Will a small lawn mower battery (12v) work to run a DF? I have two 12v battery sitting here and I like to get some use out of them. I going to just run the DF on one. I was thing I should be able to get a day urge or am I pushing the little battery.
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Will a small lawn mower battery (12v) work to run a DF? I have two 12v battery sitting here and I like to get some use out of them. I going to just run the DF on one. I was thing I should be able to get a day urge or am I pushing the little battery.
Should work just fine for anything other than the huge units with their large processors. I would find some kind of container to put it in to keep it from falling over and spilling the acid in the boat.
Why carry the extra weight, and bother with charging it, when you have the starting battery already sitting there?
A lawn mower battery is plenty of juice to run about any depth finder. Even a larger unit like the Lowrance HDS-10 Gen2 only draws 0.7A with the backlight on, and 0.4A with the backlight off. Most lawn mower batteries are at least 15AH, with most probably closer to 20AH.
So with my highly scientific (not) calculations, you can draw 1A continuous for 15 hours on pretty much any lawn mover battery - assuming it starts off fully charged, of course.
By the way, here's the product link for the DF mentioned. Click the plus beside the Specifications section to see the additional details, including the power consumption:
Lowrance HDS-10 Gen2 | Fishfinder GPS Chartplotter - LOWRANCE | Marine Electronics
And yes, I agree with @ATM, why not run it off of the starting battery? As I mentioned above, DF really don't pull much power at all.
edit: Well I thought of a reason.... If my starter battery goes completely dead (which has happened to me) - as long as DF was on another battery, I could still fish and see fish as I float around. :crazy: Plus, in a pinch, maybe I could hook the starter up to that battery.
I was told not to run my DF and trolling motor off the same battery. I only have one battery. Both are 12v and did not want to get interfere. Someone give me a little light on it. I have a Lowrance elite HDI 7 unit.
Good point. Is your outboard electric start?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gindog
A lot of people use a motorcycle or lawn mower battery to power their DF. Most of them will power it for a couple days. Advantages are no worry about interference from motors and usually a lot less wire to run. And you are right, you shouldn't run the DF off the TM battery. Every time you step on the TM's go button it creates a surge in the line. Electronics do not like surges. The biggest disadvantage is recharging it. Also like Cray said it needs to be secured so it doesn't spill. A sealed battery would eliminate that problem.
I used a motorcycle battery on my john boat. No problem at all with a 997
Lots of kayakers use 6 or 8 AA batteries for their depthfinder, so a lawn mower battery should be fine. As mentioned earlier, charging the battery is an issue as they tend to not like lots of cycling.
yes outboard is electric start too. Then I think my little batteries will work. I hope to know next week then
Can also use the 12v deer feeder batteries available at most sporting goods stores, will run a simple gps/2d such as the Low Mark 4 FF for several hours, should last a day easy. A HDI 7 may drain it in a day, but you have to charge up the other batteries, what's one more. They only weigh about 5# and can make a waterproof box for it for $10-20.