# How much can you run off a single battery?



## atuck593 (Mar 5, 2012)

Does anyone know how much you can run off a single 12v deep cycle battery? With my current set up (Minn Kota 50 lb thrust, hard wire bow and stern light, and fish finder) I can run a full day and still have "very good" charge left according to my battery tester when I get home. 
I am looking to add an upgraded fish finder/gps combo with an LCD screen(my old one died on me) a cd player with four 6.5" speakers and a Minn Kota Power Drive with digital battery maximizer (it lasts longer on the battery). Will this kill my single 12v battery?
I am really only adding a cd player since I am just upgrading the fish finder and trolling motor. Any help or input would be great on this since I don't have much experience on this matter.


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## FuzzyGrub (Mar 5, 2012)

You will probably have similiar results with the new set-up. Even if you run the battery down a little more, doesn't mean you need a second battery.


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## atuck593 (Mar 5, 2012)

Awesome...thanks Fuzzy. I didn't think I would need to upgrade, I just wasn't sure how much the new finder and especially the new radio would possibly draw. How long do you think I would be able to run all three before I would have to start to worry about seriously draining the battery? A full day of everything going? A couple of days?


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## JonBoatfever (Mar 5, 2012)

You should look into getting a cable to attach your motor to the battery so it charges while it runs if you experience battery problems, or you could get a 12v battery to run all the electronics. I have a large one for my tm, then a smaller, lawn mower sized 12v for all mr electronics including light, FF, bilge, and Livewell. I am considering a stereo soon!


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## jasper60103 (Mar 6, 2012)

I have a single deep cycle battery setup w/fishfinder, Minnkota 55# trolling motor and electric start 30hp for two seasons now. I don't troll very much though. I usually recharge it after every trip, but its never really gotten low.


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## atuck593 (Mar 6, 2012)

Awesome.... I have read a little on my own but it seems to me like this idea will work. I am thinking with the new trolling motor (digital maximizer = more battery life) just switching out the fish finder, and only the addition of a cd player won't be a break the bank situation. I will just have to be aware...and re-charge the battery after every use, but I already do that any way.


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## mfreeman451 (Mar 19, 2012)

If you run your FF and trolling motor off of the same battery, the TM will cause interference.. I run two batteries, with my TM and FF on separate ones. the FF and motor share the starting battery, also a deep cycle with some Cranking Amps. I am putting in a battery switch selector in case I ever kill my starting battery with my FF.



atuck593 said:


> Does anyone know how much you can run off a single 12v deep cycle battery? With my current set up (Minn Kota 50 lb thrust, hard wire bow and stern light, and fish finder) I can run a full day and still have "very good" charge left according to my battery tester when I get home.
> I am looking to add an upgraded fish finder/gps combo with an LCD screen(my old one died on me) a cd player with four 6.5" speakers and a Minn Kota Power Drive with digital battery maximizer (it lasts longer on the battery). Will this kill my single 12v battery?
> I am really only adding a cd player since I am just upgrading the fish finder and trolling motor. Any help or input would be great on this since I don't have much experience on this matter.


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## jeko1958 (Mar 21, 2012)

I second what mfreeman says...I use a group 29 deep cycle marine battery w/210 min. reserve capacity for my TM, and run my fishfinder off the starting battery on my outboard. I can troll for 5 or 6 hours and still show 50% on my battery indicator.


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## atuck593 (Mar 21, 2012)

Hrmm.....here's the thing. I have never run into any issues of draining my battery all the way down. I usually re-charge it for every other trip I make during the week. The longest I have run it without charge was about a week...about 2 - 3 hours each night. It still had a half charge at the end of the week. 
My concern came in with running so many items off of one battery, but really the only things that will run for more than a few minutes will be the TM, fish finder, and radio/cd player. I didn't want to have to add a second battery (cost, space, and weight issue) and my gas motor is not an electric start.
The only thing I am thinking now is what a few of you have said about running both the TM and fish finder off the same battery. What type of interference does that cause? Is it severe? I am looking into the Humminbird 587ci HD DI and if I spend that amount of money on it... I want the darn thing to work just as it should. I see Cabelas has a small re-charageable 12 volt battery for around $30. It would solve my extra weight, space, and cost issue. Does any one have any experiece with these or something similar?


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## FuzzyGrub (Mar 21, 2012)

While it may be likely that you get some interferance with the digital trolling motor (screen noise when trolling motor is on), it is not a given. I am not sure if that HB model comes with the power cable (PC11) that has the choke integrated, but since it is a DI unit, probably does. Try it first. If you get noise, try FF settings, and then if not corrected, try a seperate battery for FF. That may not solve it either, and you might have to look at other noise remidies.


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## mfreeman451 (Mar 21, 2012)

Here is a good link describing the problems with interference on your graphs caused by Trolling Motors, and how to deal with it..

https://www.biggeorgiaspots.com/boa...r-stuff/180-aaargh-sonar-noise.html?showall=1


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## mfreeman451 (Mar 21, 2012)

atuck593 said:


> Hrmm.....here's the thing. I have never run into any issues of draining my battery all the way down. I usually re-charge it for every other trip I make during the week. The longest I have run it without charge was about a week...about 2 - 3 hours each night. It still had a half charge at the end of the week.
> My concern came in with running so many items off of one battery, but really the only things that will run for more than a few minutes will be the TM, fish finder, and radio/cd player. I didn't want to have to add a second battery (cost, space, and weight issue) and my gas motor is not an electric start.
> The only thing I am thinking now is what a few of you have said about running both the TM and fish finder off the same battery. What type of interference does that cause? Is it severe? I am looking into the Humminbird 587ci HD DI and if I spend that amount of money on it... I want the darn thing to work just as it should. I see Cabelas has a small re-charageable 12 volt battery for around $30. It would solve my extra weight, space, and cost issue. Does any one have any experiece with these or something similar?



I used my flasher battery on my 898ci the other day and it died after a few hours. I don't remember exactly how many hours, maybe around 3 or 4. Using the SI on those things really draws a lot of power I'm guessing.


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## atuck593 (Mar 22, 2012)

Thanks guys... that article had a lot of great information and I think I will look into a smaller battery to run the finder off of. I figure if I am spending this much on the finder I might as well spend a little more for the finder to work properly. I plan on using the transom transducer because the finder will be at the back of the boat.


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