Battery Selection and APH

[monzster]

I have a 14' Jon and a 10' Quest Angler. Both are run with the same trolling motors which I just transfer from boat to boat. A Pexmore 55 thrust which I use in the rear and a 30 thrust Minn Kota in the front. Each boat has their own set of batteries which are lead acid. The Jon has 2 100APH and the Quest 2 80APH both are run in parallel. The Jon has one battery that is going bad and is only 2 years old. I only fish in places that allow electric power. 2 years ago I was on a reservoir in the Jon and ended up running out of juice and had to paddle back to the dock since then I have been fishing rivers only which is not a big problem but want to get back to some reservoirs. I cannot have this problem again because I have back and mobility issues but am trying not to give up fishing at this point. I will also be fishing alot by myself this year. So my question is. Im looking to go with Lithium instead of lead acid because I just cant afford to keep replacing them every 2-3 years (thats what I have been getting out of them between the Walmart brand and now Duracell brand) now because we are a one income family now with me not working because of my back. I am thinking of buying one 100APH Lithium to run both of these motors for about 6 hours on the water if that is possible. If not would it at least run the rear motor for that long and have a 100APH lead battery to run the front motor in addition to the 100APH lithium running the back until I could afford another Lithium. I usually run both motors to get where I am going then the front just to fish from spot to spot in that general area. Appreciate any input and any certain brand of Lithium you like better over others.

 

[Rob4]

I have a 14' Jon and a 10' Quest Angler. Both are run with the same trolling motors which I just transfer from boat to boat. A Pexmore 55 thrust which I use in the rear and a 30 thrust Minn Kota in the front. Each boat has their own set of batteries which are lead acid. The Jon has 2 100APH and the Quest 2 80APH both are run in parallel. The Jon has one battery that is going bad and is only 2 years old. I only fish in places that allow electric power. 2 years ago I was on a reservoir in the Jon and ended up running out of juice and had to paddle back to the dock since then I have been fishing rivers only which is not a big problem but want to get back to some reservoirs. I cannot have this problem again because I have back and mobility issues but am trying not to give up fishing at this point. I will also be fishing alot by myself this year. So my question is. Im looking to go with Lithium instead of lead acid because I just cant afford to keep replacing them every 2-3 years (thats what I have been getting out of them between the Walmart brand and now Duracell brand) now because we are a one income family now with me not working because of my back. I am thinking of buying one 100APH Lithium to run both of these motors for about 6 hours on the water if that is possible. If not would it at least run the rear motor for that long and have a 100APH lead battery to run the front motor in addition to the 100APH lithium running the back until I could afford another Lithium. I usually run both motors to get where I am going then the front just to fish from spot to spot in that general area. Appreciate any input and any certain brand of Lithium you like better over others.

Sorry, not your guy for a specific answer, but I just researched the Lithium Bats to save weight on my boat. I really think there's no reason to go wet cell at this day and age. Get online and look up lithium battery teardowns on youtube and you'll see some big differences in the build quality between the cheaper ones. From watching these vids and some reading, seems Li Time and Watt Cycle bats are acceptable build quality and almost too affordable. Both are on Amazon too. I'm thinking lithium may be worth every penny. Especially, if these battery's last as long as they're supposed too. And the 100 percent cycle rate. I'm tired of buying new bats every 2-4 years too. So, I just bought the Watt Cycle mini 100Ah w/bluetooth for 179 bucks. Its a calculated risk. If you fish in real cold weather, or leave the bat out in freezing weather you might not want a mini (different cell type). Also if you plan to ever charge your bat from an alternator, make sure the lithium battery supprts that. We'll see how mine works out once the ice breaks up here in SW Colorado!

 

[airshot]

Care and maintenance is not being done properly is why your life is short. I have a pair of Wally world gp 31 deep cycle batteries bought in 2019 and starting to show a loss of charge now. My last set lasted for over 5 years. They can't be run below 50-60% capacity at any time, they must be recharged at the end if the day. Leaving the battery discharged for days or running it below 50% will definitely shorten life of the battery..No natter what brand, you can get a bad one on ocassion.

