Lowrance Elite 5 HDI

Elite 7 HDI

http://www.lowrance.com/Root/Lowrance-Documents/US/Elite-7_IG_988-10438-001_w.pdf

Elite 5 HDI is listed at 1.1a

I agree .... the math does not add up to (4x) 8 hour days.  I typically turn it off once I am on my spot.  But I have run it non-stop before & fished multiple trips (Elite 7 HDI).

I'm running a Humminbird 587ci HD DI unit on my Pro Angler.  It draws 615mA on average.  I started with a 7aH battery and it lasted me only a month and a half.  I fish 3 days a week or so and I'm usually on the water for about 10 hours.  This is just simply too much for the 7aH battery to handle.  Over a 10 hour day my fish finder was using up 6.15 amps.  The 7aH battery would get me through a few days of fishing (with recharges in between) but then I noticed that my battery would not last for a day of fishing.  Eventually it wouldn't even power the unit for an hour and I would have to replace the battery.  I tried the 9aH battery and saw a slight improvement but again within a month and a half I'd be replacing the battery again.

The sealed AGM deep cycle batteries that we use to power our fish finders should never be discharged to a level of more than 50% of their rated power.  By doing this you're actually hurting your battery and will see an inability to hold a charge over time.  The other issue is the chargers.  Most people purchase the small plug in chargers that are produced by the companies that sell game feeders.  These charges just aren't really adequate for our uses and won't keep your battery performing at its potential.  The majority of these chargers have a 500mA output meaning that it would take 14 hours to recharge your 7aH battery from completely dead to a 100% charge.  I just don't have that kind of time when fishing on multi day trips.  The other fault in this is that once a SLA AGM deep cycle battery is drained completely it's worthless.  A charger wont bring the battery back to a useful level, and you just end up having to replace the battery.

I went through several 7aH batteries and a couple of 9aH batteries before finally finding a solution to the problem.   I'm now running a 20aH sealed AGM deep cycle battery that is normally used in a powered scooter.  It's only slightly larger than the 7aH battery but will power my fish finder for an all day trip without coming near to draining the battery to the 50% point.  Also, I purchased a battery tender that is a 1.25 amp battery charger designed to fully charge a battery and maintain it at proper storage voltage without the damaging effects caused by trickle chargers.  I've been using this system for a little over a year now with no issues at all.  Power is just one last thing I have to worry about when I'm fishing.  I could even add an aerator or some deck lighting LEDs to the system and would still have enough power for a days fishing trip.

The simple way to figure out what you need is by multiplying the power draw of your fish finder (in aH) by the maximum number of hours that you would fish in a day.  Then simply purchase a battery with twice that amount of aH output.

According to Tech Support at Lorance the Elite 7 HDI uses approx .8aH without the backlighting on and will max out at 1.4aH if you're using the backlighting.  So for 10 hour day of fishing you would use a max of 10.4amps.   Using my theory above you'd need a battery that would be between 20-24aH to provide sufficient power to the unit without worry about killing your battery over time.

Here's a link to the battery charger that I use.  Putting out 1.25 amps allows me to recharge my 20aH battery from 50% to 100% in just 8hrs of charging.  This is very important to me and worth the price of the charger when fishing multi day tournaments.

http://batterytender.com/products/motorcycle/battery-tender-plus-12v-at-1-25a.html

And here is an example of the type of battery I use.  AGM SLA Deep Cycle 12v 20aH battery designed for electric wheelchairs and scooters.  Prices usually run from about $40-$80 depending on where you buy them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1990KY9599&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-_-pla-_-Batteries+%26+Battery+Chargers-_-9SIA1990KY9599

I'm sure there will be some people that disagree with what I've written but this is just my opinion based on my observations.  As I mentioned I've been running this setup for a little over a year with no issues and came to my conclusions based upon my first hand use of the batteries and charging systems as well as my 12 years of experience working on marine electronics for the Coast Guard.

