I'll qualify my statement, hook the little battery direct to the fish finder and as Scottar says, forget about charging through the motor, after all most kayakers manage quite well this way.
I'll qualify my statement, hook the little battery direct to the fish finder and as Scottar says, forget about charging through the motor, after all most kayakers manage quite well this way.
Dante,what outboard do you have?
Most manufactures have a charging kit than can be installed as an aftermarket accessory.
It essentially will connect your battery to your outboard alternator and when you motor is running, it will charge the battery.
If you're handy you can install them yourself or you can go through a dealer.
You will then connect your sounder to the battery as per normal.
I have operated my current and previous boat using this method of charging and I have never had to charge a battery through a charger at home again.
I would highly recommend that you look into this option as it is far more convenient than hooking up a charger (easy to forgot to do as well and then have no battery power the next time you use your boat, I know from experience).
It is probably comparable in price as well.
Ah i have a 6hp mecury
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If u don't mind wire cutting and joining than there is a couple people on ebay who sell regulator kits these kits will regulate the charging power output from the outboard motor to a steady and stable amp output
the kits cost around $35 and come with everything needed and instructions, once u have the kit wired up there are two power cables that run from the outboard motor back to your battery these cables are what puts charge back into the battery
from here u run your fish finder strait off the battery
make sure never to earth any black or negative or - wiring to a aluminium boat hull, all earths or negatives should be ran back to the negative or - battery terminal
In addition I have made up a length of cable which I attach to the battery with wing nuts and plug it into the rear of my car via an Anderson Plug. While driving the car charges up the boat battery.
Works a treat
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I get 3 days out of a 7 a.h. battery running my garmin colour sounder on the kayak. Charge it when you get home and save the complexity.Originally Posted by Dignity
nil carborundum illegitimi
Cheers guys
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Mate some of these responses are bang on, but my opinion is to get a C-tek charger about 5 amp. They are pricey but you can use it to charge/recondition/trickle charge anything safely. I've had mine for about 4 years and it's been good guns on lead acid, AGM and even calci batts. I have heard blokes use it for smaller batteries in their bikes and even house batteries. Depends on what you need, and how much you are budgeting. There are plenty of cheaper alternatives too. Solar is a good idea as long as it has a decent voltage regulator or controller to prevent over charging. If you are going to invest in a charger, may as well be good for anything else you have other then the vessel! Good luck mate.
This is what I have to run the sounder in my car topper once the 7amp battery is kaput you simply throw it away and get a new one mine is 4 years old and still going strong, the kit comes with 12V & 24V charging adaptors and you charge it via the already wired up cig socket that is on the unit (unfortunately you cant see it in the pic).
All you need to do is put a set of alligator clamps on your sounder power cables and hook them up to the appropriate terminals or put a cig plug on the cables and use the already wired up cig socket that this unit comes with, doesn't hurt to put a small inline fuse in the positive side as well.
https://www.whitworths.com.au/main_i...AbsolutePage=2
Cheers Axl
All my batteries have anderson plugs permanently attached, 5 at present, no need for wing nuts etc just unplug, plug in charger or even into the car. When camping my batteries have 2 plugs, one for charging via solar or charger and one to run the fridge freezer.
You should still have some sort of regulator to stop overcharging if you go on long trips and plugging into the car as I think your anderson plug won't be going via a regulator, I use an item I bought long time ago which caravans used but was originally designed as a jump starter using the cigarette lighters of the vehicles.
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