battery charger - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

GregAndrew · 10-09-2012, 07:48 AM

A good and fully charged 9ah (or even 7ah, for that matter) is plenty to run an HDS 5 for 8 or 9 hours OTW. The exception being the amount of backlight being used (.4a draw without, .7a with the backlight on). Like RedSled said, buy a $5 volt meter to keep tabs on your batteries instead of just relying on the color of an LED light. A fully charged 12v battery should show something over 13v on the meter when fully charged. For a 6v it should read something over 7v. If they will not charge up to about that, then either they are bad or your charger is bad. Once they are charged up, take them off of the chargers if you don't go out on a regular basis. Another big consideration is to make sure all your connections are still good and waterproof.

Iceman · 10-09-2012, 08:30 AM

A good battery should last 5 years, don't let it sit dead and charge it at 1/10 the amp rating, that means a 1amp charger for a 10 amp 12 volt. Using a 2amp+ shortens the life of it. Your fish finder will likely shut down around 8 volts but your bait pump will run it all the way down.

10-09-2012, 08:30 AM	#2
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,948	A good battery should last 5 years, don't let it sit dead and charge it at 1/10 the amp rating, that means a 1amp charger for a 10 amp 12 volt. Using a 2amp+ shortens the life of it. Your fish finder will likely shut down around 8 volts but your bait pump will run it all the way down. __________________

10-09-2012, 07:48 AM	#1
GregAndrew Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 2,384	A good and fully charged 9ah (or even 7ah, for that matter) is plenty to run an HDS 5 for 8 or 9 hours OTW. The exception being the amount of backlight being used (.4a draw without, .7a with the backlight on). Like RedSled said, buy a $5 volt meter to keep tabs on your batteries instead of just relying on the color of an LED light. A fully charged 12v battery should show something over 13v on the meter when fully charged. For a 6v it should read something over 7v. If they will not charge up to about that, then either they are bad or your charger is bad. Once they are charged up, take them off of the chargers if you don't go out on a regular basis. Another big consideration is to make sure all your connections are still good and waterproof.