Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Gear Forum :: convert power source for depth finder
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NotLight |
quote MagicPaddler: "Notlight you seem to be able to do delicate work if that is true have you considered LiPo batteries. For $11.62 each you get a 5000 mAh battery. You would also need a protection circuit which could be used to protect the battery during charge and discharge. I made a box with a protection circuit in it for under $12.00. For instructions go to QJ. And scroll about half way down the page. I am chicken to mess around much with the lithium batteries. The list of warnings and hazards wherever they sell them is longer than the disclaimers on the drug commercials on TV. But what do you think about this 11.1V 18650B pack and this charger ? It is more expensive, a bit heavy, and it doesn't seem like you could field charge it. But, it packs a lot of mah, would fit in the Pelican 1010, and includes the protection and balance (I think balance) PCB, and it is assembled and ready to go. I could add a reverse 9V connector to it and have it snap into the 9V type connector inside the Pelican box. Still a fire hazard, potentially. |
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NotLight |
I am up to about 4 hours of paddling with the eneloops on a single charge. Trying to keep track of about how long they last in actual use. I think the theory is about 10 hours. The voltage dropped quite a bit at first, and has now been sitting at 11.2V for a while. I have now actually tested the peanut butter jar/Ziploc bag thing and it works really well. It's really stable in the boat, fills and empties quickly, and it seems to have a good signal (except when my first Ziploc sprung a leak). I cut down the height of the peanut butter jar, and cut some really shallow reliefs on the sides so it sits a bit firmer on the canoe bottom. |
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MagicPaddler |
I would like to hear your evaluation of the use of electrical putty. Either in the baggy or stuck to the bottom of the canoe. With it stuck to the bottom of the canoe it stays in place but is easy to remove. Nice shot of your work station in use. Next week I leave on a 2 week trip. MagicPaddler PS I will not be making any money off of your pictures so all I need is your permission in a email with the pictures attached. Like this. Lawrence you can use the attached pictures for the presentation. |
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MagicPaddler |
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NotLight |
I cut off a chunk and put it in a container of water. It does not seem to dissolve in water - which is good. I'll leave it in the water container all week to see what happens. PS - I am at about 6 hours total now with the eneloops and the Garmin 101. I did not check the voltage. Hoping for 10 hrs. |
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NotLight |
quote sirlips: "Poke around the house for anything round/plastic that can be cut off to make a ring about 1/8 inch deep and will fit a transducer. JB wled the ring into the bottom of the canoe. Add a tiny bit of water in it and then place your ducer in the ring. Works 100% as good as if it was over the side of the canoe." That is a good idea. Moonman had pictures of a simple foam ring with some adhesive, sort of like you describe, in this thread. I guess the foam is nice because it bends to the shape of the hull. I've been trying to copy that setup, but trying to make it temporary/removable, and also trying to stabilize the transducer. I saw some other pictures somewhat like what you are describing on the web - they use a PVC pipe ring, and then a matching PVC pipe cap and they mount the transducer to the cap. That is a permanent setup, so you don't have to remove the transducer and stuff when portaging. |
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NotLight |
quote MagicPaddler: "NotLight I tried the duct seal putty out this evening. First try: put about a tablespoon of putty on the transducer, put plastic over bottom side of putty, taped to canoe. Worked great, surprised at how little putty you need. Second try: took off plastic and tape, and stuck the bare putty directly to (wet) canoe bottom. Here my initial impressions were correct - the putty is extremely sticky when dry, and not very sticky when wet. But despite being wet, it stuck enough and worked great. Then I tried the simple Ziploc bag full of water under the transducer. Seemed to work just as well as the putty, but way less mess. So my thinking on the putty is great for a kayak compartment that stays somewhat dry, but tougher for a canoe because of the mess and the lack of stickiness when wet for portaging purposes. It's just pretty tough to beat the Ziploc bag for performance and simplicity. (PS - I'm at about 7 hours with the eneloops in the Garmin 101, still at 11.2V. Hoping to see if it gets to the expected 10hrs by the end of this week.) |
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sirlips |
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eOar |
