Question: Battery For Fishfinder

whiskers77 · #1 08-19-2006, 04:57 PM

I have a small fiberglass jon boat that I'm getting ready for the water, I need to get a 12v battery for my Humminbird 100sx fishfinder. My question is, does it matter what kind of battery I buy or do I have to buy a marine battery. I don't want to buy a big heavy battery for my boat considering the fishfinder is the only electronics that will be hooked up the battery itself. If I could find a small cheap battery to operate my fishfinder I'd be happy but I don't want to buy a battery that will damage my fishfinder either. Does anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Brandon

blackwaterkatz · #2 08-19-2006, 05:13 PM

Brandon, I've used a small lawnmower or motorcycle battery with good success, before. Most sonars don't draw much current, and a small battery like that should easily last all day.

dwreel · #3 08-19-2006, 05:20 PM

Tommy has got it right. A lawn mower battery will do just fine. Lots liter to lug around too.

whiskers77 · #4 08-19-2006, 05:35 PM

Thanks guys, that's the answer I was hoping for. The less weight in my boat the better, plus I need all of the extra space I can get. I'll take some pictures of my boat when I get it out and post them. Thanks again!

gadzooks · #5 08-19-2006, 10:49 PM

Down here on the gulf coast, all the kayak fishermen use 12 volt rechargeable deer feeder batteries and either get the little charger they sell along side the batteries or use a 2 amp trickle charger. Takes very little space, costs about 12-14 dollars and weighs about 2 lbs. You can go even lighter by going to Radio Shack, buying a holder for 8 AA batteries and a 9 volt pig tail...the battery holder has snaps like on a 9 volt. Then wire it to your finder wires. I use that system and get up to 25 hours our of a set of batteries.