trolling motor battery question

[didoban]

..just bought a bowmount minnkota 24 volts, 70 lb. power drive V2 and will be buying 2 new batteries. I'm looking at 140 or 180 reserve capacity. How long will I use it before recharging if used at med to high, stop and go fishing...mostly for positioning the boat rather than trolling. Will it last 10 hours running time before recharging? The 220 RC is a bit large in size for the limited space in my boat otherwise, I will get the higher rating battery.

[Guest lundboy]

You can get Type 27 batteries in both a 140 and a 180 reserve size. The difference in price is about $25 each. I would just go for 180s if they are in your budget. Don't get dual purpose, get deep cycle.

 

I have a 70lb 24 volt MinnKota with 2 type 27 180s:

 

At 70% I will get about 4hrs straight non stop trolling. Other than that on a non-windy day with little current bass fishing, I can easily get about 2 full days fishing.

 

Recharge fully after every use. At the least don't let them go more than 24 hours after using them. If you don't you will reduce the life of your batteries.

Edited June 12, 2008 by lundboy

[jwl]

my Minkotta, has a little chart on it that tells you expectancy of how many hours of usage you should get out of a full charge in relation to what speed/power you run it at, and also a test indicator button that tells you what charge capacity the battery is at.

 

A decent deep cell battery really won't develope a "memory" like the batteries in rechargeable power tool for example, they are designed to slowly discharge, I just top mine up over night when needed the night before I plan on using it. Had mine since 2003

Edited June 12, 2008 by jwl

[Fisherman]

Never wait before recharging, when you get home, recharge, the longer you wait the more damage you do to a battery, regardless of how much you used it.