I thought about the Marcum Showdown but it doesn't have water temp (why would you for ice fishing). I don't think I will fuse mine. Not too many worries about over-voltage damaging the finder. Fuses are nice to prevent fire and to protect the wiring in "normal" marine installations. I plan to put a foam holder in the stern for the transducer. I am still not sure I want to cut and splice the transducer cable to save a little weight. Might hurt resale if I upgrade later... |
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ayudell |
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NotLight |
Here's rev-2 of my modified Ziploc bag approach. Untested. It seems very stable in the canoe and doesn't slide around at all. Used a peanut butter jar and tin snips, and then the 3mm stretchy cord to hold the Ziploc on. I think I can cut down the height of the peanut butter jar another 1/2" to make it even more stable. |
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MagicPaddler |
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MagicPaddler |
One of the most common questions I get is how long will my battery last with fish detector XX. Your 7 or 8 days comment will help others. |
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buz |
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NotLight |
Now that I've been using mine a while, I want to make an alternative mount. Something like those vexilars that are sort of all one unit and sit on the ground in an zippable bag. I am thinking of making something like a U-shaped tube out of thin PVC pipe. The tube would double as a battery holder (MagicPaddlers original idea from another thread), and also as a stand for the fishfinder. I would set up the unit on the floor of the boat or on top of my tackle/boat bag, and then just collapse and stash the unit in my tackle bag for transit. |
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eOar |
quote BnD: "I see a couple of references to cutting and splicing the transducer cable in this thread. For what its worth, When I installed mine I called Humminbird technical support and they emphatically stated DO NOT CUT the transducer cable. Its a special shielded wire that cannot be spliced like convention electrical wire." It's easy to do if you know how. 30+ years as an electronics/communications tech. Just not sure it's worth it. |
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MagicPaddler |
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BnD |
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MagicPaddler |
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MagicPaddler |
Are you using 10 Eneloop rechargeable batteries? Can you tell if the back light is on during the day time? Back lights suck the energy out of batteries. |
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Wally13 |
I found that this unit has a real nice feature ... "Memory". The X-4 has an internal backup battery that saves the following user settings when the unit is turned OFF. Zoom, Sensitivity, Grayline, Chart Speed, Battery Alarm, Fish Alarm, Display Contrast, Battery Alarm, Shallow and Deep Alarms .... and BACKLIGHT. MagicPaddler reminded me to make sure the Backlight feature was "turned off" and even better ...never have the Backlight on ... so as to not use up battery power. I like the fact that I don't have to cut the Backlight wires on this unit so the Backlight is not on. Can't wait to try it out in Quetico in a couple of weeks. |
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troutdude |
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NotLight |
When you "stack" 10 1.2V batteries end-to-end to get 12V, the mAh of the battery pack is still only 2800mAh, unfortunately. And adding more batteries to the stack doesn't really help, unfortunately. I can't say for sure, but I would guess you'd get 15-20hrs on your Piranamax with 2800maH. I assume that unit is no color, no GPS, no fancy downimaging, and you keep the backlight off (those are battery hogs). Incidentally, on my new fish finder I am using only 8 eneloops (9.6V), and it seems to work just as well, and just as long, as my 10 battery (12V) pack. Not sure 9.6V would work on all fishfinders though. But, if you use the snap connect battery holders like in my pictures, then it is easy enough to order a couple different count battery holders and experiment. by just snapping in a different size battery holder into whatever you use for a battery box. |
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troutdude |
The unit I have is just your standard no frills finder. The backlight is default off, gray scale, alarm off function and no down imaging. |
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jimhill81 |
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Moonman |
