Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Dakota Lithium


eyeguy 54

Recommended Posts

  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

Totally understand the hype and some of the benefits on the lithium batteries. But honestly I haven't found myself pulling the trigger on one yet. And probably never will. I guess for myself I look at the prices versus rewards and I cant see the benefits worth it I might be wrong. I realize the guys with the LCD Marcums and the LCD Birds  require a lot of battery power and I see the rewards then but just not  for the standard old school dial guys.   I just find myself personally having no problems using a 9 amp 12 v standard battery in my Vexilar.  In fact I have 4 of them one of the extras I Run in my Elite 7 GPS on a blue box for navigation. 1 in my underwater camera 1 as a spare. As far as seasons I get at least 5 years or better off of them. At $19.99 at fleet on sale you cant go wrong. Call me Old school but I have a fishing room built on my house that I put my gear in every day or night when arriveing home, so  I've always made it a habit of charging my vex everyday as a priority. I know the longevity factor and  I realize weight has always been a bonus but honestly if I cant lift a VEX with the standard lead acid battery and  go hole to hole all day then maybe I need to hit the gym or weights a little harder or  find another sport. ?. Maybe some day Ill jump on board but as for now call me old school ?

  • I Like it 2
  • Yayyyy 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

With this body every ounce I don’t have to lift is a plus ?. Like with the auger. So nice with the electric. Only one battery here so a few bucks invested was ok.  No way if I had four going would i have switched. Always always charged the old one after each outing. Great habit. This one hasn’t moved off 100 % yet but I still throw it on for just a bit. Will experiment maybe next time out and see what it does after two outings. 

  • I Like it 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, eyeguy 54 said:

 This one hasn’t moved off 100 % yet but I still throw it on for just a bit. Will experiment maybe next time out and see what it does after two outings. 

 

Wouldn't be surprised if the Vex gauge doesn't read the battery correctly, since lithiums have a flatter/higher voltage curve and those meters read the voltage, if my memory serves me right.   Or the Vex just has such low power draw its barely making a dent in it.  ?

 

 

 

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Very low power draw i am told on the fl18

  • Thumbs Up 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, eyeguy 54 said:

Very low power draw i am told on the fl18

Son has an FL28, buddy the FL18 both thought thier flashers were drawing too much current as there newer batteries died in a few hours. (Had bad batteries) Fl28 spec states 275 ma, I measured 287ma all options on. Fl18 spec at 200ma actual measured 208ma. I ran both units on new full charged 9ah batteries for 8 hrs. Fl28 batt was at 11.72 Fl18 11.97 at end of 8 he's. Calculated run time for a Fl18 on a 15AH battery is about 58 hours and Fl28 at 41 hours.

(15 ah  = 15,000 ma - 15,000ma ÷ 208ma x.8 = 57.69. The x.8 represents 80% due to cold temp, repeted power on/off etc.). 

  • Thumbs Up 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
On 11/17/2019 at 5:00 PM, AlwaysFishing23 said:


I was able to get out for a bit today. Lake had good ice (5-6”) and was able to ice a few nice gills. I did get to drill about 20 holes with the drill/auger setup. Wow is all I can say. Butter smooth and FAST! Very nice, 20 holes and never dropped the battery down one bar. Just pull the trigger and go, no gas no pulling no mess. But I did have a lot of torque to deal with like I expected. The drill did great so I’m going to invest in the clam drill plate and a 6” lazer auger. I have the 8” lazer now so I should have a lot less torque and more holes per charge. As far I know from reading and YouTube the lazer auger (Hand auger) should bolt right on the plate without any other needed adapters? 

Correct 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, papadarv said:

Son has an FL28, buddy the FL18 both thought thier flashers were drawing too much current as there newer batteries died in a few hours. (Had bad batteries) Fl28 spec states 275 ma, I measured 287ma all options on. Fl18 spec at 200ma actual measured 208ma. I ran both units on new full charged 9ah batteries for 8 hrs. Fl28 batt was at 11.72 Fl18 11.97 at end of 8 he's. Calculated run time for a Fl18 on a 15AH battery is about 58 hours and Fl28 at 41 hours.

(15 ah  = 15,000 ma - 15,000ma ÷ 208ma x.8 = 57.69. The x.8 represents 80% due to cold temp, repeted power on/off etc.). 

 

The Ice55 pulls 250mA per its website/spec sheet..  A unit with a big screen like the Ice Helix 7 w/GPS rated at 900mA.

Edited by CJH
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stopped by Fleet Farm today, picked up new FL-8se. Super quit running. Tested current uses 200ma set at 20ft. Increases to 224ma with Gain set to max. Uses less power when set to deeper depth - 120ft only draws 150ma.

20191210_140030.thumb.jpg.b26a248e8d2adf0771bfafe43617f022.jpg

 

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

may the vex force be with you. :)

  • Yayyyy 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

update. love the weight. The vex charger was not doing it right so I bought the Dakota charger for 20 bucks. man does it get hot!  

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

You think it’s worth it Eyeguy 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
14 minutes ago, monstermoose78 said:

You think it’s worth it Eyeguy 

Yes indeed. Light as a feather

  • Thumbs Up 1
  • I Like it 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was about to purchase a lithium flasher battery for my FL20.  I spoke with a buddy who is a vexilar rep, sounds like they may be exploring that option for their flasher in the future.  He did mention that charging a lithium battery with the standard vexilar charger or a .8 amp charger can cause some issues.  Almost like reverse polarity issues.  I don't have a lithium battery, but if i were to purchase one it would be with a new charger.  

  • Thumbs Up 1
  • I Like it 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I have a two lithium. You do get more run time of out them. They run all the way down to about 5% before they quit. Your standard battery will start to lose power and then cut you off with some juice still left. You will want a new lithium charger, charging them on a regular charger can mess them up and give you false readings of it being full.

  • Thumbs Up 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just ordered one of the Amped Outdoors batteries.  My Genius Smart Charger has a Lithium setting, which they said would work perfectly with it.  So if you have one of those, or something similar, that should work.  I'll find out one way or another!!

  • Wow, ❤ 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.