Motorguide Xi3 Lithium battery ah (for kayak)

[Gera]

Hello everyone, 

I just purchased a Motorguide Xi3 GPS trolling motor for my kayak and I'm now on the process to purchase the battery for it. I was thinking about purchasing the Amped Outdoors 60Ah battery, I like the 60ah because of size and weight but I'm having second thoughts on going all the way to 100ah. 

 

I really don't know if I need it, I don't fish tournaments and I'm only out on weekends 6 to 8 hours. I do plan to full use the spot lock function and forget all about anchoring. I don't know if I'll have enough Juice at the end of the day with the 60ah or if I'll be just carrying more weight and pay way more for a battery that I'll will be an overkill. 

 

To all of you guys that have experience with trolling motor rigging and power consumption or have good experience with this particular motor please let me know your comments. 

 

thanks!

 

 

[GaryH]

Contact Lithium hub. Tell them what you’re running and they’ll steer you right. They don’t over sell. 

[casts_by_fly]

if the motorguide is your primary means of getting from A to B, then get the 100 AH, especially if you fish lakes bigger than 200 acres or so.  I have the Old town autopilot which is similarly powered and power hungry.  I run the 80 ah battery from amped.  A lot of my trips and lakes are under 300 acres and 5 hours.  There are no problems there whatsoever.  I have a couple 500-2500 acre lakes that I'll do a full day on.  At the end of the day I'll be <20% battery and will have scaled back the speed a little to ensure I get home.  With the extra 20 AH I wouldn't even slow it down.  With a 60 AH I wouldn't have been able to fish that long.

 

In my boat with my motor, you get about 2 hours of full speed running plus enough 'fishing speed' motoring.  Spot lock doesn't take much power unless you're in current.  Even in wind you'll be on <40% throttle to hold position which is next to nothing.  Full speed motoring is what draws the power.  Even 90% will extend your run time incredibly.

[Bankc]

Go with the 100Ah.  They're not that much more expensive, and you'll get added assurance, plus it'll put less wear and tear on your battery since you won't be draining it as far, so it should last longer.  

 

I use a 50Ah for my kayak (trolling motor only, the sonar runs on a separate battery).  It'll run all day for me, but my motor is a 30 amp.  The Xi3 is a 52 amp motor.  And the only reason I didn't go with a 100Ah battery, even though I don't need it, is because it's too big to fit in my front hatch.  

[Gera]

Thank you all for your answers, I will purchase the 100ah battery just to be safe, like you all mention I would rather have the extra power in case its needed and be suffering at the of the day. 

 

 

[Fishingmickey]

The other option is to purchase a pair of 50AH and add a battery switch.

[Gera]

5 hours ago, Fishingmickey said:

The other option is to purchase a pair of 50AH and add a battery switch.

I thought about that too, but it doesn't seem that there is an advantage in size or weight. All I really want is to lower my setup/pack-up time.  I think I'll purchase a 100ah battery and make one of those nice batter cases that are easy to connect and remove for the yak. 

 

I guess I'll have to do some work to avoid working. 

 

 

 

[Woody B]

Like @GaryH said call Lithium Hub to see what they recommend.  I suspect a 50AH is all you need.  I have 2 50's for my 24 volt system.  I can't even come close to running them down in a day.  (Tracker Classic XL)  The 50's are tiny.  Ionics have a bluetooth app so you can monitor it while you're fishing to make sure you don't get stranded.  If you decide a 50 isn't enough you can add another connected in parallel for a total capacity of 100AH.  

[casts_by_fly]

4 hours ago, Woody B said:

Like @GaryH said call Lithium Hub to see what they recommend.  I suspect a 50AH is all you need.  I have 2 50's for my 24 volt system.  I can't even come close to running them down in a day.  (Tracker Classic XL)  The 50's are tiny.  Ionics have a bluetooth app so you can monitor it while you're fishing to make sure you don't get stranded.  If you decide a 50 isn't enough you can add another connected in parallel for a total capacity of 100AH.  

 

A 24v 50ah is the same total wattage as a 12v 100ah.  And you're not using them to push your tracker all over the lake all day (you have an outboard for that).  A 50 AH is not enough if he's using the motor for primary propulsion on any sizable body of water bigger than a 150 acre lake.  The Xi3 is 52 amps on full draw.  That's less than a full hour of run time at max (60 minutes /hr * 90% effective capacity * 50 AH / 52 amps = 52 minutes effective run time on max).  If you're fishing a 150 acre lake where you're not running more than a couple hundred yards then that's enough.  I have a lake or two like that here and my autopilot (~45 amp max draw) barely pulls any battery power.  I could get by with a 15 AH battery on those lakes if I wanted to.  As soon as you jump to a 300 acre lake where you are running a mile to your first spot, that's a 15 minute run there and back (eventually, unless you fish the whole way back).  You'd burn half of a 50 AH battery that fast.  Then you're limited to not moving anywhere else on the lake.  Forget it if you're on a bigger lake than that.  If the OP can live with those limitations (and no trolling or fishing in current), then a 50 would scrape by.  Otherwise, conventional wisdom across the motorized kayak community is start with a 100 ah and go from there.

 

thanks,

rick

[jimgleiss]

I’m thinking of getting the MotorGuide Xi3 and a 100ah battery for my Hobie Outback. How is yours working out for you? I’d appreciate hearing about your experience with it over the last year and any tips, recommendations & pics you might have. Thanks in advance!

[Gera]

On 4/12/2024 at 6:17 PM, jimgleiss said:

I’m thinking of getting the MotorGuide Xi3 and a 100ah battery for my Hobie Outback. How is yours working out for you? I’d appreciate hearing about your experience with it over the last year and any tips, recommendations & pics you might have. Thanks in advance!

So far its been great, I use the trolling motor not only for spot lock but to take me from A to B. I have never run out of juice and practically keep the spot lock on all the time. A usual outing for me its about 6 to 8 hours. 

I must point out that I'm not into any tournaments or fish huge lakes where it takes me an hour to get to my first fishing spot, but I don't think i would have any issues if I did that. I charge the night before and will be ready for the next day. I only use this battery for the motor and have a small 10ah for electronics. 

I did not expend the big bucks on a brand name battery, I went to amazon and bought the Litime mini and its been great for me... its light, its small and its cheap..  it may last half as long as a Dakota litium but its less than half the price.. if it dies in 5 years I'll just get a new one.. at thar point technology will improve and prices will be lower..  it really makes no sense to me to pay for a brand. 

 

hope this helps!!

[Jimmy Wallhanger]

My 100ah power queen has served me well. Never close to running out of juice.