The battery packs cost about 3.00 and its very simple to wire, as its just two wires, positive and negative ( the harder series wiring is already done for you in the pack). The hardest part is cutting the power cable. Hard only because there is no going back after its been cut! Still, its simple to cut and join to the battery pack. Now is the time to reduce the length of the power cable as well. You don't need that heavy, bulky 15' the units come with. Anyway, before joining the wires, slip a large heat shrink tube on the main wire, then smaller shrink tubing over one end of the positive and negative wire. Join the wires, then slip the small tubing over the join and shrink the wire. Then slide the larger tubing over and join both. The tubing waterproofs the joints. You could wrap with electrical tape afterwards. The other thing is to get some kind of plastic waterproof container to hold the battery pack. I used a Lock and Lock container from walmart. I drilled a small hole through the container to slip the wire through ( before joining), then siliconed around the hole. This gives you a water tight container that you can easily open to change batteries etc. Your power cable should come with an inline fuse, make sure you keep that when wiring. Here is a pic of the container I used: Moonman. |
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Cedarboy |
CB |
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jimhill81 |
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mgraber |
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NotLight |
quote ayudell: "Do you have a feel for how many hours of operation you get out of that battery setup? Trying to think about how many extras I need to bring on a trip." This link has a bunch of great data on battery life from MagicPaddler. It seems like the small black and white screen fishfinders draw about 100mA. If you use 10 AA "Energizer Ultimate lithium" batteries, you have 3000maH (milli-amp hours) of battery energy. This means you will have 3000maH/100mA=30 hrs of battery life. Standard "copper-top" AA's have about 2000maH of battery energy, so you only get 2000maH/100mA=20 hrs of battery life for a 100mA fishfinder. Your mileage may vary significantly. Some fishfinders draw 200mA, the GPS ones seem like about 500mA. If you have a 500mA fishfinder, then you will only get 3000maH/500mA=6 hours from the "Energizer ultimate lithiums", and 4 hours from the copper-top AA's. |
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NotLight |
Parts list for battery box: 10 AA Battery Holder 9V battery connector (get at radio shack) Pelican 1010 Micro (overkill) Waterproof cable fittings Waterproof velcro stick-on (more than strong enough) The workstation is oak (should have used ash, should have rounded ends more). I drilled holes 1" on center and put a little green mark every 6". The holes double as ruler/3mm bungee tiedown/screw holes. Parts list: Spring Creek Clamps (overkill) Tite-lok rod holder Cup Holder Eyelets |
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MagicPaddler |
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NotLight |
quote Exo: "It's all that, and a cup holder!!" It's actually mainly a cup holder. The extra stuff is just to disguise it as something sporting. If you are addicted to caffeine, you understand. |
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MagicPaddler |
quote NotLight: "quote ayudell: "Do you have a feel for how many hours of operation you get out of that battery setup? Trying to think about how many extras I need to bring on a trip." You state “10 AA “energizer Ultimate Lithium” batteries, you have 3000mah”. What you have said is correct but not at the correct voltage. From data I got off the internet years ago I determined that 9 Lithium batteries would give good operating voltage for a detector and it does. After I did my own battery measurements I found that 8 AA Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries will do just as good of a job. The first graph in the link you referenced above is for 9 Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries. So I recommend if using Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries use 8 in series Alkaline batteries use 10 in series NiMh use 10 in series NiCad use 10 in series LiPo use 3 in series Everyone has their own tripping stile and length. The 15000 mAh battery is over kill for me and it looks a little delicate (not water proof)(water proof box is heavy). I am concerned about weight ( I’m getting old). This is how I decide how much battery capacity I need. (Number of fishing days) * (number of hours I fish in a day) * (current draw from my detector) = Battery capacity needed. (8.5 days) * (6 hours/Day) * (170 mA)= 8670 mAh I think your batteries are listed as 1500 mAh so I would need 6 sets of your batteries. Most of the detectors that people ore purchasing for canoes draw about ½ what my detector draws so 3 sets of batteries will do them. |
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NotLight |
