Veixilar Battery Life???

[iceintheveins]

I have been fishing with my battery that came with my fl-8 for three years now. It has shown no signs of slowing down and still works awesome. I have a spare battery that I have never had to use. How long can I expect my battery to live before I replace it? I always charge after every use like vexilar suggests. Just wondering.


Tyler

[outdoorwally]

I have seen those type batteries that will carry juice that were from 1987!
I work in a scrap processing yard,and we get those.
They are used in different applications than with a flasher,but im sure that they carry a good life.
In fact They are good for many uses lcd finders,small trolling motors, hunting cabin power, etc...
I've heard that it's better to drain batteries all the way before recharging them, is his true?
Good fishing

[fishingking]

Certain batteries should be drained completely before being recharged or  it does something to like the memory of the battery   for example drills, remots control cars not sure what else far as i know the gel batteries can be charged at any state of charge  just dont over charge for too long  same with  the lead acid batteries they are liek a small car battery and can be charged at anytime

[Mr.Seaguar]

The batteries from Vexilar itself will last a long time. They cost more because they are better. I realize this is not always true but in this case it is. Batteries from Cabelas are cheaper and for good reason. They arent as good. I know this because I just had to replace one from 2000 that was dead. It wouldnt hold a charge overnight. My buddy is still using a Vexilar battery that was used when he got it in '97.
As far as battery memory, thats a solid battery issue. My Vexilar battery booklet says to charge it for as long as u used it. Fish 3 hours, charge 3 hours.

[LoneWolf]

All of the above is good info. If you take care of them - especially in the "off season"- the life expectancy will be greater. I have one friend who only got three years out of his because he didn't touch them until "safe ice". I've gotten as much as eight years out of mine. When I talked to Vex they said there is no hard rule on life expectancy but a good average is probably five years. Hope this helps.

[OZZY]

I just had to replace my cabelas battery and it was only 3yrs old, I bought 2 more cabelas batteries but after reading this looks like I better pick up the vexilar batteries. Thanks for the info  

[ButchT]

Just a tip.  Vexilar sells an after-market charger that is much better than the ones that come with the batteries.  It is the model V-300.  I bought one several years ago and I've been very happy with it.  I don't recall what I paid, but it was reasonable.
It has a red charging light and a green light comes on when the battery is charged.  The charger automatically shuts off when the battery is fully charged.

[bdperch]

I have had my vex for five years and get three full days out of a charge. I bought a charge indicator but only use it to check the charge occasionally. When I first bought the indicator I wired it up, but found that I had to charge more frequent.

[fishmann]

I just recenty bought a new FL-18 Pro Pack with the batery life indicator. I bought it at lunch time, so when I got back to the shop, of course I had to get it out and play a bit. I checked current draw on the LED indicator with the unit off on a good milleamp meter, it was less than 3 milleamps, or .003 amps. Although I don't think that would effect battery life much, I still unplug the battery not in use. I also found that the charger I received was different than the one the instructions said I should have gotten, I called Vexilar, he said they changed the charger to one with a light, not the one that changes colors, but a single light. He said they had a lot of people that were complaining about batteries dying prematuely, and that there wouldn't be any problem leaving it on the NON-LIGHTED charger for a few days at time. He also said I should have the lit charger, and shipped it to me N/C. Thank You, Vexilar. Good PR. BTY, I charged the battery till the charge light went to full brightness, used it about 6-7 hours this past weekend, and the on board battery life indicator still reads 100%.

p.s. I own a nine bay auto and truck service center, been working on cars for 20too many years to pay the mortage. I like to think I know a little about batteries and charging them. To properly charge these, you'd have to measure the draw of the unit when it was running, then track how many hours you'd been using it. FOR EXAMPLE ONLY... if it draws 1 amp, it should run 7 hours on a 7 amp/hour battery. However, the charger is only 500 mA, or 1/2 amp, so to get back to a full charge you'd have to run the charger twice as long as you were using the unit. These small chargers don't run up into high voltages like a car battery charger will, so you should be fine leaving it on longer. Of course, YMMV. Your Milage May Vary