I have a 25 hp Mercury outboard that is a pull start motor. I am thinking of adding a GPS/Fish Finder to my boat. My question is, will a stand alone battery power a GPS/fish finder and my navigation lights?
Any help is appreciated.
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First of all welcome to BFT, htwn29!
To answer your question - Yes, it will perfectly fine.[
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Size of the battery (amp hours) and your amperage draw from the lights and the finder is what you need to keep in mind though.
bigger is better in most cases.. as usual [cool]
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Thanks for the welcome. So if I run a 12V Deep Cycle Battery, how many hours will it last?
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No problems using it this way and your battery should last all summer if it is a deep cycle just for the finder. If you run lights, it will depend on how many and how often you use them Should still last a few weeks atleast.[
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I have a similar set up with a 20 hp motor. Last fall I bought a deep cell battery for the trolling motor and it seem to last all day. I just got a fish finder and an electric anchor winch, so this spring I will be able to find out how that works together.
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I do not own a boat but have seen it done with the rite size battery and if interested I found this site that is pretty good
www.fishfindergarage.com
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to give you an idea of how little power these fish finders use,
I have one that I run on two in line 6 bolt lantern batteries. Depending on the battery you get, you can get some remarkable usage. I put in a pair of rayovac bats one time that lasted me 3 years.
now keep in mind, when I find fish I am more likley to turn fhe finder off cuz I dont want any more distractions.
now when you put a trolling motor on that battery you will deffenantly be putting a draw on it. roughly about 2-5 hours of battery life.
You can always look in to solar trickle chargers that will charge your battery and you will never have to worry about charging before heading out on your fishing trip.
I run two batteries on my boat, one for the my electric start 15 horse Johnson and one for the trolling motor and fish finder and lights.. now when I run that bat down and wont run the trolling motor, it will still have more than enough power to run the finder, but not the lights.
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