Hopefully some people will find this information usefull and maybe save them a few dollars by purchasing the correct equipment the first time instead of wasting money like I did using batteries that just weren't powerful enough for what I needed.

Looks like a nice 4-stage charger.  I don't normally go for multiple days so my 7ah serves me quite fine.  I ran most of a day a couple weekends ago & didn't drop below 12.1v & have run, for testing purposes, into the 10v range. 

It would be interesting to see what kind of amperage your battery was at when it was only putting out 10v.  Also, it would be interesting to see how long your battery lasts at say 12.7v before it starts losing power over an extended number of trips.

I think you'll find that over time your battery will not hold that 12.7v for the same amount of time before it starts falling off and you'll eventually have to replace the battery in order for it to last even one fishing trip.

Luckily I get to do this in the name of 'testing' and a replacement is only a call away

   I would tend to believe that most of us have sealed lead acid & not AGM type batteries .... which I think I have if memory serves me right.  I hardly look at the battery other than to plug it into my charger when I get home from a trip.

Nice observations Ring King.

I wrote pretty much the same here ... http://www.kayakfishingmagazine.net/articles/139-kayak-fishing-how-to-articles/1538-sla-batteries-demystified.html

A couple things.  I wouldn't necessarily shy away from inexpensive chargers as long as they automatically shut off or switch to float stage.  I personally don't use expensive multi-stage chargers and haven't really had any issues.

I think the bigger effect is usage.  As we both stated, don't discharge more than 50%.  And ... don't let your batteries sit in a discharged state.  Charge when you get home from fishing, and not right before your next fishing trip.

Elite 7 Operation Manual ... http://www.lowrance.com/Root/Lowrance-Documents/US/ELITE-7_HDI_OM_EN_988-10423-001_w.pdf

Page 47 states 1.1A typical.  I wish manufacturers would just go ahead and state current draw with backlight off and with full backlight.  And it would be nice if they had consistent numbers between their own various pieces of collateral.

_Allen

Allen ...

   Looks like we are both right   They have conflicting, but correct, differences in their publications.  Not the first time & most likely not the last.

   I too personally do not recharge my own kayak battery with a multi-stage charger since I consider the battery an "expense" and plan on replacement yearly or every other year.  I do believe in the positive aspects of a multi-stage charger when used with a quality battery & electrical system.

You should be able to get much more than 1-2 years out of a "properly used" SLA battery.  When I used lower current drain FF's (i.e. was able to stick to the don't drain more than 50% rule) I had 7 Ah batteries that lasted 5+ years.  With the higher drain FF's, I got about 2 years.  But I know I'm draining them more than 50% and the batteries that lasted 2 years were older batteries that I had laying around that were already well "worn".

-Allen

Word is there is the first delivery of them are on their way to a local retail chain.  Awaiting clarification if this release includes transducer or which of the "packages" this is.  Hope to have clarification shortly & will post info as it becomes available.

   ~Bill

Mine is in transit with transducer. Scheduled for friday

Where did you order yours from?

What was the cost?

Tested the current draw on the Elite 7 HDI this evening.  With the sonar settings set to factory default and no NMEA sharing the current draw was between .74 A and .26 A depending on the brightness settings (10 (brightest) to 0 (fine in the dark but difficult to see after sunrise)).

Current draw at: 10 was .74 A; 9 was .49 A; 8 was .36 A; 7 was .32 A; 6 was .31 A; 5 was .28 A; 4 through 1 was .27 A; and 0 was .26 A.

Quick math (7ah/draw) suggests 9.45 hours at 10 brightness on a 7ah battery; 25 hours at 5 brightness; and 26.92 hours at 0.  Actuals are higher under Peukert's Law because the draws are less than 1 A.  Would need more detailed battery specs (actual, as opposed to advertised, capacity, hour rating, Peukert coefficient) than I have to calculate.

I tend to set the brightness at 3 or 4 at launch otherwise it's painful to look at in the dark.  I raise it to 6 or 7 by mid day. 

$450 with transducer online no tax $15 shipping

Where?