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Author Topic: Battery care  (Read 1317 times)

Offline Pahardwoods

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Battery care
« on: Feb 23, 2021, 06:04 PM »
I hate to even be thinking about this but time marches on and before we know it the ice will be gone and my first season on the hardwater will be in the books.

Anyways my question is what should I be doing with my lithium battery for my LX-7 during the off season so that I can get the best life out of the battery


Thanks for the help!

Offline Rebelss

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Re: Battery care
« Reply #1 on: Feb 23, 2021, 06:09 PM »
Makes sure it's charged up, avoid temp extremes, charge it occasionally, and keep it in the house or a cupboard.
“The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation”  Thoreau

Offline Captn66

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Re: Battery care
« Reply #2 on: Feb 24, 2021, 06:45 AM »
What he said ... I put everything away fully charged.  Over the summer and again in the fall I'll check the battery for my Ion and make sure its still fully charged.  Then I'll check the batteries on my Vex & my kid's Marcum & I'll usually plug them in until the charger tells me they're charged. 

Offline JMZ

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Re: Battery care
« Reply #3 on: Feb 28, 2021, 07:42 PM »
I have a problem with my Dakota 12v, 10a Lithium battery. It is 2yr old and I keep it charged after every use. I bought a Hum. Helix 10 and a Hum Mega 360. They discharge the battery after about 4hr. When I try to recharge it using the dakota lithium charger, the light does not turn red and change to green. It stays green and the sonar does not work. The sonar works if I use the battery charger for power. I read this means the battery is bad. I have to call dakota but in the meantime I ordered a 23v, 12v battery. Do you think I ruined the battery by completely discharging it?
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Offline desmobob

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Re: Battery care
« Reply #4 on: Feb 28, 2021, 08:24 PM »
I hate to even be thinking about this but time marches on and before we know it the ice will be gone and my first season on the hardwater will be in the books.

Anyways my question is what should I be doing with my lithium battery for my LX-7 during the off season so that I can get the best life out of the battery


Thanks for the help!

I charge my battery at the end of the ice fishing season and store it in the basement where it's fairly cool.  I pull it out during the summer and put it on the charger again.  I just replaced the original battery in my Marcum this winter.  It died on its sixth year.  I think that's pretty good longevity.

Offline Jiggerdoodle

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Re: Battery care
« Reply #5 on: Mar 01, 2021, 10:40 AM »
I bought a battery from Radio Shack years ago that I use on my Zercom  and it gets a 20 minute charge and away it goes til next year.  Use for a whole season and never recharge it. I use it 30 hours a week.  I think it’s about 10+ old.  Best $24 I have spent on fishing equipment.

Offline JMZ

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Re: Battery care
« Reply #6 on: Mar 01, 2021, 08:44 PM »
Does anyone know if you ruin a battery by completely discharging it?
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Offline dipNrip

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Re: Battery care
« Reply #7 on: Mar 02, 2021, 06:31 AM »
Yes. SLA might still charge but won't hold it. Lithium ion will be ruined. Most manufacturers clearly state this.
  But it's hard to fully discharge it unless you hook it up to something other than a fish finder/flasher. Most shut down before it fully discharge.

Offline JMZ

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Re: Battery care
« Reply #8 on: Mar 02, 2021, 02:20 PM »
My battery reads 8v and is a 12v battery. I read that some devices shut off when they go under 12v. My device does not work and the battery does not charge, so is it partially charged? Anyone now what to do before I call Dakota?
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Offline dkfry

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Re: Battery care
« Reply #9 on: Mar 02, 2021, 10:19 PM »
I have a problem with my Dakota 12v, 10a Lithium battery. It is 2yr old and I keep it charged after every use. I bought a Hum. Helix 10 and a Hum Mega 360. They discharge the battery after about 4hr. When I try to recharge it using the dakota lithium charger, the light does not turn red and change to green. It stays green and the sonar does not work. The sonar works if I use the battery charger for power. I read this means the battery is bad. I have to call dakota but in the meantime I ordered a 23v, 12v battery. Do you think I ruined the battery by completely discharging it?

I have ran into this before with lithium batteries. Usually the chargers require a minimum voltage before they will start charging. If the minimum voltage is not met the charger will not put any charge in the battery.

You can sometimes get around it by putting on a manual charger to charge the battery just enough so the voltage is above the minimum required voltage for the charger to start charging. Overall the circuitry in lithium batteries and in the chargers themselves are more complex than the sealed lead acid counterparts.

If you don't have a manual 12 volt charger maybe you could hook a charged 12 volt battery to it positive to positive and negative to negative and see if the charged battery will put some charge in your low voltage battery. I never tried it with a lithium so do it at your own risk. Might want to do it outside. Lithium can be unstable and catch fire if a short occurs.

Maybe your battery is done for but if your unit shut off and didn't drain the battery down too far it may be salvageable. I don't know if Dakota has any voltage cutoff protection circuitry built into the battery to prevent the battery from being discharged under a safe voltage.

As a whole lithium batteries are not as touchy to the charge state they are stored in. Best to see what Dakota recommends for storage.

Offline jrjach75

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Re: Battery care
« Reply #10 on: Mar 03, 2021, 06:43 AM »
Check your manual if you have one. These newer lithium batteries should be stored at around 50%, you don’t want to give it a full charge before storing, and you don’t need to “top it off” every couple months.

Offline Evil Tom

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Re: Battery care
« Reply #11 on: Mar 04, 2021, 05:41 AM »
Exactly what Jach75 said.I usually dont charge batt after last couple times fishing leaves it 50-75% charged.Then charge fully next season.SLA batteries need to be left on trickle charger .75 amp all the time.

Offline JMZ

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Re: Battery care
« Reply #12 on: Mar 05, 2021, 12:30 PM »
Dakota Service is great. They told me to check the voltage before i charged it and after I charged it; both were 0. They told me to check the voltage on my lithium charger which was a Dakota product and it was 14. They are sending me a new battery. Thanks for everyones help. ;D
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