in years regarding warranty. Basically want to know what lightweight battery will give 3 hrs max trolling time. With the 10 foot bass raider and Minnkota 36 lb. motor. 

[Bankc]

They will last about the same as a regular lead acid battery.  So if your old, lets say 54Ah battery was enough to last you all day, then a 54Ah lithium should be fine as well.  The reason why they say lithium batteries have double the run time, is because you're not SUPPOSED to run a lead acid battery below 50% capacity.  However, lots of people do (myself included).  And a lithium battery doesn't mind being run down to as low as 20 and sometimes even 10% capacity.  

 

Also lithium batteries have a longer lifespan.  They can usually last several thousand charging cycles, versus just a few hundred for lead acid, before they start to degrade significantly.  However, this is just an average.  That doesn't mean YOUR lithium battery will last 10 years or more.  It just means that a lot of them can.  

 

54Ah will get you probably an hour and a half of full speed on that trolling motor.  Running it at lower speeds will significantly increase the available run time.  A 54Ah lithium battery would be equivalent to about a 100Ah lead acid battery, assuming you never drained the lead acid below 50%, which is not a rule everyone adheres to.  If you routinely ran that 100Ah battery until it died, then you'd need at least a 100Ah lithium battery, probably bigger.

 

Do you have a battery that you've been using already?  What size is it?  How much to you typically drain it?  That's the best way to know how much power you need. 

[krul1]

Thank you, that answered many questions. I would hate to spend the money on a lithium and after the first day on the lake regret my foolish decision.  

[WRB]

Lithium 55 AH weighs 15.5 lbs, 65 AH is the same size and weight.

Battery life ranges 8-10 years. Battery warranty for marine deep cycle trolling motor use is usually 1 year?

Tom

PS, these batteries are expensive plus you need a specific charger.

[padlin]

A lithium gives you longer run time at full power, something like 85%, then does a SLA which drops down in voltage as time goes by. The bad part being you don't know you're about to run out of power, till you do.

 

FWIW, I have a 55lb Minn Kota on my Raider, I use a 100Ah lithium. A normal 4 or 5 hour day of fishing for me and I use less then 10% of that or 10 Ah, I don't move around a whole heck of a lot. Just a guess, but I think a 54Ah would suffice. I had no idea how much juice I'd use so I went bigger.

 

With a 30lb motor and a 54Ah lithium, you could run at full power for about 90 minutes.

[VolFan]

I use a 55 Ah with my 55 lb Minnkota and have never killed it across a day of fishing. Unless you’re constantly making long runs at high speed (and who wants to do ‘high speed’ with a trolling motor) you should do great with the 55 Ah.

[Tennessee Boy]

LifePo4 battery manufacturers are claiming 3000-5000 cycles.  Very few angler that have a job and family fish more than 100 times a year.  That’s 30 - 50 years of use!   I just installed a 75 ah LiFePO4 for my electronics and used it for the first time yesterday.  It worked great.  2999 cycles remaining ?.

[casts_by_fly]

I run an 80 AH in my kayak for the trolling motor (43 lb thrust I think). The TM is my primary source of propulsion and I fish a few bigger lakes (2k+ acres) as well as small ones (15-20 acres).  How long it lasts is very much dependent on how long you're going to run at full throttle.  At full draw I can burn out my battery in about 2 hours.  I can do a nominal 4 mph at full draw.  Typically on the bigger lakes I'll start the day with a 20 minute run to get to the first spot and that will burn 10-12% of my battery (I have a battery monitor).  I can then fish the bank for the next 2 hours and barely burn another 2-4%.  Going slow down a bank and spot locking (not in current) takes a negligible amount of battery.  I can fish 1000 acres equivalent across an 8 hour day and go through about 60% of my battery.  That's usually two or three long runs plus a little more bouncing around as well as going down a shoreline.  60% of 80 AH is 48 AH.  If you are fishing smaller lakes (under 200 acres) by launching and then starting to fish, then a 54 might just do it.  That said, lithium batteries have come down in price.  I think a 54 AH is dakota which is running about $500 right now.  Not sure how quick you need it, but Amped have their 60 AH at $380 right now and available.  Or you can wait a couple weeks and get the 80 AH for $560 and not worry about capacity.  

 

thanks

rick

 

 

[krul1]

Thank you to all of you for the information. I really think something less then 100Ah will meet my needs. Does anyone have any brand preference ?

[Tennessee Boy]

21 minutes ago, krul1 said:

Thank you to all of you for the information. I really think something less then 100Ah will meet my needs. Does anyone have any brand preference ?

I went with Battle Born.  They are a premium brand engineered and manufactured in the US.  Like all lithiums they contain cells made in China.  
 

https://battlebornbatteries.com

[casts_by_fly]

I went amped for my 80 and 30 Ah batteries.  I then bought my dad a 100 AH for his boat.  No issues, great customer service and communications, works as advertised at the voltage/amerage stated.

[padon]

i started using a 54 ah dakota lithium to run my 48 volt ultrex this spring. i fished 5 12 to 14 hour days before i recharged it at 40 percent. now of course on a bow mount your not running long periods of time. as far as warranty o think its 5 thousand cycles now the thing is a cycle is every time you charge. unlike lead if you dont need to charge you dont, the dakota has a gauge on it. so basically as stated its a lifetime. you can also purchase a gauge that installs in line on your wiring and connect via blue tooth with your phone. it will tell you EXACTLY how much run tine you have left your amp draw while running and your current voltage out put. dont listen to the nonsense about lithium batteries from people who have never used them. im not saying they are for everbody but for a person in your situation with a small boat its definetley worth considering. also most reputable lithium companies include a charger. BTW im in now way associated with dakota. i paid the hefty price tag just like everyone else.

[krul1]

Thank you all for the helpful,friendly advice. 

[Woody B]

On 5/20/2022 at 7:35 PM, krul1 said:

Thank you to all of you for the information. I really think something less then 100Ah will meet my needs. Does anyone have any brand preference ?

My Ionic has been great.  I've got a 125 amp hour with a 55 lb trolling motor in a Tracker Classic XL.  I can fish multiple days in the wind before needing to charge.  Today, not very windy I fished 7 hours.  Lot's of spot lock, and auto pilot.  It was at 88% when I was finished.  The people at Ionic said I didn't need the 125 ah, but I'm a fan of overkill.   I'm sure a 50 to 60 ah lithium in a quality brand will do well.

 

FWIW I would absolutely kill my 88 amp hour Interstate (lead acid) on a day like today.