Trolling Motor Battery Location

[kshays]

18 hours ago, airshot said:

Yes, they are not friendly when temps get down to 40 degrees !!  If you fish in the really cold, you might rethink.

I don't fish in the really cold anymore, but the days here in KY can get to a high of 70 and a low of 30 at night. 

3 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Never-ever put a Lithium-Ion in a boat - those are the ones that have all the fires

 

Go with a LiFePo4 - much safer and more stable.

Hey MN,

I should have mentioned I was looking at the LiFePo4, not just a regular Lithium one   Ty for the info, always good to be as safe as possible.

 

Oh, also I do not have a heated garage.  I would like to go ahead and make the switch to LiFePo4 batteries, but the way the weather is here in KY and with me not having a dedicated heated garage to store the boat in, AGM may have to be what I go with if I put them up front.  Either that or just make sure I take the batteries in my office until I go fishing and then bring them back inside after I get done.

 

TY

 

Kevin

[Tennessee Boy]

LifePO4 batteries perform better in the cold than lead acid batteries.  The issue is when charging them.  Charging at a high rate in below freezing temperatures can cause permanent damage.

[MN Fisher]

52 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Charging at a high rate in below freezing temperatures can cause permanent damage.

That's why a good BMS is necessary - it'll regulate the charging rate based on temperature to at least reduce if not eliminate damage concerns.

[Alex from GA]

Just wait until the afternoon to charge it/them.  I've been using a lifePO4 battery for my trolling motor for almost a year and it's the best improvement I could have done to my boat.  I can run for several days on a charge, it weighs 1/4 what the group 27 lead acid weighed, charges in 1/2 the time and the boat gained .3 mph.

[kshays]

14 minutes ago, Alex from GA said:

Just wait until the afternoon to charge it/them.  I've been using a lifePO4 battery for my trolling motor for almost a year and it's the best improvement I could have done to my boat.  I can run for several days on a charge, it weighs 1/4 what the group 27 lead acid weighed, charges in 1/2 the time and the boat gained .3 mph.

Where do you keep it at when it gets cold?  Here in KY it can get down to 0-15 degrees during the winter.  I won't be doing any fishing during this time, but I am also wondering if there are any hazards to keeping it inside the house until spring comes around.  

 

Kevin

On 9/25/2023 at 8:53 AM, MN Fisher said:

That's why a good BMS is necessary - it'll regulate the charging rate based on temperature to at least reduce if not eliminate damage concerns.

What I've read and seen so far, it's a must pretty much.

[MN Fisher]

3 minutes ago, kshays said:

Where do you keep it at when it gets cold?  Here in KY it can get down to 0-15 degrees during the winter.  I won't be doing any fishing during this time, but I am also wondering if there are any hazards to keeping it inside the house until spring comes around.

I bring my AGMs into the basement in the winter - it can get to -10 in my garage - and they're more 'problematical' than LiFePo4s in that situation. Just don't let them sit on concrete....put a couple blocks of wood up and put them on those.

[gim]

21 minutes ago, kshays said:

Where do you keep it at when it gets cold? 

He's in Gainesville, FL.  It doesn't get "cold" there.

[kshays]

9 minutes ago, gimruis said:

He's in Gainesville, FL.  It doesn't get "cold" there.

LOL, I thought his sig said FL.  I usually take my vacations down toward the FloraBama line at the end of October for a week.  It's pretty warm there compared to here in KY

28 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I bring my AGMs into the basement in the winter - it can get to -10 in my garage - and they're more 'problematical' than LiFePo4s in that situation. Just don't let them sit on concrete....put a couple blocks of wood up and put them on those.

That is colder than it gets where I live for sure.  I read a long time ago concrete was bad on the batteries so I usually do what you do, put them on something else.  Do you trickle charge them from time to time as well while in the basement?

[MN Fisher]

13 minutes ago, kshays said:

Do you trickle charge them from time to time as well while in the basement?

I'll charge them up just before removal...then once again about halfway through winter...then a full charge after re-install in the spring.

[airshot]

Do the LifePo4 batteries hold there charge thru the winter in the cold??  Looking to replace my trolling battery next year.  In Ohio we can get -10 below and while my boat is stored in my pole barn it is not heated.  I keep my agm batteries on a maintenence charger over the winter and it has added years onto there lives.  Do these LifePo4 batteries need something like that ??  

[kshays]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

I'll charge them up just before removal...then once again about halfway through winter...then a full charge after re-install in the spring.

Sounds good!  TY