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

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by danjor

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...

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.

[jorluivil]

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

[ful-rac]

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.

[bubblehide]

Originally Posted by ful-rac

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.

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.

[BrokeLoser]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

Yep, there 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

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.

[danjor]

Originally Posted by Fiskadoro

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.

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