Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries

[Crappyfisherman]

I have been testing this 12 volt 10 amp Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery

for over a year now and am vey impresses with it. At $149.00 I was a little hesitant to try it. After fiquring the like span 8 to 10 years and charging cycles 2000 it didn't seem so bad.It came out to $18.00 per year for 8 years.

It is the same size as a 7 amp locator battery and weigh's 2.2 lbs.

I have been running it in my Vexilar Ultra Pack FL22 with a Lowerance Elite 4 on the back for gps only. Also have a Lure Light on it and run

the 48" Fire Brite LED rope lights off of it. It is the only power source in my Fish Trap Pro. Everything is wired to run off the locator battery to reduce weight.

It works better than I was expecting. The charge holds all day,9 hours so far.I haven't had any problems with the cold yet -5 on Red Lake. They recommend not charging them cold as with any battery and I have never left it in the truck over night.It charges a little faster than a regular battery and holds a charge when not in use for ever.

I estimate it took a good 10 lbs. off the weight of my shack so for me it is a great battery.

[Lusid]

Holy buckets! That's pretty spendy but Lithium cells are king.

Me personally I would buy four 19.95 9amp fleet farm batteries.

[kenlaker]

If it lasts for you, that's great! I just buy the regular 8AH batteries and get a couple of years out of them or more. I bought one earlier this year for $16.99, and just got another one on sale for $10.00, so I don't see any cost savings in one of those.

[JP Z]

Honestly, the true savings in this kind of battery is the weight factor. Especially if you are a multiple battery person with your setup. Yeah, $150 on a Locator battery is too steep for me though Thanks for the info though CrappyFisherman.

[Crappyfisherman]

It's not about the cost savings.It's the weight savings. A 10 amp. 12 volt battery weighs about 9 lbs. and cost anywhere from $30.00 to $50.00 with a life of maybe 4 to 5 years if your lucky. Price wise they seem about the same if the Lithium battery last 8 years.The biggest advantage to me is weight and maintance. No charging over the summer.

I also use a Nils 6" power auger 18.14 lbs.

Fish Trap Pro TC mod. 45.00

FL22/gps combo 5.00

Heater Colmam Force 5 heater 5.00

Fishing gear 5.00

-------------------------------------------

Total Weight 78.14 lbs.

Fishing out of a one man is pretty tight so anyway you can make more space and cut weight is a plus.

Works for me.

[ozzie]

cool!! thanks for the info!

[paceman]

If it lasts for you, that's great! I just buy the regular 8AH batteries and get a couple of years out of them or more. I bought one earlier this year for $16.99, and just got another one on sale for $10.00, so I don't see any cost savings in one of those.

+1 and I bet I'll get 4-5 years out of my batteries and no I don't charge them in the summer. Charge them before storage and they are still good to go the next season.....

[Lusid]

Let's not get into a bash session based on cost of product.

His whole goal was to maintain a lightweight system. Reduced weight = higher cost. Same principle follows when you go camping / backpacking.

This is a post that just offers more options and more product awareness.

Thread on!

[Crappyfisherman]

Thank you very much.My point is light weight and mobility.

I walk out so weight is a big factor.Not haveing a sled or atv I am limited on the amount of weight.Struggling with 175 lbs.of gear is not my idea of fun. I even get a little workout for free without a trip to ER. I'm 64 and been walking out for 50 years,even catch a fish once in a while.

[DTro]

A couple of points

I think you can find them for a little less than 150 now, but no less than 100 anywhere I can find.

I mentioned this in a thread a year or two ago about how this could possibly be the last flasher battery you buy.

The charge cycles are rated at 2000.

you fish 3 times a week for 16 weeks and charge every single outing. That is about 50 charge cycles per year and its a safe bet that the average person wouldn’t use that many cycles. But using that number, this battery could potentially last 40 YEARS.

Now you are at about 3 bucks a year. However very few of us would be able to keep anything for 40 years. I bet 10-15 years is more realistic.

Based on charges/year of an average fisherman you could easily call this a lifetime flasher battery.

[fishwater]

I've been using LiFePo 10ah 12v batteries this season from Clean Republic - the model is the bamboo lithium 1210. I've done drain tests at 1 and 2amps and have found the rating to be accurate.