quote MagicPaddler: "quote NotLight: "quote ayudell: "Do you have a feel for how many hours of operation you get out of that battery setup? Trying to think about how many extras I need to bring on a trip." That is one of the reasons I haven't finished my battery box - I think the best battery choice depends on the situation. So it is hard to finalize on something. For daily use, I think the Eneloops are a good choice, because they hold 2000maH (older version is 1500maH), supposedly can be recharged 1000 times, they have multiple uses besides fishfinder, and their reliability seems high. But, yes, you would not want to bring 30-60 of them on a trip. For a trip you could bring the 24 Ultimate lithiums at 3000maH per 8 batteries - the lightest option, but this is a higher one time cost because you can't recharge them. Then you have the 15000maH battery in the link, with unknown reliability - but if you have color fishfinder with GPS or other recharging needs like an iPhone or GPS, then you might want that bigger 15000maH size; plus, the 15000maH is cheaper in the long run than Ultimate Lithiums since it is also rechargeable. Or you could use Ragged's 18650B battery setup. I think a good battery box would weigh less than the Pelican, but be just big enough to use with any of those above battery options. Just connect whatever battery pack you want to use by the 9V-type connector inside the box, then close up the box. |
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MagicPaddler |
Grade B LiPo battery If you only want one battery the shipping cost will be too high. Chose a battery stocked in USA. |
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Exo |
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NotLight |
quote MagicPaddler: "I like the removable dash. I see you have NiMh rechargeable batteries in the holder. I have not tested those batteries but I looked up discharge curves published by others. They run out of power when the voltage gets down to about 1.1 volts. The maximum voltage is about 1.4 volts. You have 10 batteries in series so that will give you a operating voltage from about 14 volts to 11 volts (ideal range). When the battery voltage gets down to 11 volts your detector will still be operating well then the batteries will run out of energy and the voltage will drop fast and the detector will stop operating. MiMh batteries have more energy than the NiCad and are much less fussy then the LiPo batteries I tested. I have had some trouble with the connections between batteries in similar holders to the one you are using. The problem occurred where the spring connects to the positive end of the next battery contact. I have never had new holders not work fine. Watch for bad connections after a year or two. We will need a on the water report. Nice looking system. " I thought about eventually getting this 15000maH battery. It has a 12V output for fishfinder, USB output for iphone/GPS charging, and a 12V input for maybe a solar panel. I'd have to get a bigger waterproof box for it. I wasn't sure about reliability (or explosion), so I thought that would be a project for a different time. But, that is why I bought the stainless cable entries instead of just using glue around the cable where it enter the box - it would allow me to just take everything apart and switch to a different battery box. You can get two of those 15000maH batteries for the price of one Goal Zero Sherpa 50. One could be in a waterproof box and charging, while the second one was in use in a second identical waterproof box, and vice versa. Maybe you worry less about reliability then because you have two in case one fails. |
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ubbenholdthekraut |
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MagicPaddler |
Fire I have never had one get hot. From what I have read there is 3 things that can cause them to get hot enough to start fire. 1 Any cell is over charged. 2 any cell is over discharged the cell will fail and get hot when charged. 2 over current on charge or discharge. The circuit card I use and probably the one they use prevents over charge and over discharge and over current. So IF the board is working the battery should be protected. Some higher end control circuits also have a over temp shutdown. Hobby king sells a fire proof bag to protect from fire. I put my batteries in a tin cam and set them on a concrete floor while charging and I limit my charging current to less than 2 amps. |
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Ragged |
Just a small Otter box case I picked up at REI, stainless cable Gland and some Ebay 10 cell holders, I put a small Molex connector on it to make it quick change with another pe-loaded 10 cell pack, total build cost would be around $25 if you had to buy the case, I had it laying around from a work project so it was a freebie. |
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Neflatlander52 |
Thanks to the great ideas on this forum this is how I rigged up my Garmin. Got the 10 battery holder used Duracell alkaline batteries I soldered my wires and shrink wrapped them. A couple of bicycle innertube bands to hold the batteries solid, put in a ziplock and it fits perfect in a Tamrac 5691 camera case. Let the lead come out of the flap and snap the rear belt loop strap around the thwart. I don't know how many hours I've got out of these, but I've been out several times and the Garmin still shows over 12 volts. Oh yea and whoever came up with the idea of putting the transducer in a ziplock bag of water and setting it on the floor of your craft, that is so simple, portable and brilliant. Tod |
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NotLight |
