Lithium Set Up Question

[rufuswags]

I see that most guys are running 3 100AH lithium batteries. I have a 112 Ultrex and I fish a lot of current. If I am in search mode prefishing a lake, especially during the spawn I can drain my 3 Deka 31 AGM's in 6-9 hours. My question is are 3 100 AH lithiums overkill? I don't mind charging every night. Would 3 50AH batteries be sufficient? I prefish daylight to dark sometimes 3-4 days in a row. I may stand on the trolling motor on 100% for a large portion of the day. There is a big price difference between 100AH and 50AH batteries. Will 3 50AH lithiums last all day at 100% and has anyone tested them to this degree?

[John Jackson]

Not overkill. If you are killing group 31's, you will kill 50 amp lithiumns, and when they go down, it's almost immediately no power at all.

[AllyFishing]

wow...draining 3 batteries like that in 6-9 hours of searching is crazy. is that on 100% power the entire time? I would look a bit further on my electrical system especially wire size etc before i would peel out the kind of money for 3 100ah lithium's. Your gonna kill them too

[bobcoy]

Lithium of equal amp hours would run 60% longer without "killing" a set of batteries. In fact if you run you lead acid batteries lower than 12.1 volts you will be shortening their life. That is only 50 amp hours used. The lithium can be drawn down at least 80 amp hours and last about 10 years. If you are gonna keep your boat 10 years you are money and lots of runtime ahead. Bob

[John Jackson]

I've drained group 31 many times. It happens on very windy days (25+ mph) and I fish down wind. I've yet to drain my 80 amp lithiums.

[rufuswags]

I fish the Michigan BFL's and fish a lot of wind, current, waves and big lakes. It's not uncommon to sit on a spot on spot lock for 7 hours straight during a tourney in Detroit River current. If the wind is blowing and it is fighting hard to stay put it's not uncommon to start to lose power at the 6-7 hour mark. If it's just normal current with little to no wind they do fine. I also love to sight fish and if I am prefishing daylight to dark for sight tourney it's not uncommon for me to be looking with the trolling motor on 100% all day. I normally have to do a lot of idling so I don't run them dry on a 12-13 hour day.