What's that 12v battery you have all be raving about?
 

I've ran searches to no avail...my fish finder battery (12v 9.0ah) finally took a sh!t so it's time to replace. Can someone link me to the thread or recommend me the brand?

Thanks guys!

I have had this one for a while now.

http://www.kayakfishingsupplies.com/...BATTERY/Detail

The one I have that went bad is also a GPS. It lasted two years without issue so I'm not opposed to getting another; I just thought I read somewhere here about a brand that everyone was talking about and something about a group buy? I could me mistaken though.

The group buy I think you are referring to was for Lifepo4. If I remember correctly it was Greg Andrew that was the point of contact. Hit him up or Jorge.

see Jorges post here #18

http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwevb/s...ighlight=solar

Have you been out to NPH lately?

Bioenno is the brand I use. It is a LiFePo4 battery its a pricey investment but it lasts so much longer than SLA batteries. I used to have 12v10a batterries die in 6 hours. With my bioenno it lasts days

Bingo...that's it Bus...Thanks!
I haven't been out of NPH in awhile....you?
I've been taking the boat out more often than the yak...been going south to the islands.

SHEESH!
I'm sure it's been talked about a bunch but at $150+ I can buy a lot of those 12v 10ah Chinese specials that have been lasting me about two years. I found them for $23 each...Mine have always lasted atleast a full day on the water.

How do you guys justify the cost difference?
Weight?
Do they last six times longer? (12 years)

I was out a few weeks ago up north on the yak been spending too much time boating as well.

LiFePo4 is the name with correct capitalization. Aka "lithium Iron Phosphate"

LiFePo4 Advantages
about 1/2 weight of SLA Battery
constant voltage threw out discharge cycle, makes better finder readings
Unlike SLA amp draw doesn't affect use able ah
Faster charge times
If taken care of more than 20k charge/discharge cycles = a ton of fishing trips

Disadvantages
Expensive about 5x cost of SLA
Depending on "C" raiting can shock the living daylights out of you
Needs a cell monitoring circuit to keep from over discharge
If over discharged battery dies, period
Needs a special charger

SLA aka "Sealed Lead Acid"
Advantages
Cheap around $20 for a Chinese 12v 10ah
Forgiving with overdischarge, just stick on a trickle charger

Disadvantages
Heavy, oh yea heavy
Voltage sag
Amount of current draw affects useble Ah
Can last 2 weeks or 2 years who knows

In my opinion the LiFePo4 are the superior battery and even with the higher cost if you put it in a pelican case with circuit management board and a good charger the batter will last as long as 10+ years with maby 10% ah loss over that period if properly taken care of and just for the reason of no voltage sag it is worth the investment! So as long as you take care of the battery it will take care of you.

So I use a 10AH NIMH 12V. I initially thought it was 12AH but I checked it's only 10AH.

I found the exact battery on ebay, but it's gone up slightly in price.

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/12v-10Ah-NiMH...6Wzg~~60_1.JPG

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131018888014

When I bought mine everyone was using the normal lead acid batteries. Some people thought it was stupid or unnecessary to buy a fancy battery, but it was half the size and weight, had a longer power curve and according to the specs it was supposed to last for hundreds, even up to a thousands of charges if properly maintained.

Here's it's size compared to a standard 7AH sealed lead acid battery.

http://imageshack.us/a/img526/6291/batteriesme7.jpg

I don't have a thousand trips on it, but I do have a lot, and I think I bought the battery around this time of year back in 2008. It's still good and as a comparison I've gone through three lead acids for my bait tank since I bought it.

I just run electronics, but that's includes chart plotters, squid lights, and an old 300,000 Candlepower Q-Beam I carry for hooping.

I don't know that much about the newer technology batteries like the Lithiums, I'm sure they are great, but I'll tell you if my NIMH died tomorrow I'd buy another one, and right now at this point it wouldn't surprise me at all if I got another two or three years out of this battery.

Just from my experience I'd say buying a better battery definitely pays off in the long run.

Jim

LiFePO4 :aetsch:

Here's one of the better prices for a LiFePo4. $86.42 plus shipping. If you need a balanced charger I would suggest combing your purchase here for one.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...0645&aff=15144

:)
Many options for batteries on this site.

There you go.

The constant voltage throughout discharge cycle is a huge advantage. A SLAs voltage drops as it discharges, which means your finder has less and less voltage or power to run on the longer you run it on a SLA. First few hours they are fine but over time the performance starts to degrade.