quote Neflatlander52: " Oh yea and whoever came up with the idea of putting the transducer in a ziplock bag of water and setting it on the floor of your craft, that is so simple, portable and brilliant. I like your camera bag idea. For the transducer, I wasn't sure if I wanted to try the ziploc bag idea, or the foam ring full of water at the bottom of the boat idea. So, I kind of made a hybrid - a plastic ring (top 1" of plastic peanut butter jar, bottom cut off) with a baggie rubber banded around it to hold water. It seemed to work well - I think it's maybe easier to fill and dump than the Ziploc, but you get the same effect of it molding to the hull. But I'll try just the Ziploc bag next time. |
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MagicPaddler |
I am interested in the pictures of the way you mounted your pole holder and fish detector (workstation). I would need your permission to use it. |
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MagicPaddler |
I am getting pictures together for a possible Canoecopia presentation. Your workstations would be a good example of what I am interested in. Could I get you to retake the picture of the 2 workstations setting on the gunnels without the bicycle in the background. I have been looking for a way to describe using a baggy to put a transducer inside the canoe. Your center picture above with your description of the cut peanut butter jar would also help out. Neflatlander52 I like your self mounting camera case battery holder. To meet the legal requirements I need permission granted for each picture. I think an email with the pictures attached and permission granted in the email or a post with the picture and permission in it would work. I prefer the email but will accept either. I will give credit to the supplier of the pictures. It could be your name or your board name or a BWAC.COM member. I have also been asked to get pictures of big fish. Anyone with pictures of do it yourself canoe accessories or big fish who would allow us to use them please send them with permission to the address below. Liddonley-canoeboard@yahoo.com All help is deeply appreciated. |
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NotLight |
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NotLight |
quote MagicPaddler: "NotLight Permission granted. |
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MagicPaddler |
quote NotLight: "I will take a new complete set of pictures maybe this weekend out on the lake and email next week or so with some kind of release. Thank you and within the next week or month would be great. |
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Wally13 |
I have never tried the transducer in the Baggie full of water idea. How does the transducer stay "stable" in the baggie full of water. Won't it just move around when paddling on waves in a lake? How do you keep it from moving about in the Baggie? |
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MagicPaddler |
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NotLight |
quote gsfisher13: "Ragged or Notlight, can you show a picture inside the box of the gland connector/wire. how do you connect the wire going into the gland to the battery pack? Ragged, you must have another connector that the Molex plug into right? " Here is picture. I used the 3A fuse holder that came with my Garmin. I took the fuse holder apart, cut off the existing red wires, and soldered to the fittings inside the fuse holder - that way I would have fewer connections. That was quite tedious. Maybe better to either buy a new crimp-on inline fuse connector, or leave an inch or so of the original wires leading into the fuse holder to solder to. If I had to redo, I might have tried putting a half hitch in the black part of the cable, inside the box, as a strain relief. Note: better to practice cutting, get all the lead lengths right as part of the practice, and THEN cut down the length of the power cable and completely redo it, if you plan to shorten the power cable. Otherwise easy to make a mistake you can't undo. (Note: I am NOT going to cut down the length of my transducer cable like I did the power cable. I am worried about messing up some sort of balance in the transducer.) |
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NotLight |
quote Wally13: "I am trying to settle on which setup to go with mounting a thru the hull transducer on my Kevlar canoe. I think with the ziploc bag, you put your transducer on top of a ziploc bag half full of water sealed tight, and not in it? But I was wondering the same thing. My plan is to somehow mount the transducer to the plastic ring I made from the plastic peanut butter jar. The purpose of the ring is to serve as a level rigid base to keep the transducer level and stable. But my first attempt at a mount was an epic fail. So i just tried without it. It still seemed to work just fine. |
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gsfisher13 |
quote Ragged: "Very Similar to a setup I just made for a buddy Ragged or Notlight, can you show a picture inside the box of the gland connector/wire. how do you connect the wire going into the gland to the battery pack? Ragged, you must have another connector that the Molex plug into right? I have the same battery box setup on mine and use a Plano waterproof plastic box for mine, works well. |
