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Bass Boat fishing for bass and Batteries

Question:

Any of you guys running 2.fishing for bass and..6 volt golf cart batteries as their starting and accessories battery.  I am thinking of removing my underpowered 12v marine deep cycle battery that only has around 60 AH of power and wiring the 2   6 volt batteries in series to produce 12v and about 220 AH of power. I am going to do this with either Sam’s Club Stowaway golf cart batteries (around $45 each)  or  2 Trojan T-105 batteries (around $75 each).  (both are 6 volt batteries). fishing for bass and Trojan makes the Stowaway batteries for Sam’s Club. My current setup with the one 12v starting/accessories battery drops to 12.2 volts and my low battery charge warning system starts beeping at me before the end of a day of fishing. Any tips or pitfalls to doing this?fishing for bass and  My two 12v trolling motor batteries seem to hold up fine for a full day of trolling with power left over. Don Allen, TX

Response:

Any of you guys running 2…6 volt golf cart batteries as their starting and accessories battery.  I am thinking of removing my underpowered 12v marine deep cycle battery that only has around 60 AH of power and wiring the 2   6 volt batteries in series to produce 12v and about 220 AH of power. I am going to do this with either Sam’s Club Stowaway golf cart batteries (around $45 each)  or  2 Trojan T-105 batteries (around $75 each).  (both are 6 volt batteries). Trojan makes the Stowaway batteries for Sam’s Club. My current setup with the one 12v starting/accessories battery drops to 12.2 volts and my low battery charge warning system starts beeping at me before the end of a day of fishing. Any tips or pitfalls to doing this?  My two 12v trolling motor batteries seem to hold up fine for a full day of trolling with power left over. Don Allen, fishing for bass and  Clunn has been doing this for years except he does all of his batteries, carrying a total of 6 golf cart batteries. He says that he can run all day long on high 24v and doesn’t have to recharge the next day. There was an article in Bassmaster about this a few years back.                                                              Jack — Jack Dalzell Jr. http://www.jdbass.com                   **Classified Page added on 5/15/01** Shimano Prostaff                                            <’)))-{ Yozuri Quality Lures Prostaff Seaguar Fluorocarbon Prostaff Culprit/Riptide Regional Prostaff Zercom Marine Electronics Prostaff Secret Weapon Pro-Staff Tight Line Jigs Pro-Staff Coyote Eyewear ***Product Review of Secret Weapon Spinnerbait on website*** Jack Dalzell Instructional Bass Fishing and Promotions “Living on the south shore of Lake Erie and loving it!”

Response:

Only downside is carrying the extra weight as in top end speed, and losing extra storage space for the extra battery. In my boat that meant the oil tank had to be moved elsewhere. Also your charging situation will change. You either have to get a charger with an extra bank, or will have to remember to switch over to charge the other battery. One charged 6v and one empty won’t get your boat started. Dan

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Any of you guys running 2…6 volt golf cart batteries as their starting and accessories battery.  I am thinking of removing my underpowered 12v marine deep cycle battery that only has around 60 AH of power and wiring the 2 6 volt batteries in series to produce 12v and about 220 AH of power. I am going to do this with either Sam’s Club Stowaway golf cart batteries (around $45 each)  or  2 Trojan T-105 batteries (around $75 each).  (both are 6 volt batteries). Trojan makes the Stowaway batteries for Sam’s Club. My current setup with the one 12v starting/accessories battery drops to 12.2 volts and my low battery charge warning system starts beeping at me before the end of a day of fishing. Any tips or pitfalls to doing this?  My two 12v trolling motor batteries seem to hold up fine for a full day of trolling with power left over. Don Allen, TX

Response:

What are you running off that cranking battery? I have a single 12v Stowaway from Wal-mart in my 19′ Champion and never have any problems. Is your alternator on your outboard charging it enough? Mike

