Fishfiner hacks

I have a relatively new Nocqua battery (12V, 10AH) and a Humminbird Helix 7 fish finder that draws 0.8A, so theoretically I should have 10/0.8=12.5 hours of service, right? Not so. Yesterday it lasted barely 7 hours.

Turns out that by decreasing brightness I can save 50% energy. This doubles the battery life. Also, if I’m heading back to the launch, I can turn off sonar and save more (brightness saves more than sonar though).

On the Helix 7, unfortunately, some settings go back to default after power off, so I’ll need to remember every time. Also, light and sonar are controlled via a special menu (long press on power button).

Hope this would help other folks with other FF

Yup, briteness settings really change the battery draw. Thanks for the reminder.

I switched earlier this year to a Helix 5 after my original Hook 5 finally bit the dust. I rigged up the transducer in my Hobie Revo's lowrance ready spot, but it is extremely sensitive to any accumulation of sand between the transducer and the cover plate - much more so than the old lowrance transducer. So if you have one of these models and you lose sonar but not temp or have only a very faint bottom signal check for sand under the transducer.

Cheers,
Brad

Also don’t expect your battery to power your FF all the way down to zero.  My FF turns off when my battery hits about 12-15%

Also don’t expect your battery to power your FF all the way down to zero.  My FF turns off when my battery hits about 12-15%

Instead of thinking in battery percentage, I go by minimum voltage necessary to run the fishfinder.  I got the spec for my Hook Reveal 5 from the spec sheet and then bench tested it to make sure it was true.  For the Hook Reveal 5, that was 10.8V.  I added battery voltage to the data overlay and ran it down on the benchtop.  It started emitting low battery alarms at 10.8V but didn't auto power off until 10.6V.  Worth the time it took to run the test and find the real-world limits compared to the spec sheet.

Thought this would be about getting out of a ticket 

With my Raymarine Element the sonar would shut off automatically at around 10.6 volts. With one of Chet's batteries it hasn't been an issue.

Also don’t expect your battery to power your FF all the way down to zero.  My FF turns off when my battery hits about 12-15%

Instead of thinking in battery percentage, I go by minimum voltage necessary to run the fishfinder.  I got the spec for my Hook Reveal 5 from the spec sheet and then bench tested it to make sure it was true.  For the Hook Reveal 5, that was 10.8V.  I added battery voltage to the data overlay and ran it down on the benchtop.  It started emitting low battery alarms at 10.8V but didn't auto power off until 10.6V.  Worth the time it took to run the test and find the real-world limits compared to the spec sheet.

This was the more technical answer I was leading to but kept it simple enough for non-electrical versed individuals to understand or anticipate thats it’s not simply “10/0.8=12.5 hours…”

With the Nocqua battery it’s important to run it down periodically .  I fish with mine and when I get home I charge my phone with it until it shuts down.   Then I hook up a string of camp LED lights and let it go. IIRC it goes down to 7v. Or so.


So low none or only one of the blue lights on the charger light up. It takes 8 hours to come up to charge. Both of mine will go to 12.5 volts.

My hook reveal will also shut down at 10.8.

With the Nocqua battery it’s important to run it down periodically .  I fish with mine and when I get home I charge my phone with it until it shuts down.   Then I hook up a string of camp LED lights and let it go. IIRC it goes down to 7v. Or so.


So low none or only one of the blue lights on the charger light up. It takes 8 hours to come up to charge. Both of mine will go to 12.5 volts.

My hook reveal will also shut down at 10.8.

That’s dedication! Last time I checked the voltage on mine a week after charging was 12.1 I think