I picked a couple up of dabay for under $70; one sold today for $68.

[Crappyfisherman]

I've had my wife for 40 years,does that count. I got this battery about 14 months ago so I'm sure the cost will come down just like eveything else. Hope I didn't start one of those mine is better than yours threads.

[Steve Foss]

I'm sure I'll end up with a couple down the line. But I've got six now already of the standard 7 and 9 amp batteries, for two on-ice sonar units, and every one of them holds their charge well.

So I reckon it'll be awhile. Hopefully they'll be down below $50 by then.

[Hawg]

How much does a regular battery weigh? Is that worth it?

[Crappyfisherman]

A regular 12 volt (10 amp)SLA battery weighs 8 lbs. Is it worth it, that depends on what you are trying to accomplish. My goal was to see if they would work. Yes they do. This dropped 6 pounds off my fish shack, it also eliminated a second battery to run the lights, another 7 pounds for spare 9 amp battery.Total 13 lbs. saved. Now add in my Nils auger 18.14 lbs at 6 pounds less than any other gas auger,19 pounds of weight cut. another 15 pounds off my shackfor atotal of 34 pounds saved. For me it was worth it. guess I could have spent $8000.00 on a atv and not have to worry about what it weighs.I bet someone said the same to Dave Genz when he walked out on the ice with his first Fish Trap (What do you need that for a bucket will work just as good and it's free)

[fishwater]

The weight savings is great, but my favorite aspect is the fast charge time. I can fully charge the battery in under 2 hours and get a full days use off an hour of charge. It's kinda nice to only need to run the generator for a few hours at night and fully top off all your batteries.

[hydro]

Now all you need to do is chuck that Nils and get one of these. I've been using it all winter, get 15+ holes on 24+" of ice and it is very light!

[Crappyfisherman]

I have tried the drill and for my style of fishing 100 plus holes a gas auger works much better. I tried the Kluge electric 2 weeks ago and that got about 20 holes per battery. They cost almost as much as a good gas auger. I love my Nils, best auger I ever used.

I think the Lithium batteries will come down in price and get better.

Some day they will have 20 pound trolling motor batteries for our boats.

[sckoolman]

What was the brand for the lithium battery? I bought an 18AH one from Shorai awhile back and have been very happy so far. It just barely fit into my FL-20 Ultra Pack. Since I bought it I have been doing some reading about using a "starter" battery (which mine is) for slow discharge applications. Apparently I will eventually lose significant battery life because the slow discharge will degrade the battery, since it was designed for fast discharge. I'm sold on the light weight, so I'm hoping the battery you bought is more of a "deep cycle" design.

[Lusid]

For most who don't know about batteries. Lithium + cold weather applications is where it will also shine.

When you take a standard battery that you can buy at fleetfarm for 20bucks in room temperature they are rated 9amps, but when you bring it out into 20-30degree weather the performance will drop significantly. With a lithium battery you will notice next to none in amperage/voltage loss.

Besides weight, that is another thing to consider.

[Crappyfisherman]

K2 is the brand, I found it on A-----.com

I was under the impression that cold weather was hard on Lithium batteries. Isn't the Ion auger having trouble with them? That was the big sticking point for me when I ordered it,not knowing how it

would hold up below freezing temps. So far it is working great.The web site gives a rating to +5 degrees. I think this is a deep cycle, it's rated at 10 amp hours.

[Iceboy]

What was the brand for the lithium battery? I bought an 18AH one from Shorai awhile back and have been very happy so far. It just barely fit into my FL-20 Ultra Pack. Since I bought it I have been doing some reading about using a "starter" battery (which mine is) for slow discharge applications. Apparently I will eventually lose significant battery life because the slow discharge will degrade the battery, since it was designed for fast discharge. I'm sold on the light weight, so I'm hoping the battery you bought is more of a "deep cycle" design.

Bummer - I have the same Shorai battery and have been happy with it so far. The weight is truly unbelievable - 2 lbs for an 18Ah battery vs over 6 for a regular gel really makes a difference. What have you read about the slow discharge harm? I plan on using it in my motorcycle in the summer and locator in the winter...