FishFinder Battery

[Markley]

What is the best battery to use for a Humminbird 300 TX? Should you use a marine starting or Deep Cycle? Thanks!

[Guest]

Deep Cycle only. You will fry the cells on a starting battery.

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[Guest]

Either battery will work fine for powering your Humminbird. The only problem you might run into, would be if the output from your motor's alternator goes higher than about 14.6v, it will cause the sonar to shut off. But that is not very common.

Rob

[Guest]

If you run a locator on a starting battery and discharge it, you will be replacing it.

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651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/

[hydro]

Either battery will work fine. The current draw form any sonar is low enough that you will get many trips before you will need to recharge your battery and you will probably never significantly discharge it.

The difference between starting and deep cycle batteries is that a "deep cycle" battery is designed internally to provide a steady medium current output and be able to be completely discharged and subsequently recharged. It's plates are designed with adequate spacing to handle this discharge/charge cycle without damage.

A starting battery is designed to provide short bursts of very high current and be kept under continuous charging by the engine's alternator. This prevents the deep discharge/recharge cycle from occurring. The starting battery has plates closely spaced to provide maximum current capability in a small space, but this design cannot withstand deep discharge cycles.

What eventually kills the battery is that every time it goes through the discharge/charge cycle, the plates slough off some material, eventually plugging up the space between themselves.

[TUMBLEWEED]

How do the "dual purpose" deep cycle/starting batteries stack up?? I have 3 of this kind, that I also run the trolling motor and graphs off of.So far, I have not been seeing any problems.

[Guest]

Like i said, if you run electronics on a starting battery, you will be buying a new one.

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MILLE LACS AREA GUIDE SERVICE
651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/

[Guest]

OK D-man, I'll bite. Now, I'm not trying to be a smart a$$ here. But, since it is obvious that many of us are running our locators off of our starting battery without problems, why are you so against it. I know it would be bad if you were to runn the battery completely dead, but as long as the charging system keeps up the battery, I don't see a problem.

Again, no offense meant here, I just want to know WHY before my boat explodes or something.

'nut'

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I fish, therefore I Lie.

[Polar Bear]

I've got a couple of the dual purpose batteries too. I've always wondered if its just a marketing gimmick. But I don't really know and like to find out.
Polar Bear

[musky hunter]

I ran my LMS350 off my starting battery all year with no apparant battery problems. But the electronics do drain it down, leaving me vulnerable to starting problems. So, I am installing a deep cycle battery dedicated to running electronics. I'm a firm believer in deep cycle batteies now for those low current long draw applications like the depth finders.

[Guest]

Trial and error and personal experience. I dont understand why boat dealers wire accesories to a starting battery? I dont think there is any danger or concern for expolsion. If you have the room, its better to add a second deep cycle. You can certainly use accesories on a starting battery but the life of the battery will deteriorate and when you go start the motor someday and nothing happends,just make sure your pull cord is in good condition.Hydro's post explained it well.Also you need to remember that most mid-range motors put out 6-8 return charging amps.Bigger v-4's and v-6's put out over 10amps. But these return charging amps are at max running RPM's.

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651-271-5459 http://fishingminnesota.com/millelacsguide/

[This message has been edited by D-man (edited 04-22-2002).]

[musky hunter]

The exact problems I've had running the electronics off the starting battery is this: the electronics drain it down. If it's night, the running lights also come off the starting battery, as does the live well pump and bilge pump. If after fishing for an hour or so, the motor cranks over slow, the fishfinder turns itself off on low voltage, and I hope my 120 hp. Force actually does start. I bought a small starting battery for about $40 last year. Might have been wise to spend another $20 but since I also need a trolling motor back up battery, the obvious solution for me is to buy a deep cycle battery and take a load off the starting battery.