Fishfinder battery

[polokid]

WIth these 12 volt batteries we use for ice fishing with our fishfinders, how long do you leave them on the charger before they are fully charged???
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[Hawkez]

Great Question. The carger that I have doesn't have any type of indicator letting me know where it is at. I have had my battery charging for 2 days now. The first ice fishing trip of the year the battery went dead on me, I won't have that happen again. I would like to know how others gage this as well.
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[mikecromaine]

I WOULD CHARGE THEM FOR 12 TO 16 HOURS IF IT IS SLOW CHARGER IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF THE BATTERY AND THE THE OUTPUT OF YOUR CHARGER NOW IF IT IS ONE OF THOSE SMALLER BATTERIES LIKE THEY USE IN ALARM SYSTEMS AND IT IS JUST ONE OF THOSE SMALL AC/DC CONVERTOR CHARGERS THEN 12 TO 16 HOURS SHOULD DO THE JOB BUT MAKE SURE YOU DO IT OUTSIDE IF THE BATTERY IS NOT SEALED LEAD ACID BATTERY LET OF A GAS WHEN THEY CHARGE THAT CAN KILL YOU I ALWAYS CHARGE MY BATTERIES OUTSIDE ANYWAYS TO BE SAFE!
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[Kent]

Best to use a voltage tester. Overcharing or undercharging batteries is unadvoidable without the ability to test them.
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[UintaIce]

Of course, the easy way is to have a charger with the indicator light. My Vexilar has one, making it idiot proof. Which is right up my alley. But I've watched the clock some too. When the battery is about half-way down, it recharges in about 4 hours. But when wiped completely out, it's more like 10 hours.
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[mikecromaine]

JUST A HEADS UP EVERONE VOLTAGE IS NO WAY TO CHECK IF A BATTERY IS CHARGED IF YOU WANT A TRUE DOWN T TEST YOU HAVE TO TEST THE AMPS IN IT BATTERIES CAN HAVE 12 VOLTS IN THEM THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY ARE CHARGED IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM AN BATTERY CAN HAVE 12 VOLTS AT 5 AMPS TJIS IS WHAT IS CALLED A TOP CHARGE BUT ONCE YOU PUT A LOAD ON THEM THE DIE NOW TO OVERCHARGE A BATTERY IS VERY HARD TO DO UNLESS YOU THROW 15 VOLTS OR HIGHIER TO A 12 VOLT BATTERY A CHARGE CYCLE ON A 12 VOLT BATTERY IS 13.2 VOLTS TO 14.1 VOLTS THE TRICK IS TO GET THEM NOT ONLY TO TAKE VOLTAGE BUT TO TAKE AMPS THIS TAKES TIME FOR A FULL CHARGE 99 % OF YOUR CHARGERS WILL CUT DOWN THE AMP CHARGE TO 0.0001 OF A AMP WHEN THE BATTERY IS FULL.
NOW YOU MAY WONDER HOW I KNOW THIS WELL I HAVE BEEN IN AUTOMOTIVE CHARGING FIELD FOR OVER 10 YEARS. THATS WHAT ME AND AL DO FOR A LIVING WE SALE ALTERNATOR AND STARTER PARTS TO REBUILDERS AND I HAVE BEEN A BUILDER MYSELF.
IN FACT THE EXPERTS OF BATTERIES IN THIS STATE IS HENSLEY BATTERY. BUT THEY ONLY DEAL WITH THE LARGER BATTERIES I BELEAVE. BUT THERE ARE TONS OF BOOKS ON ELECTICITY THEORY YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY WILL HAVE THEM THEY ARE A GREAT READ.
OH HELPFULL INFO NEVER TAKE YOUR CAR TO CHECKERS / AUTOZONE TO HAVE YOUR BATTERY OR ALTERNATOR LET ALONE YOUR STARTING SYSTEM. IF YOU HAVE A HEART PROBLEM DO YOU GOTO A FOOT DOCTOR NO! I WOULD TAKE YOUR CAR TO THE EXPERTS YOU LOCAL ALTERNATOR AND STARTER REBUILDERS THEY KNOW YOUR SYSTEM INSIDE AND OUT BECAUSE THAT IS ALL THEY DO!
SORRY I AM RANTING
I JUST HOPE I HELPED
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[born2fish]

I use 10 AA rechargeable batteries to power my finder. They last over 10 hours and I use a 15 minute charger to charge them. It only holds 4 at a time and takes a total of 45 minutes to charge all of them up. If anyone wants info on how to power your finder with AA just let me know.
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[PerchPile]

I for one would be very interested in how to do this. Please inform me. Thanks. Perchpile
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[polokid]

Send me a PM I would gladly look into alternative ways of powering it up.
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[PutteringAlong]

I bought my battery and trickle charger from Radio Shack last summer. The charger does not have an indicator but the instructions say 14-18 hours to get to full charge.

I generally hook it up the day before I'm planning to head out. I've only used it a half dozen times or so, but it seems to work for the day.

