How to choose the correct battery for your fish finder 

No problem appreciate the kind words 👍🏻

Made this video 4 years ago when it was very expensive, and even though prices have come down, compared to a standard SLA battery of the same spec, LiPo4 is still roughly twice as expensive so yeah given the choices on the market it’s an expensive option

Base it on the draw for your specific unit. There are ways to reduce the power draw like turning down screen brightness or switching off modes like GPS but for simplicity sake for yourself, yes base it on max draw for your unit. 👍🏻

Yes. Definitely.

If you take it off the charger once it’s full and leave it for a long time then potentially the battery can run down slowly over time. If you have a smart charger it does no damage to just keep it plugged in the whole time and as it slowly runs down the smart charger automatically tops it up

Not ‘any’ 12v battery, you need a deep-cycle (rechargeable) battery (it’s possible to use a cranking battery but not ideal) and the ah is the size so I’m not sure what the power draw is for a Striker 4 but look it up to figure a battery size big enough to last all day

Hi there, I’m not sure on the specifics of that exact unit, but my intuitions would always be to put an inline fuse on the positive wire between battery and unit to prevent any over-voltage issues and damage to the unit if battery went faulty. I’ve seen melted wires and damaged units before from people running direct to battery without a fuse. For fuse size for example I use 10” & 12” Humminbird units which require 4amp and 5amp inline fuses. If you have a 7” unit my guess would be about 3amp fuse needed but it’s important to get it right so deffo look it up in the manual or visit the Lowrance website.

@@Thomhuntfishing thanks! After looking in the manual under power requirements it says 10-17v for voltage input and for fuse it says 3-amp automotive. I’m just curious why it didn’t come with a fuse if it needs one? You’d think they wouldn’t want you frying your unit…

i had to look through the garmin owners manual to find it. under spedifications -> draw rate

@@crux321 i tried it and it powered all day thanks

Zafishowany cheers 👍🏻

2 units on the same battery is simply attach all +ve terminals to +ve….. and all -ve terminals to negative and away you go 👍🏻 I’ve heard of fish finders and trolling motors being on the same battery causing interference but 2 sounders on 1 battery is fine

Yes and no. There are 2 types of lead acid batteries. ‘Car batteries’ also known as cranking batteries are more for delivering higher amounts of power over a short period to start a car engine. The car then has an alternator which recharges the battery as they are not designed to be run down flat. Alternatively, a ‘leisure battery’ also known as ‘deep cycle batteries’ are better for fish finders and trolling motors as they are designed to be run down and then recharged when you get home. So if you have a ‘car battery’ that starts your boats motor, and an alternator that recharges the battery then yes you could run your fish finder off this system, but if it was a car battery just rigged to your fish finder then no, the battery would die very quickly. In that instance you’ll need a deep cycle battery 👍🏻

@@Thomhuntfishing Tanks a lot. Very helpful.

Sorry man, don’t know how to help. I’ve got a screen grab here from the Humminbird link I sent you saying it’s 1.75amps (but I can’t post a picture here in the comment) Literally no idea where you got 3.3amps from for the Helix12 unit, as the Solix12 Mega Si+ G3N only draws 2.88amps 🤷‍♂️ Plus I know it can’t be 3.3amps as I’ve run my day battery for 9-10 hours before, and if it was 3.3amps/hour draw that battery would need to be 30-33ah size, and it’s only 22ah but lasts all day on my Helix12? The amp draw stated by Humminbird that I’ve quoted includes the transducer, as it comes via the unit, the only transducer that requires extra power is the M360 (I have one) but even that with moving parts doesn’t use much. Either way, if you’re still adamant it’s 3.3amp draw, you can still use the equation I’ve given just make sure you get a large battery! 👍🏻

I think the Gen3 & Gen4 units have a much higher draw so 2.7 is correct. I did this a few years ago and it’s the Gen2 unit I think the max draw was 1.4 and I used to run at screen brightness 8 which was 1.05 amp draw. Like I said in the video every person needs to work out their own equation based on their specific unit

3.3amps? Where did you get that from? Here’s the link to the spec page of the Humminbird website.... which says it draws 1.75amp but that’s at full screen brightness. I’m normally running screen brightness 7 which is is 1.1amp (I should know, I’ve tested it) but for simplicity of explanation I just rounded it to 1. humminbird.johnsonoutdoors.com/fish-finders/helix/helix-12-chirp-mega-si-gps-g3n?jo-page=2

@@Thomhuntfishing Hi Thom. Great video. How so did you test it? I'd like to test my unit to see what the draw rate actually is.

Amps per hour. 👍🏻😂 I was trying to differentiate between useage/draw and size.