FF Battery Capacity

[RayJ]

Hi Kev

I use a 7ah sealed lead acid as per picture. I have used it about 3 times (in a w/proof butty box on its side) on full day trips and still had charge left. Only had the FF warn low battery the other day when I forgot to charge it for ages (4 days plus) and it still worked for the final 2 hours I was out after it started warning! (matrix 17). I only power the Matrix off it though! The GPS has its own batteries. It even survived the Yak being turned upside down by someone trying the Yak out (who shall be nameless) ha ha

 

Cheers mate..........Dave

 

 

Thats the exact one I use and have been out with it 5 or 6 trips at about 2-3 hours each trip without charging.

[Patrick Pending]

I have a Garmin 250C (Colour) and get about 4 hours on my 3.2 Ah (Sealed Lead Acid - not gel!) battery. I leave it on all the time I am out.

 

Your GPS unit doesn't have a 500 watts (RMS) tranducer thumping out ultrasonic shock waves through the bottom of your boat so it isn't really comparable

 

Power requirements of FF vary depending on the make and model but generally those with the highest drain will have the following (beneficial) characteristics:

 

a large screen size

a colour Screen

high screen brightness

high transducer output power

 

If you want 8 hours use from your FF you could either get an additional similar size battery or replace it with one with at least twice the Ah rating.

[Starvinmarvin]

Paintfly,

 

The 3.3 ah batteries I use on AnglersAfloat give me a minimum of 2 days use, but as they get older are holding less charge. I have a pair of them which have individual markings so that I know which to use and which to charge, I also put a tester on them a couple of days before a trip to ensure that they are fully charged. May be worth checking the voltage after it is fully charged to ensure it is charging correctly.

 

If your running a colour screen or more devices from the battery then you will get less use out of it.

 

SM

[paintfly]

Paintfly,

 

The 3.3 ah batteries I use on AnglersAfloat give me a minimum of 2 days use, but as they get older are holding less charge. I have a pair of them which have individual markings so that I know which to use and which to charge, I also put a tester on them a couple of days before a trip to ensure that they are fully charged. May be worth checking the voltage after it is fully charged to ensure it is charging correctly.

 

If your running a colour screen or more devices from the battery then you will get less use out of it.

 

SM

 

Thanks for all the feedback. Looks like a larger battery may be in order, because I want at least 8 hrs continuous use off it, more preferably. But from what you've all said, it does sound like my battery is under-performing. I will try and get a local garage to put a volt meter on it after I've charged it (the charger cost a bloody fortune; it automatically registers the battery's voltage and then goes onto trickle charge once it's done). I only run the FF off the battery; it's a B/W screen and no bigger than others I've seen; it is a dual beam, however.

[Starvinmarvin]

Like I say worth checking the voltage that your battery is holding, 12v usually holds close to 13v.

 

Does your charger match the battery, I had to purchase a charger specifically for the 3.3ah battery, the 7.2ah uses a different charger.

 

My Humminbird 565 is a dual and doesn't appear to drain any quicker.

 

SM

Edited July 11, 2006 by Starvinmarvin

[Karl K]

Sorry for the numpty question but is a Sealed Lead Acid battery the same thing as a gell battery? Its getting a bit to techy for me but the attched link seems to show how to calculate your battery requirements (I think!)

 

http://www.batteries4leisure.co.uk/capacity.asp

[Fastd]

Karl sealed lead and jel batteries are pretty similar. One works fine upside down the other wont work for as long.

 

With regard to charging batteries you can get very fancy charger /battery optimisers from model shops that are capable of charging a 12v battery from another battery. These discharge then recharge a battery to its full potential and can be used in the field with no problem. There not cheep but worth it to get maximum out of any type of battery. A top of the range delta peek charger is close on 100 quid but fully charges a battery in minutes rather than hours.

 

Another thought if anyone is any good with a soldering iron I know Elton has a VERY large quantity of NiMh batteries which could be made up into high output low weight battery packs without too much trouble. Just a little time with a soldering iron and finding some way to protect them from water.

 

Just a thought.

 

dave

[ColinW]

When I was into piking I used a Humminbird portable that I ran from two rechargeable lantern batteries (those with the springs on top) I think they were 5Ah each, so 10Ah total and the sounder would do two (long!) days. I think these (they were NiCad) batteries have a bigger charge storage than lead acid but they were hellish expensive, I only got them because they fitted in the case.

[Somerset in Jersey]

Just a tip, I measured the current draw of my lawrance GPS finder, and only noticed at a late stage that the back light function ws turned on, I quickley altered tghe settings and the current Draw of the unit fell by over 2 thirds, now the best way to judge the useage time is to check the spec it will state the current consumption in either amps or milli amps.

 

From this you can calculate how long the unit will run from your size battery, If the unit states 75ma current consumption then from a 3.6 amp battery (3600ma) your unit would run for 3600 / 175 = 20 hrs.

 

As I found out look at the settings and adjustments will save battery consumption, even the ping rate and screen speed will drasticly affect the consumption, try setting at the least possible for the situation.

 

My unit now will run for 24 Hrs solid plus on the 3.6 Ah Yuasa batteries i am using.

 

Plenty of time as my bum would get rather sore if i paddled for that long.

 

Keeping 2 sets 1 for use and one on charge is also a good idea.