Battery questions

[Elkoholic]

I just bought a Minkota 28lb electric motor for my boat. What size of battery do I need to run it? I would like it to last most of the day (on a lower speed or course). I have a gas motor for moving from location to location, so I proably wont ever use the high speeds. Also does it matter if it's a deep cycle or not? Anyone know how many amps these motors draw?

Thanks.
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[tubeN2]

That minnkota 28 is actually a 28amp motor but will reach a max of 35amps.

Deep cycle batteries are always recommended for any type of freshwater applications. Since you can only charge it at home or through the use of a plug in charger, the battery will only discharge with use.

Normal lead acid batteries are not designed for the continuous draining down and recharging.

To figure your battery size simply take the max amperage of your motor, and calculate the max amount of time that you will need to use the motor. Figure on a 10 hour day so that you don't come up short.

Your minimum size battery should be a 350ah battery. Or simply multiply that by 5 Cold Cranking Amps and you will come up with a Deep Cycle 1750CCA battery.

You can always go with a bigger battery if you desire. This recommendation is only for a minimum size requirement.
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[Fishcrazy]

I have used 100 amp hour (AH) batteries by Trojan for years with the same motor you describe with good luck.The main thing is to keep water in them,and charge right after use.Try and not run them all the way flat if you can,it shortens the battery life.Some good web sites on batteries -www.trojan-battery.com,and [url "http://www.phrannie.org/battery.html"]www.phrannie.org/battery.html[/url]
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[KoldFeet]

Could a guy set up a solar panel, say on a shade canopy, and charge his batt. while fishing? or would this be a waste of time? just thinking. [crazy]
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[GpaFishLips]

We use exactly that setup for running a small fridge and to charge a deep cycle battery to power a telescope when we're out in the boonies, but in that situation the charging doesn't interfere with battery usage. In our case it takes a pretty good size solar panel (2' x 5'). Similar to what a previous post says, you have to multiply the panel amps by the number of hours charging and have that match the amount of amp-hours you expect to need for the trolling motor. I suppose you'd need a couple batteries to switch out, but this setup does give you independence from an extension cord.

[BEARCLAW]

I run a minnkota 35lb thrust on a 27 series Interstate deep cycle marine rv, I believe it's called a Mega-Tron. I can usually get about six hours of good use.
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[flygoddess]

[black][size 3]The Solar power would be sweet. But as mentioned you would have to get a big solar panel or a bunch of littler ones and parallel them.[/size][/black]
[black][size 3]I do have a friend that has 4 12" x 6" panels in parallel on his pontoon (out of new Volvos) and it keeps his battery going for a long time.[/size][/black]
[black][size 3]I have been bugging him for some.[/size][/black]
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[Troll]

I've been buying the big COSTCO RV Deep Cycle battery that they have for my electric motors for years.
It's 750 CCA and 105AH. I think that if you take your amp draw and divide it into the AH you have your run time. They get $63 for it and a $5 disposal charge (?, Probably a state thing). You could buy 3 for the cost of an Optima.
I get about 4 years out of them. I have an auto charger, and I keep them charged.
I have just upgraded to a 24 volt, 63 lb thrust that I got a deal on from the forum want ads. It's used but it is double the volts and 33% more thrust. I purchused the second 12 V Costco battery today.
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[tubeN2]

The good part about the 24volt motors[cool] is that they use only 1/2 the amps of a similar sized 12 volt motor.
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[PACKFAN]

I run two Interstate deep cycle marine batteries on my Minn-Kota 74 lb. thrust. I'm going into my 6th season with these. Any body that knows me will attest that I run these all day fishing walleye, I have fished two days with out recharging them. I also agree that the 24 volt system will not bring your battery down as fast. I haven't tried the new Optima's yet and was waiting to see if anyone can give a thumbs up or down on these.
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[kd...]

I have run the Optimas for three years now and I am mostly happy with them. I like the fact that they are sealed and will not spill acid in my aluminum boat. They have a lower internal resistance so they charge quicker than wet cell batteries. They last a long time as far as total lifetime goes. Their down side is, they are expensive and they don't have the amp/hour capacity of a rectanguler style battery of the same size. The reason for this is the cylindrical "six=pack" make up of their cells leaves space between the cylinders where there is no lead. Therefore they have wasted space and less capacity. They are "AGM" type batteries and I am sold on the technology. I think that when I replace them I will probably get a couple of Cabelas AGM batteries. They are the rectangular type "AGM" and they have more lead and therefore more amp/hour capacity. I am staying with the "AGM" technology.
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