Length of charge is also temperature dependent. Cold temps will discharge the battery more quickly. Sometimes it is so cold that the display stalls, so I turn on the backlight which helps. I also get cleaner displays with the chart speed set to about 50%.
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[born2fish]

I'll take a picture tonight and get it posted. Picture is worth a thousand words. I even have a couple of spare battery holders that would work that I could send to you.
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[BEARCLAW]

I use a float charger (harbor freight $15) for my finder battery rather than a trickle. I've been told they don't overcharge (boil) battery which increases its life. I also bought a little charger from walmart for like 20 bucks and it tells you everything and will shut off and monitor the battery and top it off if it loses a charge. I use this for maintaining my atv battery. Either would work for your fishfinder batt. .
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[Hunt4BigBucks]

I just hook up my battery to my charger the night before and let it trickle charge overnight, I have never had any problems and it runs my fishfinder all day long.
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[fish1on]

I am an electrician and an alarm systems tech. Trickle charge is the way to go dude! Time on charge will depend on usage but with a trickle charge the guess work is gone.

The battery that I use on my finder has been in service for over 10 years. 12VDC 10 Amp hour. There are many different chargers on the market but if you want the best, then go with the Yuasa plug in trickle charger. Specs on it can be provided with a pm but it has built in LEDs that give you battery status and they have held true for me for my watercraft batteries and such.

JMOA
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[polokid]

Thanks everyone for your input on this. And born2fish, give me a shout on a PM about possible suggestions and alternatives. But do post your picts on this thread to give others the same ideas.
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[born2fish]

How to make you finder run on AA rechargeable batteries.

Go to the local electronics store (Home Depot or Lowes may have it) and pick up a 10 AA series battery pack (you can tell it is series because the direction of the batteries alternate). It will not work if you get them in parallel. It'll run you about $1.50.




It needs to be 10 AA for rechargeable batteries. All the rechargeable AA batteries I've seen are 1.2 V. Hook them in series and you get 12 volts. If you get a parallel, you'll only have 1.2 volts and finders won't run on anything less than about 8-10 volts. If you're using disposable alkaline batteries, they are all 1.5 volts, so you will run on 15 volts, but that doesn't seem to have a negative affect on the finder or you can get a 8 AA battery pack to make 12 volts. Then you can hook your finder to the battery pack in a whole bunch of ways. You have the 12 volt connectors, you can solder your wires to it, or my personal favorite, I just strip the last 1/4 inch and put the wires next to the terminals when you put in the last 2 batteries. They have never come loose or caused me any problems. I also have a 12 volt connector on the wires when that it more convenient.




Then get some sort of plastic box. You can get these almost anywhere for around 1 dollar and drill a small inlet for you power cord. This will insure you don't get any water near your batteries and it keeps you from yanking on the wires next to the terminals.




I put it in a tackle box with my transducer mount and the whole thing including the batteries weighs less than 5 lbs. and will reach down to 35" under the ice. Here is my setup:



It's pretty easy, took about 30 minutes from start to finish after I got the battery pack, tackle box, pipe, and plastic container. Whole thing cost me less than 10 dollars, but I already had the rechargeable batteries and charger. 10 reachargeable batteries will run around $15. My charger is an energizer 15 minute charger, but only holds 4 batteries at a time, so it takes 3 cycles, but total charging time in less than 1 hour. A fast charger has save my bacon several time because I can never remember to charge my batteries until I'm getting ready to go. Well that's the end of my novel, hope it comes in handy for someone.


[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3](edit) Please resize the pictures to no more than 400 pixels wide for posting. Attachments can be as large as you want. Thanks BLM[/size][/black][/font]
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[polokid]

Thanks for that post, i am definitely going to build me up one of those for alternative power sources, definitely on multi day trips. I already had a 12 volt brick battery, but was looking to get 2. but i will do that instead. I like that cause it is small and compact, and in emergencies you can always find AA batteries.
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[BearLakeMack]

[center][font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Batteries for idiots (definitely includes me)[/size][/black][/font][/center] [center][font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font] [/center] [left][font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3][black]Get a gel battery and call it good. I'v been running one for a few years and it's got as much power as it ever has and it's be recharged a bunch of times and forgotten on more than a few occasions. It will last 4 days through the winter on extended trips on my X-98 using the backlighting a lot. The chargers are meant for idiots like us so you can't ruin the battery. Though Born2fish's set up is cool and unique, Forget the popular science approach and save yourself the hassle. Get a gel battery.[/black][/size][/font][/left]
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[Kent]

Hey Rich, any recommendations on where to purchase gel batteries? Also, are they the same dimensions as the lead acid type (I have heard them called motorcycle style)?
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Cabela's has got them with a charger. I think they are close to $50. I've been looking around the web and found them on:[/size][/black][/font]
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[url "http://www.batteryweb.com/sonnenschein_powerfit.cfm"][font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]http://www.batteryweb.com/sonnenschein_powerfit.cfm[/size][/black][/font][/url]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The same size battery, their ES7-12, is $25.50 without a charger [#ff0000]BUT[/#ff0000] you need a gel battery charger with it that costs $40. Apparently, You need a charger that is specifically designed for gel batteries or you'll fry them. If you take the time to read the their FAQ's and other posted information, you'll have a good idea of what you need. A search on "gel batteries" will give you more info than you'll wish to digest.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]With the right charger, a gell will cost a bit more than a lead acid but it will last 4-5 times the life of a lead acid battery. That means you may only need to buy one battery for your ice fishing needs for ever![/size][/black][/font]
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