 

[monzster]

Care and maintenance is not being done properly is why your life is short. I have a pair of Wally world gp 31 deep cycle batteries bought in 2019 and starting to show a loss of charge now. My last set lasted for over 5 years. They can't be run below 50-60% capacity at any time, they must be recharged at the end if the day. Leaving the battery discharged for days or running it below 50% will definitely shorten life of the battery..No natter what brand, you can get a bad one on occasion

Maintenance is not the issue for sure but you are correct, in my 43 years of being an auto mechanic I have replaced a battery or 2 under warranty for sure.

 

[thill]

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=TimeUSB&crid=18582P81AXYMQ&sprefix=timeusb

These are very good batteries, last much longer than regular, are lightweight, and don't require the careful maintenance that lead acid batteries do. There are a number of choices on that search page. Some are simple, and others have more features. At this price, I would have bought the bluetooth versions, but it's not necessary.

The basic100 AH batteries should easily last you a full day on a lake. For about $159, they don't cost much more than a Walmart battery. I use mine to fish the CBBT and also lakes here in VA. A simple choice to make, in my opinion.

This is the $25 charger I purchased, and it's worked well. I have two, since I need to charge multiple batteries:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BN1W15D6

 

[thill]

With lithium batteries, you do NOT charge at the end of the day. They like to rest at 30-60% charge, so you only top them off the night before a trip.

Less to think about after a long day on the water.

 

[monzster]

Sorry, not your guy for a specific answer, but I just researched the Lithium Bats to save weight on my boat. I really think there's no reason to go wet cell at this day and age. Get online and look up lithium battery teardowns on youtube and you'll see some big differences in the build quality between the cheaper ones. From watching these vids and some reading, seems Li Time and Watt Cycle bats are acceptable build quality and almost too affordable. Both are on Amazon too. I'm thinking lithium may be worth every penny. Especially, if these battery's last as long as they're supposed too. And the 100 percent cycle rate. I'm tired of buying new bats every 2-4 years too. So, I just bought the Watt Cycle mini 100Ah w/bluetooth for 179 bucks. Its a calculated risk. If you fish in real cold weather, or leave the bat out in freezing weather you might not want a mini (different cell type). Also if you plan to ever charge your bat from an alternator, make sure the lithium battery supprts that. We'll see how mine works out once the ice breaks up here in SW Colorado!

I have heard alot of good things about LiTime. I have also found that for the price of what a lead is you can get a lithium for just a few dollars more. The warranty is also a plus on alot of them and like you said the weight which is another main reason for me. Its like a win win for sure.

 

[monzster]

With lithium batteries, you do NOT charge at the end of the day. They like to rest at 30-60% charge, so you only top them off the night before a trip.

Less to think about after a long day on the water.

This I did not know. So use to topping off after the trip with leads. Appreciate the info on this as well as the batteries and charger. Will definitely look at those. Thanks again.

 

[Bantou]

With lithium batteries, you do NOT charge at the end of the day. They like to rest at 30-60% charge, so you only top them off the night before a trip.

Less to think about after a long day on the water.

Will it hurt them to top them off at the end of the day and/or leave them on a trickle charger? My ADD self will 100% forget to hook them up the night before at some point and wind up with dead batteries in the middle of the lake. However, if hooking them up as part of the “put the boat up” routine, I’m much less likely to forget.

 

[FuzzyGrub]

It is a bit of retraining after many years of using LA batteries. Mine do not have a heating pad, so early and late season, have to make sure it doesn’t go below freezing when charging them.

 

[airshot]

Maintenance is not the issue for sure but you are correct, in my 43 years of being an auto mechanic I have replaced a battery or 2 under warranty for sure.

Perhaps a bad charger or something must be wrong if you only get a couple years from a deep cycle battery. Over my 60 plus years of boat ownership, even my cheap deep cycle batteries lasted longer than two years. I also use a "maintainer" thru the winter storage period which has added life to my batteries.