Battery Issue

[tarheelfishing88]

I added a gpsmap to 1222 and livescope to the bow and first time out had low voltage alerts popping up within 3 hours of being on the water (mostly using TM with one of 10 minute run in there). Right now I’ve got a new Napa 31 group 7234 for cranking and have an HDs 10 gen1, hds 8 gen2, live wells, aerator, and pumps connected. I haven’t had battery issues before. Is there a good way to try find a battery drain? If it’s just too high of a load Would the slight increase in reserve on an AGM make that big of a difference or Is it worth adding a dedicated lithium for the bow electronics and livescope? A 60 or 80 AH lithium should be able to handle that load for a single day without adding too much weight. Thanks in advance for any input as this is an area I don’t have any expertise in.

[Bill Reynolds]

It sounds as though you have voltage drop in the wiring and/or connections from the battery to the bow but you also have a good load on your starting battery.
you can run a large dedicated wiring harness from the battery to the bow or install a lithium battery near the bow. If you are interested in going lithium, I suggest you look at the Amped Outdoors website. They have AH ratings for each Manufacturer of chart plotters so you can determine proper battery size.
I have an Echomap 93sv and LiveScope on a 30 AH battery and it is rated for 9 to 10 hours with that load. I have fished up to 12 hours without a problem. The battery weighs 9 lbs.
it doesn’t show in this pic, but I also have a small charger in the back of the compartment that is hooked to my on board charging circuit so the lithium battery is charged any time the other batteries are hooked up.

[bkeenom]

Definitely check out Amped outdoors. 60ah and charger for $400 after you enter the discount code. ALIEX5

I have one with 1222, livescope and solix 15.

[catdude28]

First thing is to put your electronics on dedicated wiring if you have not done so already. Running electronics through the boat's harness just does not work today. Either wire each device directly to the battery with a fuse or use a blue seas panel. Your battery is fairly strong. If that does not do the trick, then a dedicated battery for electronics rather than trying an AGM would be my choice.

[tarheelfishing88]

It sounds as though you have voltage drop in the wiring and/or connections from the battery to the bow but you also have a good load on your starting battery.
you can run a large dedicated wiring harness from the battery to the bow or install a lithium battery near the bow. If you are interested in going lithium, I suggest you look at the Amped Outdoors website. They have AH ratings for each Manufacturer of chart plotters so you can determine proper battery size.
I have an Echomap 93sv and LiveScope on a 30 AH battery and it is rated for 9 to 10 hours with that load. I have fished up to 12 hours without a problem. The battery weighs 9 lbs.
it doesn’t show in this pic, but I also have a small charger in the back of the compartment that is hooked to my on board charging circuit so the lithium battery is charged any time the other batteries are hooked up.

Thats a good looking setup and I think something like that would work well without too much difficulty installing. What did you install on the battery exterior for those connections if you don’t mind me asking?

[tarheelfishing88]

Definitely check out Amped outdoors. 60ah and charger for $400 after you enter the discount code. ALIEX5

I have one with 1222, livescope and solix 15.

Thanks for the tip. That’s basically the exact size load I’d be looking to use on mine. I think the extra AH is probably more important than getting the higher amps that the NMC 48 ah offers.

[tarheelfishing88]

First thing is to put your electronics on dedicated wiring if you have not done so already. Running electronics through the boat's harness just does not work today. Either wire each device directly to the battery with a fuse or use a blue seas panel. Your battery is fairly strong. If that does not do the trick, then a dedicated battery for electronics rather than trying an AGM would be my choice.

my install was done in the bow harness which would explain some of the voltage drop and subsequent battery drain. Consumption rates seem to increase with newer electronics if voltage gets near 12 or below so will try the direct connection and add the terminal clamps as well.

[Bill Reynolds]

Thats a good looking setup and I think something like that would work well without too much difficulty installing. What did you install on the battery exterior for those connections if you don’t mind me asking?

Sorry for the delay, I have not checked this post for a while. Under the best of circumstances, I don’t like to stack connections on battery terminals and it certainly wouldn’t work on these small batteries so I bought the terminal blocks shown in the pic.
The only connections on the battery terminals are the charger and the leads to the terminal blocks. I relocated the blocks so they are facing the back wall into the carpet to reduce the possibility of something shorting across them.
I also secured the battery to the the bulkhead wall with a small bungee.
What I liked most about this project was the ease of installation and eliminating interference from my Ultrex.

