Charging LX-3

[kjgmh]

It seems this winter that I have been forgeting to charge my LX-3 when done fishing. What I am wondering is if I made an adapter to plug into my cig lighter in my truck and then plug into the digital gague on my LX-3 will it charge the battery properly. I assume that the 110 plug in puts 13-14 volts to the digital gague and that regulates what goes to the battery, or does that 110 plug in actually regulate?

[Paul Waldowski]

The transformer that plugs into the outlet also is the regulator. What I have done is bought an inverter (small one, will also run a computer, you can get them from 25-30 bucks) and then plug that into a 12 volt outlet. This allows you to plug your charger into it jut like you would any 110 outlet. It is also alot more versatile

[Giant_Jackpot]

Go with Paul's suggestion. You never know what you might mess up by connecting directly to the lighter.......

[Woody Erickson]

You can use the cigarette lighter to charge your battery for your Marcum. They are lead acid batteries, same as in your vehicle (just sealed). The voltage output from the transformer should be about the same voltage as what an alternator is putting out (approx 14 Volts).

I have a Lowrance X67C Icemachine (it is a pain in the @ss to get the charger hooked up). I have spliced (solder/heat shrink) in one of those two connector terminals (from NAPA) to the power cables between the battery and the Flasher Head. I ran this connector to the front of the unit for easy access. I then took the mating connector and soldered it (with heat shrink) to the end of the cord of the transformer. I have also used a cigarette lighter adapter (with cord) and attached another connector to the end of it. I have charged the battery twice with it driving down the road.

Since I bought two sets of these connectors (4 total), I setup the last connector with the original terminals that came with the charger (to charge any batteries not in the Flasher case). Be sure to mark all wire polarities before cutting and splicing.

The connector is just like the standard 4 terminal (inline) trailer connector, just 2 of them. They are polarized, so you can not hook them up backwards.

Hope this helps.

[kjgmh]

I looked at the transformer for the LX-3 last nite and it said 1 amp on it, my concern doing it off the cig lighter would be that it would be putting out too many amps and harm the battery. Or is this not the way it works, wish I had payed more attention in my high school classes. On the portable battery packs you can plug them into the cig lighter to charge them, do they have anything to regulate the charge? I would think that would be about the same battery.

[Surface Tension]

I would think you'd be charging the battery at to fast a rate. I for sure wouldn't try charging like that with the Digital Charging System hooked up. Like Paul said why not just get a power inverter. They're fairly cheap and come in handy for other outdoor uses.

[efgh]

S.T. has the question nailed down, there is no chance of over charging, or charging too fast with a inverter, those plug in chargers without a full charge or charging indicator and trickle down feature are junk, throw away these and get a better one, your battery will last a lot longer.