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NotLight |
quote MagicPaddler: "NotLight I am using 10 eneloops. The garmin says it sees 11.2V. I will measure with dvm and a small load at some point to verify. I cannot tell if backlight is on during day. It would be so easy for the manufacturer to put an indicator on the display lcd to say if it was on - maybe there is and I haven't noticed. If choosing between low power fishfinders, I think that would be an important feature to look for; or the ability to disable the backlight. |
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eOar |
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Moonman |
quote NotLight: "quote MagicPaddler: "NotLight I'm pretty sure your Garmin does have a back light feature off. My echo 100 does. One note though, I have noticed that even though the unit is turned off, it can turn on when connected to battery power. There is a turnoff when connected to power type menu choice but the finder seems to forget, when it is turned off and reverts to standard mode - which is to instantly turn on when connected. After a couple episodes of drained batteries I now routinely pull out one battery from the holder pack when putting the unit away. Still, it might be just me missing something obvious. Moonman. |
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NotLight |
quote troutdude: "I know this thread is a bit old but, I have a question concerning power. I recently purchased a PiranhaMax 175 and am basically modifying my power source similar to what NotLight did with his finder. If my unit operates between 10-20 VDC, could I use a 12 AA battery bank as opposed to and 8 or 10 battery bank? I'm not versed at all in electronics whatsoever. I'm assuming that if I don't exceed the max of 20 VDC all will be well with the unit. I just figured that 18 VDC with 12 batteries would likely last longer that 15 VDC with 10. How much longer? I have no clue. I welcome any comments. Thank you!" You should be ok as long as you are below 20V. The fish finder has a built in voltage regulator(s) to step down the voltage from your battery pack to whatever it uses/needs. I suspect the extra voltage will be wasted as heat energy in the regulator, and not improve your battery life vs if you only used 10 batteries. But it would depend on the style of regulator they used. |
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MagicPaddler |
The PiranhaMax is a newer detector than what I did my measurements on but I found that the batteries would last longer if the voltage was between 10 and 12 volts. So I think that 12 batteries in series will last less time than 10 batteries in series and 10 will last significantly longer than 8 or 9 batteries. We are talking about alkaline batteries. With lithium batteries 8 batteries will last longer than 10 More battery info than you probably want. |
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NotLight |
quote MagicPaddler: "I agree with NotLight MagicPaddler, Will you publish any kind of summer trip report? I understand you were gone a long time, and in the Rapid Fire? Was wondering how well that all worked and how much food you had to carry, etc in the smaller (?) boat. Plus the Spot failure.... |
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MagicPaddler |
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troutdude |
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troutdude |
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NotLight |
troutdude, I think the ultimate lithiums are a good choice (make sure they are the ultimate, and not the slightly cheaper lithiums that energizer now also makes). I think MagicPaddler figured out that even though the ultimate lithiums cost more, they are actually cheaper to use than alkalines because they have so much capacity. I am not muchof a fisherman, and probably won't ever bring my depthfinder to the BWCA. It would be wasted weight with my skills. But I like to use it at home as a speedometer when I paddle, and to help me follow the weedline. Plus I love gadgets. |
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MagicPaddler |
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toddhunter |
Also, although I assume it's just a difference in weight, there are small rechargeable gel batteries that would work in place of the AAs. I think this is the size. http://www.batterymart.com/p-12v-1_3ah-sealed-lead-acid-battery.html I used to run my ice sonars for a while on this, or use it as a backup. |
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NotLight |
quote toddhunter: "What happens if you take the 9v connector and simply connect it to a 9v battery? Not enough juice? The 9V might be too low. Most fish finders seem to want 10V minimum. But, it might work. The other problem is that most 9V batteries only have about 200mah of capacity. That will only power the fish finder for an hour. The lead acid batteries work. Just not sure how heavy they are. I looked at a small one at Cabelas when I was looking at fishfinders - holy crap was it heavy! But it had 5000mah capacity too. |
