# Fish finder - battery size? Fusing?



## 1mecheng (Jul 28, 2009)

I will be purchasing a fish finder this Friday for my 11' Achilles. I'm likely getting the Mark 5x-Pro on sale for $119. (Too good of a deal to pass up for the price!)

Here's the problem:
The Lowrance guide says the unit only draws about 1/4 amp at 12 volts. This doesn't seem right, as the transducer itself needs 300W RMS. (This equated to 25 amps at 12V, right?! Watts = volts x amps). Is it possible that the 1/4 amp is for the display only?

What I'm really trying to do is find a battery that will go 6-8 hours, and was hoping that someone with some real-life fish finder experience could point me to the right amp-hour size battery I need.

Thanks in advance!
Dan

P.S. - How many Yak and Canoe guys use an inline fuse between the battery and fish finder? What size fuse?


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## wave warrior (Oct 2, 2005)

http://www.walmart.com/ip/19235093?...1=g&wl2=&wl3=21486607510&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem

this would be perfect for a yak, sealed, lightweight, and will run a FF way more than 6-8 hrs. as for a fuse your manual will state what size...i think its 5 amp...may find it a battery and charger like this cheaper on ebay, this was the first one to pop up


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## 1mecheng (Jul 28, 2009)

Thanks for the help, Wavewarrior!
I was initially skeptical about Lowrance's listed amperage of the fishfinder, but online discussions on other sites seem to confirm that a 7-10 amp-hour 12V battery will run a fishfinder for 15-30+ hours.
I have found a 12V 8 amp-hour battery with charger at Cabela's for $27.99 on sale.

Dan


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## wave warrior (Oct 2, 2005)

no problem! i can run my vexilar for 2 days before charging if i need to and thats icefishing, just recharge after each use and it will last for YEARS! i have a cabelas 7 amp that is 6-7 yrs old. still gets me 2 days!!!


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## idontknow316 (Mar 21, 2008)

My Lowrance manual said to put a 3 amp inline fuse on the positive side. My last fish finder did also. 

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## Doctor (Apr 5, 2004)

Almost all Lowrances call for a 3amp fuse, both my Lowrance and Simrad has a 3 amp fuse on them, and I use the blade style fuses, the glass tube ones have failed due to wave action or road shock from trailering, now my onboard charger has glass fuses but that is what came with it but I'll be changing it out this year so I don't have to carry different kinds on the boat, just different fuse sizes.........Doc


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## billorp (Aug 25, 2007)

That's a great price. Where from?


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## ski (May 13, 2004)

I m going to cabelas once things settle down to get a battery and charger for mine. I think they are on sale for $27. 


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