12 v or 16V for garmin livescope and mega 360

[Gmanfishn]

Hi,

I am new to this and I’ve been told that a 16v lithium will have higher and brighter returns than a 12v lithium. Is this true? If so, i already have a 12v 80ah for my other electronics. Would you recommend or side with a 16v just for my mega 360 and scope on my 126 sv?


thanks


g

[Impulse Lithium]

False. Only need 12v lithium

https://www.bbcboards.net/showthread...6v+electronics

[Impulse Lithium]

Also this is good info

https://www.bbcboards.net/showthread...=#post12860844

[Verkeith]

Some say 16v produces better and brighter returns. I run a 16v52ah lithium just for my 106sv ultra2/livescope setup for a different reason...more for the voltage drop concerns. My mega 360 and 3 Helix units are powered by a 12v-125ah lithium. For me running a separate 16v lithium for livescope works better...tried running everything off of a 12v-125ah and kept getting GLS10 source not found issues...not one issue since going with the 16v battery
Also ran dedicated 10ga marine wire for my livescope setup, I'm sure this is the biggest reason I don't have any more issues

[Gmanfishn]

And just with your 16v 52 ah how long can you run it for without having issues? Consecutive days or just one long day on the water?

[Verkeith]

And just with your 16v 52 ah how long can you run it for without having issues? Consecutive days or just one long day on the water?

Consecutive days...fished all day Saturday and still was 89% charged...

[mbemount]

I've run both and noticed no difference between them. My 16V was Norsk, my 12V's are Ionic. I stuck with 12V and just use the 16V on my kayak.

[goodman_fishing]

Relatively minor difference in run time is pretty easily offset by a larger 12v battery. The larger 12v would be cheaper $/Wh and easier to find a charger for.

per Garmin, >12v does not offer a performance gain. Many many top tier Livescope fisherman are on 12v.

[Gmanfishn]

Thanks for the great advice everyone!

[MonteSS]

That's a myth. A 12v lithium runs about 13v anyway.

[RMG63]

Derek Hudnall did a youtube video on a 12v vs 16v. Same set up, same everything, apples to apples. He shows the screens utilizing both voltages. There was no appreciable difference in clarity or otherwise when comparing both

[Impulse Lithium]

We do sell the 16v and you can get this one for $450 shipped with the BBC discount of 15%

https://impulselithium.com/product/1...onics-battery/

[MTW]

nope. good marketing though. kind of like the higher voltage equals lower amps equals lower heat nonsense.

[Verkeith]

nope. good marketing though. kind of like the higher voltage equals lower amps equals lower heat nonsense.

Can't dispute ohm's law...

[MTW]

Can't dispute ohm's law...

thats the problem folks dont understand when to use ohms law, or watts(power) formulas or kirchoffs law, etc.

[Verkeith]

Some folks do and some don't, that's the beauty of forums like this one where those that don't to ask and those that do to answer...bottom line to help each other.

[LWINCHESTER2]

Also this is good info

https://www.bbcboards.net/showthread...=#post12860844

Really good information. It don't seem some folks go to the link so to make it easy for them I've copied and pasted it here with credit as it being your post.

We sell both the 12v and 16v units so I will sell customers whatever they would like to use on their boat and using higher voltage batteries, within the mfg stated operating range, will not hurt the units. After extensive testing and research, in my opinion performance benefits largely come from changing to a dedicated wiring harness eliminating electrical noise from voltage losses and electrical connectors/wiring that could be compromised in some fashion, either a bad connection, corrosion etc..


All Chart plotter Units have a set resolution, PPI (Pixels Per Inch) which voltage can not increase, so there are no resolution gains. All of the units have internal regulators that keep internal components on both chart plotters and transducers operating at consistent voltage.


Be careful of image comparisons that do not show all of the settings which are truly what dictates how the final image looks on the monitor


The emails below were received from both Garmin and Humminbird Engineers regarding 16v power to their units


Humminibird Engineers -


While we can take a wide range of input voltages (as listed below) almost every component of the system is regulated back to its correct voltage.It is a myth that 16V helps networking, sonar, performance, reliability, etc. This myth transcends electronic brands. It's a myth across all brands.
However, 16V is not a problem for our systems.




Garmin Engineers -


“Yeah, this is really dangerous for the equipment to operate it at a higher voltage. There is no correlation between higher voltage and improved performance. All the power of the transducer and black box systems are internally regulated, so putting more voltage in does not get more performance out. The only thing it can do is damage the equipment.


I would recommend customers operate our products within the published Voltage specifications. Operating our products outside of the approved range will damage the equipment.


LvieScope : 10-32 Vdc
ECHOMAP UHD2: 9 to 18 Vdc
ECHOMAP Ultra: 9 to 18 Vdc
GPSMAP: 10 to 32 Vdc


The trend of using the power drill lithium batteries is especially dangerous for our equipment. We have done extensive testing and none have proved to be safe for our equipment. The batteries used on drills can have very drastic, instantaneous power spikes, well outside of our acceptable voltage range. The drills are designed with internal hardware equipped to handle these spikes, our equipment does not. Customer support has seen lots of LiveScope and ECHOMAPs come in damage because of these voltage spikes.”


Hope this helps

[tuckerlw]

Would it hurt to run a 12v to 16v voltage regulator

[LWINCHESTER2]

Hmmmm! If that's something you want to do you missed the point of the other posts.

[MTW]

Would it hurt to run a 12v to 16v voltage regulator

the problem with regulators is the ripple that most will produce because they are cheap made chinese crap. ive explained it in other posts but in short, ripple is an AC signal that is not filtered out of the regulator output and will cause noise and distortion.

if you are going to ise one, check the specs, you want 50mv or less.