Electric downrigger operating time.

[iwombat]

Just went out today to shake the kinks off the new boat. I've got a two-battery setup and I'm running scotty electric downriggers. My kicker doesn't have an alternator, so I'm running the downriggers off the deep-cycle. Well, the scottys operated for a little while before totally running the battery down. What I'm wondering is if this is to be expected or am I more likely needing to replace the deep-cycle battery?

How long _should_ I be able to run the downriggers before draining a battery?

 

[cjames]

Re: Electric downrigger operating time.

just a guess, but I'd say that battery didnt have a good charge, did you check the water in it? mine have allways needed a little attention come spring time.

 

[iwombat]

Re: Electric downrigger operating time.

It showed full charge. I always trickle charge over the winter. I'm thinking this one may just be due for replacement. I'd still like to know what I can expect for operating time on the downriggers though. It may effect what size of battery I replace it with.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Electric downrigger operating time.

The amount of time any device will operate on a battery depends on two things: First -- how much current that device(s) draws. Second -- what the battery capacity (rated in Ampere/hours) is. If you have a 100 AH battery (deep cycle I hope) and the down riggers draw 10 amps (just a guess) total. They would deplete the battery in 10 hours. BUT -- the battery should never be depleted more than 50% on a regular basis so one of two things need to happen. You double the battery size or cut the power useage in half. The down riggers don't run continuously so I would expect they battery should last at least five hours. When there is no charging system available, my feeling is you should install the largest capacity battery you have room for. You can't have too much power -- only too little.

 

[iwombat]

Re: Electric downrigger operating time.

Thanks for the reply. Scotty's site says 8 amps w/ a 15lb weight and 5 amps w/ a 10lb. I'm using 12lb so I'll guess a conservative 7amps. I'll do the calculations off the amp-hours on the battery. Real-world data is always best though.

I was sucking the battery dry with only about 10 minutes of actual use on the downriggers. Time for a new battery for sure.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Electric downrigger operating time.

It appears its gone to battery heaven.

 

[PAkev]

Re: Electric downrigger operating time.

Just went out today to shake the kinks off the new boat. I've got a two-battery setup and I'm running scotty electric downriggers. My kicker doesn't have an alternator, so I'm running the downriggers off the deep-cycle. Well, the scottys operated for a little while before totally running the battery down. What I'm wondering is if this is to be expected or am I more likely needing to replace the deep-cycle battery?

How long _should_ I be able to run the downriggers before draining a battery?

I just installed a pair of scotty 1106's on my boat last weekend. I probably messed around with them for about least a half hr of use without any noticable diminished power. I would concur with the others that your battery is getting ready to crap out. Presuming you are using the same battery for cranking as your downriggers, it's better to give you a little grief in your driveway than a lot of grief 5 miles out in a lake.

 

[iwombat]

Re: Electric downrigger operating time.

So, the battery is rated at 80 amp hours. Given 50% capacity that's 40 amp hours of actual use. With a 7amp draw, that's about 5.5 hours of running time with the downriggers - theoretically. Even at half of that estimate - 2.25 hours of running time - that's a whole lot of retrieves.


*plays battery taps*