Lowrance Volt Display

[YoMan]

We're going up north tonight and its our first outing this year, so last night i was so pumped I could barely sleep.

So I got up and started adjusting the Lowrance, turning the fish ID off and stuff because I'm trying to learn how to read the system better, and I noticed it had a volt meter reading.

Are these things pretty accurate? Seems like everything else is, mph,gps etc.., but is the reading as reliable as hooking up a volt meter to the battery?

It was reading 10.5-10.9 with trickle charging going on also.. Seems kind of low. I may just have to find a volt meter and compare tho...

Thanks

[ozzie]

mine seems to read right but then again I have never tested against the voltage meter

[marine_man]

They're usually accurate enough to rely on.. but like you said, the reading you were getting was pretty low.

marine_man

[krats]

What should it read?

Is 13-14 at idle and 16-17 full throttle ok?

[spearchucker]

What should it read?

Is 13-14 at idle and 16-17 full throttle ok?

16-17 seems a little high. I would expect 14V or so a full throttle.

[marine_man]

I agree.. at full throttle 16-17 seems pretty high.

marine_man

[krats]

I am running my electronics off of my starter battery and have forever. My outboard is a 1987 Mariner 60hp tiller and it does not have a voltage regulator on it.

Am I running a risk of damaging my electronics?

I do have in-line fuses on everything and not blowing fuses.

Sorry if I have hi-jacked this thread.

[spearchucker]

I am running my electronics off of my starter battery and have forever. My outboard is a 1987 Mariner 60hp tiller and it does not have a voltage regulator on it.

Am I running a risk of damaging my electronics?

I do have in-line fuses on everything and not blowing fuses.

Sorry if I have hi-jacked this thread.

Fuses won't protect from overvoltage just overcurrent. I would guess that most electronics would have enough protection if made well to handle 17V.

[krats]

Should I be running the electronics off of my deep cycle battery with my trolling motors, or get a third battery just for the electronics?

[solbes]

Should I be running the electronics off of my deep cycle battery with my trolling motors...?

Nope don't do that, you will get really wack readings anytime you run the TM.

I had a similar thing with my old boat, which was a '84 Evinrude 90. No voltage regulation, and it would sometimes hit high 16's for Voltage. Didn't damage any electronics for as long as I ran it (6 years).

Third battery would work, but that's a lot of extra weight for some boats.

[Jim Almquist]

Nope don't do that, you will get really wack readings anytime you run the TM.

I hear people say that I wonder what I am doing wrong/right

I have always connected everything in my boat to my deep cycle batteries and have never had or seen a problem. My thought was that I never wanted to drain my starting battery. The thought of pull starting my 60hp just never sounded like a fun idea. Locator, livewell,lights, bilge all on the same batteries.

[krats]

Thanks for the help. I have had the boat for 7 years and the owner before me 17 years and things have been fine so far.

I did not even notice the problem until I installed a marine band radio and it has a high voltage alarm that started to go off on me.

I think that the only way to fix it would be to add a 3rd battery.

[marine_man]

Why doesn't your motor have a voltage regulator on it?

marine_man

[spearchucker]

You could probably wire in a regulator before the battery if you wanted.

[krats]

I was told by my mechanic that there is not one on this model. And there is not one listed in the repair manual.

I was told that there was a kit that could be added for about $150.

But not sure if that would guarrenty a fix.

[solbes]

Being a really novice boater 7 years ago, I hooked up my bow sonar to my TM battery. Any time I would turn on the TM or cycle it on/off, the sonar would flip out and become unreadable. Everything else would probably run okay off of the TM batt.

I fish for hours at night sometimes and have yet to run my starting battery down significantly. Maybe I'm just lucky too. But to your point, I have that starting rope stowed away somewhere. Would be a good time I'm sure

As for high voltage, just intall a laser light show and turn it on anytime you go shooting across the lake. Would be much more fun than installing a regulator!

[Brad B]

the deep cycle battery must be for the trollimg motor only. if you put a sonar on it you will get electrical interference when you run the trolling motor. most newer engines will charge your starting battery whe the motor is running. I had this concern when I bought my boat. in my case I added a third battery because I had the space and it didn't add to much weight. by doing this I have peace of mind knowing my starting battery is never ran to low to where it would not start the motor.