How much on a 12v?

[Creek Kid]

The way everyone on this site has their portys pimped out I'm wondering how much electricity do U bring with. I rigged a 12 volt plug in for my flasher and then a 12v receptacle coming off my battery + an additional hook-up for my lights from that. I like to stay as efficient & light as I can so I don't need to bring 2-3 batteries. I see some guys with radios, flashers, GPS, lights all in one shack. I would at least want a back up battery with. How many batteries are you bringing with you?

[Esox_Magnum]

I carry 1 spare for lights or incase one goes down in a flasher or camera. GPS and radio have their own.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

I'm still beta testing my setup this winter, but so far, i'm running 2 computer fans (4"), some led light strips, camera, and a small mp3/amp and speaker combo. I run it all off of a 16 AH battery and i have a small solar panel that i set out during the day to maintain the battery if i think i will need plenty of juice into the night. If it's too windy to fish this weekend i will probably rig up another circuit and wiring harness for my showdown ice troller.

[walleyemaniac]

For my portys I bought batteries at Napa that are 12v-18AH/24hr and I run every thing I have with me off of them. Lights, flasher, i-pod & speakers, camera, recharge cell phone... They aren't quite twice the size (dementions) as the ones you get with flashers, cameras... but they last forever. Everything I have along running at once isn't near 18 amps of draw, so it will last roughly 48 hours straight, if not more, with everything on. (which is never the case) I have one in each of my portables. They are actually listed as standby batteries for trailer brakes.

You can test amp draw with a multimeter to see how much juice your using with each indiviual item, add them up, and see what your total amp draw is. Buy your battery accordingly. The guy at Napa went through the book with me until we found the dementions that would work for where I wanted to keep my battery in the sled, and the right AH/Hr that would suit me for long trips without recharging.

The small batteries you buy at the sporting goods stores are rated 12V/7AH or 12V/9AH. I think (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) those batteries will run for one hour with a 7 or 9 amp draw. That's why differant items will last longer then others on those batteries because of the amp draw of that curtain item. You can check your amp draw and divide it into your AH rating on your battery and that should give you a rough guess as to how long the battery should last. Hope this helps, probably a little more then what you asked, but I don't have to worry about extra batteries.

[harvey lee]

One battery for the lights hooked up to a toggle switch for 2 seperate strings.

One extra for the flasher or the lights if needed.

[TJFISHER]

Walleye...Any way you could post a picture or drawing of how you hook these things up to the bigger battery? I would like to do this also but a diagram or photo would help greatly. Thanks

[aanderud]

Any 12 volt gel cell battery will do. If you're just going out for a few hours in the evening, you can get by with a 9 or 11 amp hour battery ($20 for the 9 amp hour at fleet farm last week 11 usually can be had for under $30). You can get sealed gel cells ranging anywhere from 7 amp hours to 225 amp hours, with higher amp-hour batteries being both more expensive and heavier.

The 18 amp hour batteries aren't magic like the previous poster implied -- they don't supply 18 amps for a full 24 hours. If they did, they would need a capacity of at least 432 amp hours. For reference, a sealed gel cell with 225 amp-hours usually costs more than $500. Your standard trolling batteries will have no more than 150 amp hours (for a high end unit), with most being around 90 to 120.

You said you didn't want multiple batteries, but I think having a pair is actually a benefit. Not only do you not have all the eggs in one basket (read: spare), but one thing to consider when buying a bigger (18-30 amp hour) battery is recharge time. If you actually draw that puppy down to a minimal charge, now you have to charge it up. If you just got home Saturday night and you want to go out again Sunday morning, you won't have enough time to charge the bigger battery unless you use a fairly high charging rate (2 or 4 amps). If you instead went with a pair of 11 amp-hour batteries, when you get home you hook each one to its own 1 amp charger you're good to go by morning. The lower rate is better on the batteries for longevity (according to most sources, including the battery manufacturers).

[AndRo]

I have two 12v batteries. One is dedicated to the Vex, the other powers: 4 of the 96 LED Firebright lights sold here, 2 cigarette accessory plugs (which power my cell phone, and radio) and I have yet to run out on juice on either one. I plug them in after each trip.

[Toba]

I use a booster box that has a few 12v hook ups and a light. It has worked really well for me. I am on my second box. My first box lasted about 7 years. I run 2 strings of led lights, fan, and radio. Have had to use the jumper cables a few times as well.

[walleyemaniac]

I guess I've been proven wrong. Thats how it was explained to me how to figure it out, so I hope i didn't steer you in the wrong direction that way anyhow.

I do know that those batteries will last me a three day trip up north to my buddy's place without having to charge it till I get back home. And that's pretty much day and night use by someone that's along on the trip. I can try and get pics or a diagram of my setup posted if your still interested. Probably won't be till this weekend though I'll be gone the rest of the week. I'll check when I get home and see what's up. Or you can e-mail me [email protected] and I'll shoot it back to you.