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BananaHammock |
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HighnDry |
quote MagicPaddler: "Notlight you seem to be able to do delicate work if that is true have you considered LiPo batteries. For $11.62 each you get a 5000 mAh battery. You would also need a protection circuit which could be used to protect the battery during charge and discharge. I made a box with a protection circuit in it for under $12.00. For instructions go to QJ. And scroll about half way down the page. I've fabricated this system that MP devised. It uses a curtain rod from Ikea for a couple bucks. With 8 AAs, wire, split connectors, nuts and wingnuts and about 15 minutes of fussing with it all was all it took. It worked great last season on the water. |
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MagicPaddler |
Good to know it is being used. Thanks for letting us know. The battery holder in HERE. The thing to remember is if you are using 8 batteries make them Energizer Ultimate Lithium. All alkaline batteries work best with 10 in series. |
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Wally13 |
MagicPaddler set me up with his 8 Energizer Lithium Battery Depth Finder Power Source a couple of years ago. It has performed flawlessly in combination with my Lowrance X4 fish finder. It is simple to build and it is very light. I fill the battery holder with 8 Lithium batteries and bring along an extra set of 8 batteries if and when a new set is needed. I can easily get 7 or 8 days of operation and I put in some very long days of fishing. |
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HighnDry |
quote MagicPaddler: "HighnDry Thanks MP. I'm using the ultimate lithiums with my PMav170. The unit was generally on for 2 to 3 hours per day for about 3 or 4 days each trip. I only ran out of pkwer on one trip and had yo replace. I'm most interested in everyone's discussion concernig securing the transducer to the canoe floor. I've tried it atfaching it with suction cups the outside of the boat at waterlime and securing it with a wooden ruler or twig to the thwrt to keep oriented forward and tivht to the floor. I'm still lookong for a better system. |
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MagicPaddler |
I have shot through the floor for years. Don’t put the transducer over a thick part of the hull. That means not on a heavy keel line or a foam core. If it will only be used in that boat glue it down with bathtub calk. If you want to move it from boat to boat use duct seal from the electrical department at the hardware store. Either way secure the wires so they does not get caught on gear. I cover my wiring with duct tape along the floor and up under the gunnel. |
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MagicPaddler |
I would like to use some of your pictures. Please email me at Liddonley-canoeboard@yahoo.com |
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NotLight |
quote MagicPaddler: "NotLight I'm not quite done. I finally got the cable grommet and put it in last weekend. I'll try to take better pictures and email after I figure out and finish my through hull setup. Maybe this weekend. |
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NotLight |
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Ragged |
quote NotLight: "I like the twisted battery leads. I will copycat that. I am unsatisfied with the fuse holder I used. It is the one that came with my garmin. Too big. Any ideas? I wanted the packs with the 9volt connection ontop like yours, but couldn't find a deal on them, I think I got 6 of those packs with bare leads for $12 shipped. I actually thought about putting a fuse in but got lazy.... probably should have but my Max 230 from Hummingbird (holds 8 AA's) didn't have a fuse so I figured if they can do it so can I. I have seen some small fuse holders but I don't think they are all that much smaller, some of the micro blade types may fit better just because they are not as long as that assembly. |
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toddhunter |
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NotLight |
quote toddhunter: "How does using a flasher (I have both a single color and a tri-color model), compare to a basic b/w screen, in terms of battery draw or other convenience?" You'd want to double check the manual. But it looks like the FL18 flashers draw 200mA. So they would last about 12 hours on a AA battery pack. The really simple black and white depth finders draw about 90-140mA (about half). But that's sort of a guess. |
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toddhunter |
quote BananaHammock: "If you check out batteries plus, just get a smaller 12v battery, it packs smaller than 8 aa batteries."I'm going to see if I can get my small 12v gel to charge up, and then compare it to an 8 AA battery pack. I had to order a new power cord for my Echo 150 (less than $20). I think the female connector is corroded. |
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MagicPaddler |
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