Lowrance? Which Battery?

[Huskie]

I'm getting conflicting opinions on which battery I should hook up my elite 7Ti to.  The easiest is to connect it to the deep cell right beneath the unit in my Lund instead of weaving it all the way back to the starter in the stern.  Any recommendations.?  Will the trolling motor cause any interference?

[leech~~]

At all costs I try and keep all optional equipment hooked up to the second battery and nothing on the starter battery.  Even if everything else dies I still want to go home at the end of the day! 

[Wanderer]

Most people have their electronics connected to their cranking battery.  Idea being the motor is run enough to recharge the cranking battery.  Connecting to your deep cycle/trolling motor battery pulls life from your TM.  If you don’t use the TM much, probably not an issue.  Will have to be a single battery 12 volt or dual batteries wired parallel to stay 12 volt though.

[gunner55]

That's how both of our units are wired, 1 on the bow & 1 on the dash, off the starting battery. All the newer outboards, ours is a '02 Yamaha 115, have a high output alternator on them so 1 doesn't need to run the outboard very much to keep everything charged. We do have an on board charger wired in for the TM batteries too & a lot of times those batteries are fully charged by the time we get back to the dock. I don't always trust the gauge on the MK though & still plug the charger in often.

[Pat K]

I hooked a depth finder to my bow mount trolling motor on my 1st boat. Every time I turned the motor I got  interference on my screen.

[gimruis]

On ‎5‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 10:53 AM, Pat K said:

I hooked a depth finder to my bow mount trolling motor on my 1st boat. Every time I turned the motor I got  interference on my screen.

 

This is why most people avoid wiring electronics to the same battery as a TM: interference.

[BobT]

New boats are wired with all electronics and peripherals powered by the starter battery. The starter battery should be a dual-purpose deep cycle battery. The reason being that it will more easily handle the low current draw from the peripherals as well as being able to deliver the high current draw to start your outboard. This type of battery could probably run your electronics for days without depleting the charge to the point of preventing you from starting your outboard. 

 

Connecting your sonar unit to your trolling motor battery will likely cause interference issues. 

 

Bottom line in either case is to maintain your batteries. Always recharge as soon as possible and as quickly as possible after each use. Keep an eye on the electrolyte level and don't allow it to drop so low that the plates get exposed. Exposing them to air contaminates them and that will deplete the battery's life. Don't rely on your outboard to maintain the starting battery. It takes more time than you think to replace the charge after use and unlike your car where you drive for long periods, your outboard may not be able to completely recharge the battery during the short runs we typically make.  Batteries do not like to be left for periods of time at less than full charge and doing so will deplete the battery's life. 

 

This past weekend while up on Vermilion I was having trouble with my trolling motor. Suspecting the battery may have finally bit the big one, I noticed the date stamp on it was May 2012. It was a 7-year old battery! Getting five years out of one is considered very good but seven is exceptional.

 

Best to charge and then let it sit for a few hours before testing so Wednesday I charged up the battery and yesterday I took it in to have it tested. At first the tester was connected to the main posts and immediately it reported the voltage was 12.8 which is perfect. We then did the load test and the MCA (Marine Cranking Amps) were 120A above the battery's rated specification! Amazing so we figured there was nothing wrong with it and I would probably have to check the wiring on my boat. But then, we connected the tester to the screw terminals where I actually connect the wires for my trolling motor and that's when the test failed. There must be an internal problem with the battery. I could have just bought some clamp-on connectors with the threaded bolts and maybe got a few more years out of that old battery but because the fluid looked so cloudy and muddy looking I figured it was a matter of time so I chose to buy a new one.

 

The point is that when we take care of the batteries they can give us a good life in return.