I mounted a Garmin Striker 4 (not cv) locator on my canoe and plan to use it in the BW. I did some reading on past posts on this forum, and I watched a number of YouTube videos on best options for powering the unit in the BW.

I decided to go the route of building a battery pack out of AA batteries. I decided that this was the most weight-efficient option. From the research I did, a set-up with 8AA batteries should produce 12V, and provide enough power to run the Garmin unit with limited backlight for 20 hours. I figured a second set of batteries on reserve would cover us for our hours of fishing on our trip.

I put together the 8 AA portable pack and wired it into my power cord for the unit. To my surprise (disappointment), when I hooked it up with brand new out-of-the-box Rayovac batteries, the Garmin unit indicated 12V initially, but within a few hours is down to 9.7V. This is with the backlight turned off. It dropped pretty steadily to 10V, and then the drop seemed to slow down. I am surprised the unit was still powered on. I'm wondering why this didn't live up to expectations.

a.) Was it the batteries? I know there are higher quality AA batteries than Rayovac. Would I expect to see significantly better voltage/life from Lithium batteries?
b.) Was it the fact that for now I just have the wires from the battery pack to the power cord wire-nutted together? (See picture 1) Perhaps with a better connection I'd get more voltage? (I can't solder them together, as I need to be able to disconnect at times. I'm not sure how much better connection I will be able to get with a plug type connector.

When I ordered the battery pack, it came as a two-pack. I ordered a Pelican 1020 case, and both battery packs fit snuggly in the case. (See picture 2). What would happen if I wired the two battery packs together to power the unit with 16 AA batteries. In theory this should produce 24 volts. The specs on the Garmin say it operates on 10-20V. I suspect this could still damage the unit? Anyone have any thoughts on this idea?

My other option is to scrap the idea of the AA battery pack and instead go to something like these:

20AH https://www.amazon.com/QWW-12V10AH-LiFePo4-Battery-suitable/dp/B0BR7RNVYN/ref=asc_df_B0BR8XDC87/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=652425522897&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16643438434713575305&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019086&hvtargid=pla-2056764110106&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7PCjBhDwARIsANo7CgkELNC1wTmzjgxCPW6Qp1kvQDy2mEQJ3LAmNdyxLbFJxm8PPCtqXc4aAunHEALw_wcB&th=1

10AH https://dakotalithium.com/product/dakota-lithium-12v-10ah-battery/

12AH https://dakotalithium.com/product/dakota-lithium-12v-12ah-18-amp-hour-lifepo4-iron-phosphate-battery/

I welcome any thoughts or other ideas.

Y’all are gonna think I’m nuts but I just came out of the BW and used an iBobber. Showed depth, vegetation and fish. It’s light and takes up almost no room

I have the same unit and I use a 10 battery pack and lithium batteries. I just came back from a 5 day trip and used it with 70% backlight for a couple hours a day with no problems and hardly any drop in voltage. I don’t see why the wire nuts would make a difference but my connection is soldered. Why would you need to disconnect the battery pack when you just unplug it from the unit?

I use a Nacqua battery pack for my Striker 4 , its designed for water sports. Fully charged, I used it for 5 days total of 27 hours and it still had half the charge left. Can be adapted to power other items you might have with you.

Lithium batteries all the way, they will probably be above 12 volts to start. Maybe around 13. stay strong to the end. Then power is gone. Also, batteries are lighter.

I agree with Pinetree. A few years back I built a similar DIY battery pack based on the several extensive threads on this forum. I use 8 lithium and it has run my Garmin well for several hours a day for 7-9 days no problem.

I do seem to recall our resident expert MagicPaddler explaining how 8 in lithium was enough, but maybe not for alkaline. I think this was the thread.

I also do not get why you would need to disconnect the wires. I did not solder mine, just twist and tape. I'd definitely try good lithiums before making any other changes.

Ooops - duplicate post.

Take a look at this link.

This gets you a clean and longer lasting battery. DeWalt or Milwaukee will work and there might be other options out there.

I also use a Garmin Striker 4 for my trips. I power it with a 10AH 12V LifeP04 battery. My trips are usually 5-6 days of moderate fishing and it lasts the entire trip, including keeping the backlight set at around 70%. Good luck!!

I use one of these when i'm packing heavy for trips.
Bold North Outdoors
Yes, you COULD build one yourself, i chose not to. Get a couple of lithium 12v batteries and the solar charger and it'll last you all week. For reference I can run my fishfinder for 20ish hours on that setup before a recharge is needed.

I was also looking to bring up a Garmin Striker, but the Vivid model. I'm not sure if there are any real power differences between the vivid and the others. I purchased a Goal Zero Yeti 200X, which has a 12V cigarette lighter plug. I simply wired it up, plugged it in and it works great. I tested it out on my canoe for about 4 hours and the battery went from 97% to 89%, so it should last quite a while.

I went this route because the Yeti 200X can recharge phones, lights, gps units, etc. It also has the capability to be easily recharged with Goal Zero solar panels. I use a 20W panel and it will charge the 200X pretty well in full sunlight. I am willing to bet that if it was a clear, sunny day and the solar panel was hooked up, the battery would not drop at all while the unit was being used.

Percent battery left fools you at times, you might have a lot of battery life left, but like locators after voltage drops so much the locator might not function even tho battery life shows fairly high. The percent
Find out your system's low-voltage functionality.

I use the same system and always take a back up battery pack but have yet to use it. In fact I just powered mine up and last years batteries are still in it. Was reading 10.5 V but my unit still works on that power, at least for awhile.
Been using this system for 4 years now. No issues.

I purchased a 10Ah Nocqua lithium-ion battery a few years back and found it runs about 30 hours at 70% brightness on my Garmin Striker 4 if you run it down to about 11.2V which is fine for the battery and the fish finder, but you don't want to go any lower than 10.8-11V ideally. Overall it's a great backcountry pairing with the size and water resistance, and if you really need more run time than that, you could add a small solar panel and make sure to set it out every day whenever you're not fishing because you'll only get a trickle of power as it is.