Battery for Electronics only

[speedytriton]

I have been getting low voltage issues on my bow Helix 10 after about a half day of fishing. More common on days I frequently use the Talon. I am going to add another battery and only run my electronics(2-Helix 10/s,1 is MEGA, Lowrance HDS 8) off of this battery. I do not plan to wire it to the big motor for charging purposes. I am going to add a group 27 deep cycle with 105amp hours. Will this battery suffice to run 3 units for a full (10-12 hour) day? I plan on installing a one bank charger for this battery. Thanks for anyones input. I have heard of guys doing this but searched the threads and there is not much information on whether this is a suitable method? Thanks guys

[Fishysam]

yes, can save weight with lithium, i wouldnt hook up the starting battery to a charger, just run the motor and check it periodically saves the money on a 1 bank and the weight, buy a mobile charger for random times if need be

[Lou r Pitcher]

The cranking battery's life will be shortened or even damaged if not kept charged so best to fully recharge it promptly after each days use. For a rec boat cranking battery using an outboard engine, that most always requires a dedicated charger as the engine cannot keep it fully charged.

A 105 AH properly charged/maintained lead acid dedicated 'electronics' battery should deliver a long and full life if it is not routinely heavily discharged.

If you avoid battery discharges below ~1/2 of capacity and always promptly recharge fully, then about 50 amp-hours of a 105 amp-hour lead acid each day could be powered. If the day is 10 hours, it then would be able to deliver about 5 amps continuously to your accessories. If could do more, but the expected battery life suffers.

[Tejones121]

What size battery are you currently using to crank and power electronics? How old is it?

[kmed2]

i used a 27 for electronics and pumps for a while but found that i was running out of juice.
so a dealer talked me into an agm battery
so now im running everything off the agm cranker 31
haven't had any trouble yet but am alittle leary
are these guys with 4 and 5 huge depth finders running 1 battery or are they using 2 hooked together
with the draw on these batteries there must be brownout or shutdown

[BASS24-7]

swap the talon over to a trolling motor battery

[Bradrodfish]

That is a NO NO. If you didn't have problems before you will. Troll Motor power and Boat power should always be kept separate. Too much potential for electrolysis. Just buy a group 31 Battery and you will be fine. That is what I have done moving from a group 27. Make all the difference in the world.

swap the talon over to a trolling motor battery

[Fishysam]

That is a NO NO. If you didn't have problems before you will. Troll Motor power and Boat power should always be kept separate. Too much potential for electrolysis. Just buy a group 31 Battery and you will be fine. That is what I have done moving from a group 27. Make all the difference in the world.

i can not find any issue with electrolysis in theory, if there was and and you have a jack plate mounted anchor, the anodes on the motor will take care of it

[Bradrodfish]

The anode on the outboard will not take care of electrolysis. Ask anyone and John about. See what they will say.

i can not find any issue with electrolysis in theory, if there was and and you have a jack plate mounted anchor, the anodes on the motor will take care of it

[fishnfireman]

Been running a designated electronics battery for several years. Use a 29 series and have yet to run out of battery..
Personally I have no need for an onboard charger connected to a starting battery.. Have never had one in 35+ years of owning boats..
With the size of the alternators on these outboards it's not needed.. But my rigs seldom sit for more than a few weeks and I utilize the battery cutoff switch.

[Ronman]

My 2007 Tracker has 6 batteries. One is for electronics only (house battery). I was having a few issues with low voltage upgraded the wire from battery to fuse box from 10 GA (Was old and stiff) to 6GA (had left over trolling motor wire) problem solved. Also bought a fresh Group 27 latter in year 6 old battery that helped more.

[Bradrodfish]

6 batteries. WOW. Did you have to add extra flotation? LOL Just kidding. Whatever works for you.

My 2007 Tracker has 6 batteries. One is for electronics only (house battery). I was having a few issues with low voltage upgraded the wire from battery to fuse box from 10 GA (Was old and stiff) to 6GA (had left over trolling motor wire) problem solved. Also bought a fresh Group 27 latter in year 6 old battery that helped more.

[bdbass]

I run 2 HBs and a go-pro type camera off of a smaller (and separate from cranking) AGM battery. I can use all three for 8-10 hours a day and the lowest I've seen is 80% charge remaining. I keep mine in a small lunch box ice-chest in the spare rod locker and wired it through a fuse panel under the console. Here's a link to the battery:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Jonestrollingmotor]

swap the talon over to a trolling motor battery

This is asking for trouble in a couple of different ways. First, the parasite draw of the Talon as well as the draw off a single battery when being used will cause the batteries to become unevenly discharged. This can cause an advanced battery failure for the trolling motor battery, much like not replacing the trolling motor batteries as a set with equal batteries. Second, if you connect to the "wrong" battery it will cause electrolysis that will show up on the Talon, trolling motor, or both and possibly the outboard depending on how the rest of the boat is wired -- especially if the trolling motor has the US2 sonar added on.

[JimC]

What do you do to charge this battery bdbass

[bdbass]

I use a Schumacher portable charger that has an AGM battery setting. This is it:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumache...7057#read-more

[fishnfireman]

There are many portable chargers on the market that will do the job..
I always carry one as a backup anyway... have had to use it more than once. Plus its nice to have one around at home.