11-22-2003, 11:56 AM
[cool][size 2]Hi, guys. The Eagle units I have been using...Fish Easy and Cuda 168...are both listed as being waterproof. Obviously you don't want to take them down to 200 feet deep to test them, but it is good to know that if you get a wave splash or a rain downpour that your sonar is not going to short out.[/size]
[size 2]Hey canyonman, it is fairly simple to figure out if your battery has enough juice to run your electronics. I'm not 100% sure of the physics here, but from what I do know it's a matter of wattage. The higher the wattage, the more amps you drain from the battery.[/size]
[size 2]I am running a Cuda 168 right now. It is listed as 800 watts power output. That translates into about 800 "milliamps" per hour...or .8 amps. If you are on the water, running your sonar continuously for a six hour stretch, theorectically you would use 4.8 amps of stored juice. T[/size][size 2]hat's about the average trip I make, and I have never drained my little 6 amp battery. [/size]
[size 2]To insure long life and full charge before each trip, I put the batteries on the trickle charger for a couple of hours the night before...or during the day if I am going for an afternoon shot. Then, as soon as I get home, I hook them up for about one hour for each hour I have been running them.[/size]
[size 2]The charger I use is rated at 800 milliamps...close to what my sonar uses in operation...so the one hour charging for each hour of use is about right. Some of the little chargers are rated at either more or less. A 500 milliamp charger is most common. Don't use a heavy duty auto battery charger...even if you can set it down to 2 amps. It may overheat the gel cells.[/size]
[size 2]How long do SLA batteries last? I do not know. I haven't worn out the first ones I bought about 5 years ago. I through one of them in a dumpster at the lake when my sonar quit working on one trip, thinking it had died. That's how the acid motorcycle batteries let you know they were bad...they just quit working. But, when I hooked up my unit to a new battery, it still wouldn't work. Turned out I had cracked the housing on my transducer and IT was not working. I had tossed a good battery. The other one I got at the same time is still going strong.[/size]
[size 2]You can use a 1.5 amp battery, as long as it puts out 12 volts. It will not last long, however, and if you have sonar you will find it better to keep it on and monitor the changing bottom structure, depth, temperature, fish population and depth, etc. You become tuned in and dependent on getting a constant readout.[/size]
[size 2]On the trip I mentioned, when my sonar would not work, I truly felt like I was fishing BLIND. Fortunately, we were fishing a spot that I knew intimately and had a good idea of how to fish it. At least I still caught the first, the most and the biggest on that trip. Of course I crowed about that a bit, to TubeBabe, and we have commented several times since...when fishing is slow...that I should shut off my sonar so I can catch more fish.[/size]
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[size 2]Hey canyonman, it is fairly simple to figure out if your battery has enough juice to run your electronics. I'm not 100% sure of the physics here, but from what I do know it's a matter of wattage. The higher the wattage, the more amps you drain from the battery.[/size]
[size 2]I am running a Cuda 168 right now. It is listed as 800 watts power output. That translates into about 800 "milliamps" per hour...or .8 amps. If you are on the water, running your sonar continuously for a six hour stretch, theorectically you would use 4.8 amps of stored juice. T[/size][size 2]hat's about the average trip I make, and I have never drained my little 6 amp battery. [/size]
[size 2]To insure long life and full charge before each trip, I put the batteries on the trickle charger for a couple of hours the night before...or during the day if I am going for an afternoon shot. Then, as soon as I get home, I hook them up for about one hour for each hour I have been running them.[/size]
[size 2]The charger I use is rated at 800 milliamps...close to what my sonar uses in operation...so the one hour charging for each hour of use is about right. Some of the little chargers are rated at either more or less. A 500 milliamp charger is most common. Don't use a heavy duty auto battery charger...even if you can set it down to 2 amps. It may overheat the gel cells.[/size]
[size 2]How long do SLA batteries last? I do not know. I haven't worn out the first ones I bought about 5 years ago. I through one of them in a dumpster at the lake when my sonar quit working on one trip, thinking it had died. That's how the acid motorcycle batteries let you know they were bad...they just quit working. But, when I hooked up my unit to a new battery, it still wouldn't work. Turned out I had cracked the housing on my transducer and IT was not working. I had tossed a good battery. The other one I got at the same time is still going strong.[/size]
[size 2]You can use a 1.5 amp battery, as long as it puts out 12 volts. It will not last long, however, and if you have sonar you will find it better to keep it on and monitor the changing bottom structure, depth, temperature, fish population and depth, etc. You become tuned in and dependent on getting a constant readout.[/size]
[size 2]On the trip I mentioned, when my sonar would not work, I truly felt like I was fishing BLIND. Fortunately, we were fishing a spot that I knew intimately and had a good idea of how to fish it. At least I still caught the first, the most and the biggest on that trip. Of course I crowed about that a bit, to TubeBabe, and we have commented several times since...when fishing is slow...that I should shut off my sonar so I can catch more fish.[/size]
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