LiFepo4 and NIMH batteries have constant discharge which means the voltage stays the same until they run out of power. Effectively this gives you about a third more functional hours for your fishifinder on the same amount of amp hours.

The reasons you list are the exact same reasons I went with a NIMH back in 2008. LiFePo4 sounds great but until I kill my current NIMH battery there is not much point in changing to anything else.

You got it right. Those are the advantages to the better batteries, and it is worth the extra cash if you take care of the batteries and keep them going for the long term.

Yep, they are expensive but so are some reels, rods, fishing line, hooks, kayaks, etc. If quality wasn't an issue we'd all be fishing with the cheapest gear we could find.


Don't go cheap just because its cheap

Thanks for the link.
I wonder if 8.4ah would be sufficient?

I've been using lithium ion batteries since 09, been through 3 kayaks since then and on my fourth. Still on my original set, Batteries are still going strong. I did pay alot of money for them but i bought them just once and they power all my devices all day and some. Plus they are even lighter and smaller than the lifepo batteries... But the only drawback is you cannot get them wet, luckly i never have yet....

Alot of us have really powerful and expensive fishfinders. Why cheap out on the power source? Having that extra capacity in a smaller lighter package that will probably outlast your kayak is worth it in my opinion.

Exactly I would not upgrade your NiMH until they die, but if you take care of them except them to last about 500 charge/discharge cycles. That's many years of fishing for most of us. But if you look it on trips per year basis if someone goes fishing a couple times a year get a SLA but if your doing 2-3 or more trips a month spend the $ and get yourself a good battery especially if you have a nice expensive fish finder that requires more power. No use in crippling your HDS or whatnot with a low end battery

True.
Up until now the cheapest I found were $150 plus.
I definitely don't mind spending more for quality...especially for mechanical functionality...But there's not many things we opt to pay 600% more for that has no moving parts.

For a fish finder, no problem.:luxhello:

This Hummingbird batt. on Amazon has very good reviews
Title says AGM, one reviewer says it's a gel cell batt.
Includes a chrger.
Under $40 at this time
http://www.amazon.com/Humminbird-770...pr_product_top
:bandit:

There are certainly some nice advantages of the high end batteries, but they are not for everyone. If you only go out a few times a month, fish short days and don't go on trips, they are probably not for you. On the other hand, if you are tired of having to replace another SLA, take kayak trips to remote locations, fish long back to back days often, are concerned about a short causing your battery to melt down, don't like to leave your battery on the charger for 8+ hours or just want to lose a few pounds, then the LiFePo4 batteries may be for you.

Every few weeks, Bioenno has their 12v 12ah battery with charger on sale for about $150 shipped. I chose that size battery (12ah) because I knew it would get me 2 full days of use from my HDS 5 at .75a per hr.(avg.). Your needs/uses may vary, so the size you need may be more or less. That is also the largest size of battery I could fit in my built in battery bag.

Thanks for the explanations guys.
Greg, is this the one you're referring to? Looks even cheaper...however; says "coming soon".
http://www.bioennopower.com/collecti...ifepo4-battery

Unless they have two different 12v 12a batteries I believe 'coming soon' means its on back order.

Those are some of the reasons I decided to go with a LiFePo4. I fish at least 3-4 times a month and I'm usually on the water right around 8hrs. I didn't want a battery that 'might' last 10hrs or die after 5hrs because I forgot to charge it. I once ran my LiFePo4 from 6am - 8pm and it never failed, that kind of dependability is worth every cent to me.

That is the one, right down to the model number. That was about the price before, but I was talking about after tax and shipping.

Have you guys seen this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-10Ah-Bam...item4ac0b5aa49

Interesting packaging. They mention the use of lead acid chargers in their description. That's surprising.

There ya go, just put it/them in a waterproof container with a top (take top off to charge), drill a small hole in box to run wires through and 5200 them in place, a few waterproof connectors, and your in business. Like any battery, anything that causes a very fast discharge, like submersion, will create an electric thermo transfer, i.e., heat, enough to create a fire, or melt a yak. The nice thing is that a 20amph LION is about the size of a cigarette box.

That looks like a great price, but I wouldn't think the bamboo case would hold up without being in a waterproof container

That could mean it's not balanced. A balanced LIPO 4 battery is going to last much longer if taken care of properly.

The chip inside the good LiFePo4 batteries protects from many problem situations like over discharge where your battery would heat up, potentially causing a problem. I dont see any mention of the Bamboo case being waterproof which would be a problem. Also, 10 amps is not going to last me 2 full days of fishing with my ff.