Tool battery vs. designated Lithium battery.

[mobassing]

I am thinking of adding a battery for just my Graph and LiveScope. With the batteries at this time like Dakota and Amped Outdoors, etc. I was thinking of purchasing one of these and then placing it up front where the power was needed. With tool batteries being as costly I was thinking that I would probably not go that route but when reading that some think that the increased voltage will result in a much clearer view I wonder if purchasing an 18 or 20 volt tool battery might be the best. Input on what some might think as they have this setup or have viewed with this setup. TIA.

[CatFan]

Increased voltage has no effect on performance. The input voltage is regulated inside the unit to a much lower voltage.

[ifishinxs]

Tool battery won’t last very long.If you have several charged up to swap out it would work. I’ve done it. Get your self a lithium and mount it up front and your golden.

[LWINCHESTER2]

Increased voltage has no effect on performance. The input voltage is regulated inside the unit to a much lower voltage.

Thank you CatFan. Every so often some claim performance changes with input voltage. Seems to me that if the voltage is within the published specs, performance should be consistent. I'm not referring to just Garmin, but I think that would be true for Hbird and Lowrance too. Care to expand your comments?

[SoccerBoy2003]

I just went to Lithium from tool batteries. The reason why I did I got tired of changing them out every 3 to 4 hours. During a tournament it is a pain when your graph shuts down and you have to change the battery.

[CatFan]

Thank you CatFan. Every so often some claim performance changes with input voltage. Seems to me that if the voltage is within the published specs, performance should be consistent. I'm not referring to just Garmin, but I think that would be true for Hbird and Lowrance too. Care to expand your comments?

All brands will be the same. Components inside the device operate at 12V or less, most likely 5V or less. It’s becoming common for parts to run down in the 1.8 to 3.3V range, or even lower in high performance applications. A regulator is the first component after the power cable, reducing the input voltage to a constant output that doesn’t vary with input voltage over the specified supply voltage range for the unit.

The place where a higher voltage is an advantage is when wiring to the unit has excessive voltage drop. But that’s easily fixed with adequate wiring

[mobassing]

CatFan I want to thank you and the others for the replies on this. One other question I have as I now am going to purchase a Lithium is if it is to power the black box and the graph what amp hour range might one consider ? I have been watching YouTube videos from a person that goes by the name Ice Hole Power and he tests all batteries to the extent of tearing them apart and does many tests and have learned much by watching these. Am probably thinking in the 18 to 20 range.

[Bill Reynolds]

This chart from Amped outdoors will be helpful in sizing the battery.

[CatFan]

CatFan I want to thank you and the others for the replies on this. One other question I have as I now am going to purchase a Lithium is if it is to power the black box and the graph what amp hour range might one consider ? I have been watching YouTube videos from a person that goes by the name Ice Hole Power and he tests all batteries to the extent of tearing them apart and does many tests and have learned much by watching these. Am probably thinking in the 18 to 20 range.

Because of the way AH is measured, it tends to overestimate the capacity of lead acid batteries so is useful mostly to compare two batteries of the same type. Because lithium-ion batteries have a fairly flat voltage curve, the actual AH number is useful with them. The amps your setup uses multiplied by the number of hours you want it to last gives you the AH you’ll use in a day. You’ll want some cushion to allow for aging of the batteries and cold weather. How much cushion is hard to say, but you certainly don’t want to cut it short.

So if your setup draws 3A and your longest day is 6 hours, you will use 3A X 6 hours = 18AH. I’d think 25% would be a starting point for extra capacity, so an extra 4.5AH takes you to 22.5AH. Not a hard and fast rule, so go with what you feel good about. Sometimes there are oddities in pricing where bigger batteries are cheaper than small ones or two small ones are cheaper than a big one because they have a common use, so price several.

[krw]

I bot the 32ah Amped battery. Will be del Mon. Plan on running my 1222 and Blk box both

[Bill Reynolds]

I bot the 32ah Amped battery. Will be del Mon. Plan on running my 1222 and Blk box both

Good choice, Mine has worked great hooked to my 106 Ultra and LVS32.

[MonteSS]

Ionic 30ah is my choice. Comes with Bluetooth and an App so you always know Battery status and power left. Also tells you how many amps it is drawing. 11 year warranty I believe.IMG_20210528_121453742.jpg

[RazorCat]

You can buy a 36ah LifePO4 battery designed for marine use for under $150.00 (Weize).
A 2 pack of DeWalt 6ah (20v) tool batteries is around $170.00.
No way tool batteries are a cheaper alternative anymore with LifePO4 prices having dropped so much.

[MonteSS]

Tool batteries are Lithium Ion far INsuperior to Lithium LifePO4 cells used in the "real" Marine batteries.

[CatFan]

Tool batteries are Lithium Ion far INsuperior to Lithium LifePO4 cells used in the "real" Marine batteries.

Lithium-Ion is a generic term, not a particular battery. Tool batteries are usually Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide batteries. Better than LiFePO4 for energy density and high cycle numbers, but not as safe or tolerant of abuse as LiFePO4 cells.

[Half Baked]

Quick question if I add a 50 amp Ionic Lithium battery and wire it in parallel with a 125 amp Ionic lithium, Will I have any issue with charging by using the leads off of 1 bank of a four bank charger (Minn Kota 460pc) and using the other 3 banks for the 3 trolling motor batteries.

[MonteSS]

Any Bats wired in Parallel should be same size, and preferably brand and age.

[CatFan]

Any Bats wired in Parallel should be same size, and preferably brand and age.

Size is unimportant for parallel wiring.

[bobcoy]

What happens when the lower capacity battery is totally depleted? I am not totally confident it will cause issues with the weaker battery, but am curious. I have seen things on the web about overheating. Of course I take everything on the web with skepticism. Bob

[CatFan]

What happens when the lower capacity battery is totally depleted? I am not totally confident it will cause issues with the weaker battery, but am curious. I have seen things on the web about overheating. Of course I take everything on the web with skepticism. Bob

They effectively share the load as they are able. As long as you don’t have different OCV or internal resistance.