Thread: Battery Packs

Duracell has a 4 battery charger that comes with 4 batteries for $12-15. Extra set pack of rechargables is $8-10. The battery tray is like $4 at RadioShack.

For me, the smaller space and lighter weight of AA system would be worth any price difference.

i hope these energizer rechargable AAs i bought were not fully charged new, because i got about 2.5 hours out of it. if it happens again i will try my other FF but i hope that is not the case. i have a Garmin 160c. it was on the G3 i bought last year and the guy i bought from had to replace it so he bought a new one but used the old transducer/wiring/mounts and gave me the new stuff. so i had all that just need to move the FF unit to which boat im using that day. what i dont have is an instruction manual for the Garmin. it always shows a <Battery> indication on the screen even on a fully charged boat battery.

ok, i got 4 hours today and it was still working as a left. no fish though

I normally fish about 4 hours per trip, especially during the summer to miss the heat, but sometimes I stay longer. If 4 hrs is good for you then stay with it, but you'll have to charge 'em up everytime. I got a small 12v deer feeder batt from Gander Mtn and waterproof box from walmart, and I have used it for 16 hr + and still had 12.6v, down from 13.1v after the 1st charge. Battery and charger was about $35 and the box about $8, some quick dis-connect power leads, maybe $50 total. I have a Low Mark 5 pro and run the split screen (2x zoom and regular) 99% of the time.

They are always at Radio Shack and cost less than $3. Look on the back wall around the components.

You will not run down those eight batteries in two or three days of fishing. I know a few guys that go that way. I, personally, went with the larger battery like mentioned earlier. Now that battery, you can use it daily for a month and not kill it. I left the FF on after a trip, didn't notice it was still on five days later. Hooked it up to the charger at 2amp.... five minutes later the green light came on. FF's don't pull that much juice.

the 8 aa's lasted less than 3 hours this last time. i dont know what the problem is. i might hook up my old FF and see how long it lasts sitting in the garage. i sure dont want to unrig this whole thing.

Originally Posted by alexava

the 8 aa's lasted less than 3 hours this last time. i dont know what the problem is. i might hook up my old FF and see how long it lasts sitting in the garage. i sure dont want to unrig this whole thing.

According to Garmin your unit uses 10watts max which is about 800ma. (12 x .8 = .96) If your batteries are 2400AH rating that would be 3 hours at full power. If you have the light on this would be just about right. Of course if your batteries are only 1600AH then the max time at max output would be 2 hours.

Thanks