Portable battery issues

RogerH · **Joined:** Tue Feb 11, 2014 8:56 pm **Posts:** 33

I bought two batteries for my portable Bird 385 ci. The problem is the batteries are only one year old and last less than 6 hours. As you know this is very frustrating. On the water with two batteries, now three?
Any suggestions? Are there any good batteries out there or like everything else, we get ripped off.

Radioworld · **Joined:** Tue Dec 20, 2011 1:31 pm **Posts:** 436

Battery life usually comes down to maintenance of them when not in use. I have been using the same batteries for about 5 years now on my ice unit and have no issues at all. I have found the key is to charge them up before storage and then top them up once a month through the summer.

In the winter when you are using them be sure to charge them up after each use and store them in a warm environment.

Also, getting around 6 hrs seems a little low for that unit, but at most I'd only expect a battery to last 8 hrs in the cold.

-Lawren

TheDL · **Joined:** Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:13 am **Posts:** 435

I'm also experiencing battery issues. I have a vex fl18, but where I'm seeing more of a problem is with my hummingbird 587 ci hd di unit in the boat. I had a 7ah vex battery I was using that wasn't cutting it, so I bought a Leoch 9ah from national battery in kingston less than 1 year ago. At first the battery would last all day, and I always charge immediately after use and often leave on a trickle charge. Battery is used every weekend all year long (pretty much). I also have issues with batteries I use for the trolling motor. I have a 50lb thrust motor, and I bring 2 large (27 and 29 group) batteries out everytime I go fishing (8 hours or so) and end up killing both. I charge them up religiously after every use and also keep them on a trickle charge often. The 29 group deep cycle is also a national battery brand - its on it's first year too. It used to last all day, but not anymore.

I have to think battery maintenance is playing a role here since both batteries bought this year used to last all day, and no longer do...I'd be interested in hearing what others' do for battery maintenance as I'm really having a hard time keeping power to my gear all day!

What do you guys think...need a better charger? Don't charge 'till dead? The small batteries are just charged with the vex wall-wort deal and the deep cycles are charged with a canadian tire 2-4-6 amp, usually use the 2-amp setting

Walleye 9 · **Joined:** Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:05 pm **Posts:** 1985

I use 27's for my trolling motor (55lb) and easily get 8 hours use, unless it's extremely windy. I have 2 batteries. One is 4 years old, and the other is 2 years old. I just rotate them out when 1 is dead and recharge. I do no maintenance on these batteries other than storing inside over the winter. My starting battery is also still the original that came with boat (7 years) I've had bad experiences with Canadian Tire batteries where they wouldn't hold charge after only being 1 year old. I now use Interstate Batteries and they seem to last at least 5 years before they start to get weak and can't hold charge.

Hope this helps

jjz · **Joined:** Mon Nov 01, 2010 11:18 am **Posts:** 231

TheDL wrote:

I'm also experiencing battery issues. I have a vex fl18, but where I'm seeing more of a problem is with my hummingbird 587 ci hd di unit in the boat. I had a 7ah vex battery I was using that wasn't cutting it, so I bought a Leoch 9ah from national battery in kingston less than 1 year ago. At first the battery would last all day, and I always charge immediately after use and often leave on a trickle charge. Battery is used every weekend all year long (pretty much). I also have issues with batteries I use for the trolling motor. I have a 50lb thrust motor, and I bring 2 large (27 and 29 group) batteries out everytime I go fishing (8 hours or so) and end up killing both. I charge them up religiously after every use and also keep them on a trickle charge often. The 29 group deep cycle is also a national battery brand - its on it's first year too. It used to last all day, but not anymore.

I have to think battery maintenance is playing a role here since both batteries bought this year used to last all day, and no longer do...I'd be interested in hearing what others' do for battery maintenance as I'm really having a hard time keeping power to my gear all day!

What do you guys think...need a better charger? Don't charge 'till dead? The small batteries are just charged with the vex wall-wort deal and the deep cycles are charged with a canadian tire 2-4-6 amp, usually use the 2-amp setting

Hey Dave
try turning the backlight down on your HB, as you know I use the same battery set up as you and mine was set at 10 and I was noticing after a long session it was almost dead, turned it down to 5 and it is still bright enough and no problems with battery life.
As for your TM battery my suggestion would be to not have 500lbs of gear in your 14ft boat and it would be less taxing on the TM

TheDL · **Joined:** Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:13 am **Posts:** 435

jjz wrote:

TheDL wrote:

I'm also experiencing battery issues. I have a vex fl18, but where I'm seeing more of a problem is with my hummingbird 587 ci hd di unit in the boat. I had a 7ah vex battery I was using that wasn't cutting it, so I bought a Leoch 9ah from national battery in kingston less than 1 year ago. At first the battery would last all day, and I always charge immediately after use and often leave on a trickle charge. Battery is used every weekend all year long (pretty much). I also have issues with batteries I use for the trolling motor. I have a 50lb thrust motor, and I bring 2 large (27 and 29 group) batteries out everytime I go fishing (8 hours or so) and end up killing both. I charge them up religiously after every use and also keep them on a trickle charge often. The 29 group deep cycle is also a national battery brand - its on it's first year too. It used to last all day, but not anymore.

I have to think battery maintenance is playing a role here since both batteries bought this year used to last all day, and no longer do...I'd be interested in hearing what others' do for battery maintenance as I'm really having a hard time keeping power to my gear all day!

What do you guys think...need a better charger? Don't charge 'till dead? The small batteries are just charged with the vex wall-wort deal and the deep cycles are charged with a canadian tire 2-4-6 amp, usually use the 2-amp setting

Hey Dave
try turning the backlight down on your HB, as you know I use the same battery set up as you and mine was set at 10 and I was noticing after a long session it was almost dead, turned it down to 5 and it is still bright enough and no problems with battery life.
As for your TM battery my suggestion would be to not have 500lbs of gear in your 14ft boat and it would be less taxing on the TM

Hmmm....never thought to turn the light down, will have to try that. It does seem odd that both the new batteries would work all day earlier in the season and not anymore - that leads me to think perhaps the maintenance (i.e. charging, storing, etc) might be to blame. As far as all the gear, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it :lol:

GOT2FSH · **Posted:** Fri Nov 28, 2014 6:14 pm

I'm not sure about this unit, but my 522 Laurence has gps, and if I turn the gps engine off it lasts way longer

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Portable battery issues

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