Operating fish finder using lithium battery

[Kent]

I have always had my fish finders attached to my starting battery.  When I am vertically jigging, trolling or fligging I like to leave the fish finder on.  If I leave the fish finder on longer than ~3 hours I get concerned about running the battery down too low to start the outboard, so I usually switch off the fish finder.  I always carry jumper cables and a jump-start battery, so I am well protected, but I still prefer to not take any chances.  I am going to begin using a separate lithium battery to power my fish finder.    I currently have a Humminbird HELIX 9 Chirp MSI GPS G3N fish finder.  I'm not sure how powerful of a battery that I need to install.  I realize how bright I have the screen has a major impact on power draw, so I try not to have the screen any brighter than necessary.   Does anyone have any experience in how long a 50 Ah would power my Humminbird?

[Piscophilic]

I have always had my fish finders attached to my starting battery.  When I am vertically jigging, trolling or fligging I like to leave the fish finder on.  If I leave the fish finder on longer than ~3 hours I get concerned about running the battery down too low to start the outboard, so I usually switch off the fish finder.  I always carry jumper cables and a jump-start battery, so I am well protected, but I still prefer to not take any chances.  I am going to begin using a separate lithium battery to power my fish finder.    I currently have a Humminbird HELIX 9 Chirp MSI GPS G3N fish finder.  I'm not sure how powerful of a battery that I need to install.  I realize how bright I have the screen has a major impact on power draw, so I try not to have the screen any brighter than necessary.   Does anyone have any experience in how long a 50 Ah would power my Humminbird?

Hey Kent,

I don't have personal experiance, but the internet says the current draw for your hummingbird is 1 amp. Theoretically you could run it 50 hours because that is the definition of a 50 Ah battery. I would say over 40 is a decent estimate because a touted benefit of Li batteries is that they maintain the voltage even as they get close to being discharged.

[Kent]

I have always had my fish finders attached to my starting battery.  When I am vertically jigging, trolling or fligging I like to leave the fish finder on.  If I leave the fish finder on longer than ~3 hours I get concerned about running the battery down too low to start the outboard, so I usually switch off the fish finder.  I always carry jumper cables and a jump-start battery, so I am well protected, but I still prefer to not take any chances.  I am going to begin using a separate lithium battery to power my fish finder.    I currently have a Humminbird HELIX 9 Chirp MSI GPS G3N fish finder.  I'm not sure how powerful of a battery that I need to install.  I realize how bright I have the screen has a major impact on power draw, so I try not to have the screen any brighter than necessary.   Does anyone have any experience in how long a 50 Ah would power my Humminbird?

Hey Kent,

I don't have personal experiance, but the internet says the current draw for your hummingbird is 1 amp. Theoretically you could run it 50 hours because that is the definition of a 50 Ah battery. I would say over 40 is a decent estimate because a touted benefit of Li batteries is that they maintain the voltage even as they get close to being discharged.

Thanks.  If I get 40 hours I will be thrilled.

[TubeDude]

I'd guess you would have more than a full day of fishing while running your Helix on the 50 AH.  I ran mine on a 24 AH SLA battery for up to 6-7 hours...and still registered 60-70% charged at the end of the day.  My experience with lithiums is that they put out full power...longer than equivalent acid or SLA batteries.  

I finished my float tube career using a 100 AH lithium for my electric...after using high end SLA 100 AH for several years before.  Was more than pleased to discover I still had full power and a quick recharge on my Lithium at the end of the day.  My non-lithiums gradually declined in power output so that sometimes I limped back to the ramp at a much slower speed...even with 70% charge left.  But not with the lithiums.