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Any of you guys running 2…6 volt golf cart batteries as their starting and accessories battery.  I am thinking of removing my underpowered 12v marine deep cycle battery that only has around 60 AH of power and wiring the 2 6 volt batteries in series to produce 12v and about 220 AH of power. I am going to do this with either Sam’s Club Stowaway golf cart batteries (around $45 each)  or  2 Trojan T-105 batteries (around $75 each).  (both are 6 volt batteries). Trojan makes the Stowaway batteries for Sam’s Club. My current setup with the one 12v starting/accessories battery drops to 12.2 volts and my low battery charge warning system starts beeping at me before the end of a day of fishing. Any tips or pitfalls to doing this?  My two 12v trolling motor batteries seem to hold up fine for a full day of trolling with power left over. Don Allen, TX

Response:

I was running an Interstate Marine/RV battery rated at 405 CCA and 505 MCA…around 55 AH of capacity or 100 minutes of reserve.  It came with the Stratos bass boat. (1 year old now) I did let the water levels get somewhat low and may have killed some of the capacity.  My alternator does put out a good 14.7-15 volts of charging power. I went ahead and bought the two Sam’s Club Stowaway 6 volt Golf Cart batteries (GC2).  They are distributed by Exide not Trojan as I thought. They used to be distributed by GNB but Exide bought GNB last September. The batteries were slightly larger than the one I pulled.  Weight around 60 lbs each.  Cost $45 plus $2 fee plus tax…total bill here in Plano, Texas ..$105. They are rated at 210 minutes of reserve at 75 amp draw.  Should be around 630 minutes of reserve at a 25 amp draw. Everything I have read indicates that they have a 220 AH (amp-hour) capacity..this compared with the 55 AH battery I pulled. One formula you can use is to multiply the reserve minute rating by 0.6 to get the approximate AH rating of the battery. Went to Autozone and bought a 4 gauge battery cable – 24 inch length to connect one of the positive posts to one of the negative posts…wiring the batteries in series. Cost of battery cable around $5.  Also bought a marine battery box for $10. The box is not quite tall enough so the lid of the box would not go on…but I did use the lower box and the strap assembly that came with it.  Took less than 1 hour to install the setup…supervised by the 10 and 7 year old neighbor boys.  :-) My charging wires, grounds etc went to the outside posts….one negative (left battery)…one positive (right battery).  12 volt output when the 2 – 6 volt batteries are wired in series. I have successfully charged this setup with my existing Pro Charger bank. No explosions..no fires..no modification to my charger.   :-According to battery experts on the net…you must use same size 6 volt batteries and same age or else one can discharge into the other.  I am charging them just like they were one big 12 volt battery. Been on the water two full days testing it.  It is a definite improvement over my old arrangement. The batteries light off my 225 horse Johnson with no problems.   It showed close to a full charge at the end of both days of fishing. Only took a couple of hours on the charger to show a green fully charged light. I run a Lowrance LMS 160 (dash mounted)…an X65 Lowrance in the bow…nav lights as needed…courtesy lights as needed…dual livewells.. The lights and live well pumps seem to draw the most amps.  My battery will also power my engine trim up and down functions.  It weighs 450 lbs so I am sure that is a huge draw on the battery. I’ve been trying to trim the engine as much as I can when the alternator is running to save some on the battery power. One Stowaway 12V Tournament battery at $67 might have been a good option too.  But it would have less reserve capacity. Hope this helps someone else considering this option.  Only time will tell if the batteries hold up well.  Projected life span with proper maintenance is around 6 years!! I spent several days researching my options on the internet.  Here is the best link with the easiest to use information I found: http://bart.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm Don Allen, TX

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – What are you running off that cranking battery? I have a single 12v Stowaway from Wal-mart in my 19′ Champion and never have any problems. Is your alternator on your outboard charging it enough? Mike Any of you guys running 2…6 volt golf cart batteries as their starting and accessories battery.  I am thinking of removing my underpowered 12v marine deep cycle battery that only has around 60 AH of power and wiring the 2 6 volt batteries in series to produce 12v and about 220 AH of power. I am going to do this with either Sam’s Club Stowaway golf cart batteries (around $45 each)  or  2 Trojan T-105 batteries (around $75 each). (both are 6 volt batteries). Trojan makes the Stowaway batteries for Sam’s Club. My current setup with the one 12v starting/accessories battery drops to 12.2 volts and my low battery charge warning system starts beeping at me before the end of a day of fishing. Any tips or pitfalls to doing this?  My two 12v trolling motor batteries seem to hold up fine for a full day of trolling with power left over. Don Allen, TX