[Marc Marcantonio]

First I suggest adding dedicated wiring to both your bow and your console. I did this on my Z20. Then I moved my oil tank on my Z20 to make room for a house battery, and added a lithium house battery next to my starting battery.

I prefer to power only my Lowrance HDS LIVEs on my 100 aHR Lithium house battery. All other electric items run off my X2Power AGM starter with 220 Reserve Capacity Minutes. By only having my Sonar on the lithium house battery, I get no interference from aerators, bilge pumps, or other electric items. I believe keeping the circuit clean provides better imaging. The starter can easily handle all the other electric chores.

I use 3 lithium 100 aHr trolling motor batteries and a Stealth 1 gauge on my dashboard that shows my voltage on both my starting battery and trolling motor batteries; my Lowrance HDS LIVES show my house battery voltage as an overlay on the screen. My trolling motor lithiums also have bluetooth so I can always know individual battery voltage and state of charge information.

As you are obviously concerned about weight with a Z21 boat, you will have far less weight in the back with this setup, even though you added a 5th battery due to the lithium house and trolling motor batteries.

My Stealth 1 charging system charges all 5 of my batteries on AC, or DC on the run, or with my tow vehicle, and I can use the house battery in parallel with the starting battery if ever needed with a jump switch provided by Stealth. I highly recommend this system and your battery issues will be a thing of the past, and your fishfinder images will be better.

I have an article and video coming out in the winter issue of WesternBass.com magazine about this project.

[ilostmypistons]

First I suggest adding dedicated wiring to both your bow and your console. I did this on my Z20. Then I moved my oil tank on my Z20 to make room for a house battery, and added a lithium house battery next to my starting battery.

I prefer to power only my Lowrance HDS LIVEs on my 100 aHR Lithium house battery. All other electric items run off my X2Power AGM starter with 220 Reserve Capacity Minutes. By only having my Sonar on the lithium house battery, I get no interference from aerators, bilge pumps, or other electric items. I believe keeping the circuit clean provides better imaging. The starter can easily handle all the other electric chores.

I use 3 lithium 100 aHr trolling motor batteries and a Stealth 1 gauge on my dashboard that shows my voltage on both my starting battery and trolling motor batteries; my Lowrance HDS LIVES show my house battery voltage as an overlay on the screen. My trolling motor lithiums also have bluetooth so I can always know individual battery voltage and state of charge information.

As you are obviously concerned about weight with a Z21 boat, you will have far less weight in the back with this setup, even though you added a 5th battery due to the lithium house and trolling motor batteries.

My Stealth 1 charging system charges all 5 of my batteries on AC, or DC on the run, or with my tow vehicle, and I can use the house battery in parallel with the starting battery if ever needed with a jump switch provided by Stealth. I highly recommend this system and your battery issues will be a thing of the past, and your fishfinder images will be better.

I have an article and video coming out in the winter issue of WesternBass.com magazine about this project.

Whoa back up lol what do you mean tow vehicle? Are you plugging into the bed outlet and it has enough power to run the charging system?

[Marc Marcantonio]

Whoa back up lol what do you mean tow vehicle? Are you plugging into the bed outlet and it has enough power to run the charging system?

You read and noticed that...yup! My Yukon charges all my batteries while driving down the road because of the Stealth 1 charging system. Stealth has an optional TowNCharge which is a wire harness easily installed to your truck and runs to an additional plug at your hitch. Then there is a cable that plugs into this and goes to my Ranger bow panel where I have another socket installed. Then the cable runs back to my Stealth Charger. Whenever I tow and plug in, I can charge all my batteries from my Yukon because the Yukon provides the current to power my Stealth 1 DC Charger. This charger also charges my batteries from my outboard once my starting battery reaches 13.0 volts. Been using this system for 12 years and it is bulletproof.

For short trips I don't attach the cable between the boat and the hitch plug, but you can leave it in place ready to attach anytime you want.

[MonteSS]

I would add a 30ah lithium, mounted in a forward hatch so wire run is short. Just for the Garmin and LS.