[Mildog]

Kent I have garmin 10 inch Echo Map with live scope. It draws considerable amperage I’m guessing up to 6 amps possibly. I was using 50 AH LITHIUM and I was draining it to warning shut off level after long day of fishing ( 8-10 hours guessing) I just upgraded to a 150
AH as I’m
Now running 2 10inch units. Only one live scope black box so I don’t expect double amp draw but more than before. (Both the unit and Black box are powered on the live scope)
I used it at Willard the other day only one unit on with live scope for about 6 hours, battery showed 86% remaining.I have Bluetooth monitoring which is great you can check real time and see your amp draw . I used about 21 amps or 3.5 amps per hour ish?
One other thing is several of the companies now make 16 volt and claim better performance and run time not sure if the draw less amps at 16volts? Down side is expense and new charger 16 volt instead of 12 volt lithium life po 4 chargers needed.
Running finders on seperate battery is supposed to get better performance less interference.
Hope that helps!!
Ai says 2.4 amps draw for Helix 9 so rounding up to 2.5 50ah should provide power for 20 hours!
**Pic attached
I’ve used Eco worthy and Li time with good results. I am having an issue with one li time (trolling motor battery one of two) customer service good and they said they will replace battery waiting for a label to return?
Hope that helps

[Kent]

I found the fish finder specs online and it draws 1.9 amps. If I understand how it works, I should easily get a full day of fishing out of a 50-ah battery.

[Piscophilic]

I found the fish finder specs online and it draws 1.9 amps.  If I understand how it works, I should easily get a full day of fishing out of a 50-ah battery.

Sorry Kent, I guess I didn't dig deep enough! I found this summary from their website:

"HELIX 9 CHIRP MEGA SI+ GPS G3N ; Power Draw, 1 Amp ; Power Input, 10.8-20 VDC ; Power Output Peak-to-Peak, 8000 Watts ; Power Output RMS, 1000 Watts..."

Then when I saw your post I looked deeper and found the table that says 1.9 A. Don't kknow why their own website has contradictions. You should still get 20 hours plus out of it and that is a long day of fishing!

[BearLakeFishGuy]

My finder is a Garmin 9" Echomap (very similar to the 9" Lowrance and Birds). They draw about 1.5 or so. That would give you WAY more life than 3-4 hours. If you had a 50Ahr battery, it should last about 30 hours! You can't fish that long in one day! Quit worrying so much and just fish. You've taken the necessary precautions.

[wiperhunter2]

Since Kent started this thread here, I thought I'd ask a question about a problem I'm having with my lithium batteries. Just got a newer boat and it has lithium batteries for the electric trolling motor. First time I took it out, I had no issues, the second time I took it out the batteries went dead after a few hours. I thought I had a bad battery but I decided to charge it with my ice fishing lithium battery. I checked both batteries before I took it out again, they were both around 13 v so I thought I was good, went out again and again it went dead after a couple of hours. Got home and checked and the other battery was dead, this time. I have it on my FFer lithium charger now, hope the light on the charger turns green, when it's fully charged. I plan on charging the other battery once I'm done with the first one, to make sure they are both fully charged, for my next trip out. If that works, then I'll know the on boat lithium charger is bad. My question is, does this sound like a reasonable path to figuring out the problem? By the way, I just downloaded the app to my phone to be able to check the battery voltage or percentage of remaining charge, so I can tell what's going on with the batteries.

[Mildog]

Is it a 12 volt electric or are you running 2 12 volt in series for a 24 volt motor?
Makes a difference ?
If 2 12 volt in series you are supposed to use identical batteries and charge them fully then wire them up parallel to “balance “ them for 12 to 24 hours before wiring in series.

[SkunkedAgain]

Kent, I have the same model ff and have been using a 10 amp hour lithium battery and hardly ever go dead on a trip, however, I don't fish the long days that you do, I typically don't make it over 5 hours a trip.. I think your 50 will be plenty of juice even if you use some of the higher draw transducers... Good luck... Jeff

[wiperhunter2]

Is it a 12 volt electric or are you running 2 12 volt in series for a 24 volt motor?
Makes a difference ?
If 2 12 volt in series you are supposed to use identical batteries and charge them fully then wire  them up parallel to “balance “ them for 12 to 24 hours before wiring in series.