Response:

Great link Don, thanks. Who was it that was powering their jon boat with a golf cart motor? I’d like to look into this for my ODF… Shawn

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I was running an Interstate Marine/RV battery rated at 405 CCA and 505 MCA…around 55 AH of capacity or 100 minutes of reserve.  It came with the Stratos bass boat. (1 year old now) I did let the water levels get somewhat low and may have killed some of the capacity.  My alternator does put out a good 14.7-15 volts of charging power. I went ahead and bought the two Sam’s Club Stowaway 6 volt Golf Cart batteries (GC2).  They are distributed by Exide not Trojan as I thought. They used to be distributed by GNB but Exide bought GNB last September. The batteries were slightly larger than the one I pulled.  Weight around 60 lbs each.  Cost $45 plus $2 fee plus tax…total bill here in Plano, Texas ..$105. They are rated at 210 minutes of reserve at 75 amp draw.  Should be around 630 minutes of reserve at a 25 amp draw. Everything I have read indicates that they have a 220 AH (amp-hour) capacity..this compared with the 55 AH battery I pulled. One formula you can use is to multiply the reserve minute rating by 0.6 to get the approximate AH rating of the battery. Went to Autozone and bought a 4 gauge battery cable – 24 inch length to connect one of the positive posts to one of the negative posts…wiring the batteries in series. Cost of battery cable around $5.  Also bought a marine battery box for $10. The box is not quite tall enough so the lid of the box would not go on…but I did use the lower box and the strap assembly that came with it.  Took less than 1 hour to install the setup…supervised by the 10 and 7 year old neighbor boys.  :-) My charging wires, grounds etc went to the outside posts….one negative (left battery)…one positive (right battery).  12 volt output when the 2 – 6 volt batteries are wired in series. I have successfully charged this setup with my existing Pro Charger bank. No explosions..no fires..no modification to my charger.   :-According to battery experts on the net…you must use same size 6 volt batteries and same age or else one can discharge into the other.  I am charging them just like they were one big 12 volt battery. Been on the water two full days testing it.  It is a definite improvement over my old arrangement. The batteries light off my 225 horse Johnson with no problems.   It showed close to a full charge at the end of both days of fishing. Only took a couple of hours on the charger to show a green fully charged light. I run a Lowrance LMS 160 (dash mounted)…an X65 Lowrance in the bow…nav lights as needed…courtesy lights as needed…dual livewells.. The lights and live well pumps seem to draw the most amps.  My battery will also power my engine trim up and down functions.  It weighs 450 lbs so I am sure that is a huge draw on the battery. I’ve been trying to trim the engine as much as I can when the alternator is running to save some on the battery power. One Stowaway 12V Tournament battery at $67 might have been a good option too.  But it would have less reserve capacity. Hope this helps someone else considering this option.  Only time will tell if the batteries hold up well.  Projected life span with proper maintenance is around 6 years!! I spent several days researching my options on the internet.  Here is the best link with the easiest to use information I found: http://bart.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm Don Allen, TX What are you running off that cranking battery? I have a single 12v Stowaway from Wal-mart in my 19′ Champion and never have any problems. Is your alternator on your outboard charging it enough? Mike Any of you guys running 2…6 volt golf cart batteries as their starting and accessories battery.  I am thinking of removing my underpowered 12v marine deep cycle battery that only has around 60 AH of power and wiring the 2 6 volt batteries in series to produce 12v and about 220 AH of power. I am going to do this with either Sam’s Club Stowaway golf cart batteries (around $45 each)  or  2 Trojan T-105 batteries (around $75 each). (both are 6 volt batteries). Trojan makes the Stowaway batteries for Sam’s Club. My current setup with the one 12v starting/accessories battery drops to 12.2 volts and my low battery charge warning system starts beeping at me before the end of a day of fishing. Any tips or pitfalls to doing this?  My two 12v trolling motor batteries seem to hold up fine for a full day of trolling with power left over. Don Allen, TX

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