Yes, two 12 v wired in series for a 24 v motor. As I said, the first time I took it out after buying it, it worked fine, trolling for 6 hrs or so, the second try was where the problems began. My guess is the on board lithium charger is working properly. Yes, they are the exact same batteries. Since i did not buy them, because they came on the boat, i have no idea if the were charged properly when first installed. I'm hoping that this single charger will get them back up and working properly, then i'll buy a new charger., but until I figure out if it's the batteries or the charger, I'm stuck. Thought one of you guys might have a different idea. Also, when i went to try out the new app on my cell, for the lithium batteries, it could not detect the batteries, when hitting scan

[dubob]

Also, when i went to try out the new app on my cell, for the lithium batteries, it could not detect the batteries, when hitting scan

Since you didn't buy the batteries recently, it's possible that they are not 'smart' batteries and don't have a Bluetooth functionality.  Gather up the battery serial numbers and call the manufacturer and ask them if they are Bluetooth or not.

If it turns out that your batteries are bad, make sure you buy 'smart' replacements.  My Li Time Gp 31, 12v, 140aH batteries are lasting 4 to 5 trips to discharge down to 20% and then get charged back up to 100%.

[Mildog]

Wiper hunter you should charge both batteries to full chg. separately, then wire them together in parallel let them sit at least over night that way to balance them so they are equal. Then hook them up in series, that may help. Supposed to do it first the time and periodically to make sure batteries are equal.
When I was having issues with one battery the factory told me to do that and said it could resolve the problem and will make the batteries work better.
Good luck.

[wiperhunter2]

Wiper hunter you should charge both batteries to full chg. separately, then wire them together in parallel let them sit at least over night that way to balance them so they are equal. Then hook them up in series, that may help. Supposed to do it first the time and periodically to make sure batteries are equal.
When I was having issues with one battery the factory told me to do that and said it could resolve the problem and will make the batteries work better.
Good luck.

Thanks Mildog, hopefully that will work, it's worth a try and it makes sense. By the way, here is one of the batteries I'm using.

[Mildog]

It appears to have Bluetooth monitoring?
A buddy bought a battery thinking it had Bluetooth monitoring from wording on ad online. He couldn’t get it to work. Called the factory, turned out he purchased a non smart battery!! No Bluetooth monitoring!

[wiperhunter2]

It appears to have Bluetooth monitoring?
A buddy bought a battery thinking it had Bluetooth monitoring from  wording on ad online. He couldn’t get it to work. Called the factory, turned out he purchased a non smart battery!! No Bluetooth monitoring!

It says right on the battery that it has bluetooth but I'll try calling them to make sure, maybe they can give me an idea why it isn't working. After charging both batteries individually, I now have it hooked up in parallel. After charging them separately, I rechecked the first one again and the voltage had dropped from 13.46 to 12.36. I'm not sure if charging them for 24 hrs was enough but it worries me that it drop at all.

[EyLayo]

Some Bluetooth batteries won't pick up my phone if I have my location turned off. Double check to see if yours is on. If you can't figure out the charging issue, I can let you borrow a charger, it will charge them in either parralel or series. Or I can bring your batteries to my place, charge them up, then run a discharge capacity test on them.

[wiperhunter2]

Some Bluetooth batteries won't pick up my phone if I have my location turned off. Double check to see if yours is on. If you can't figure out the charging issue, I can let you borrow a charger, it will charge them in either parralel or series. Or I can bring your batteries to my place, charge them up, then run a discharge capacity test on them.

That could be it because I normally have my location turned off, I'll try that tomorrow. I might take you up on your kind offer Shawn, thanks much.

[BearLakeFishGuy]

Wiperhunter, Why not take the Li batteries to a battery store and have them tested? It might be that one is bad and is draining the other one. Or both might be bad (having been put on an improper charger prior to you buying your boat. Something isn't right. That set up should last at minimum a LONG day (8+hours) or even two days. You need to get the batteries load-tested. Voltage might be fine, but under a load they could be bad. Also I looked up your brand of Li battery and that company went out of business in Jan 2025 according to their Facebook page.