Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum

Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: aquaboy24 on June 29, 2008, 11:13:49 AM

Title: Powering my fish finder
Post by: aquaboy24 on June 29, 2008, 11:13:49 AM

Hi everyone - I have a 12 foot aluminium car topper - and I just got a little Humingbird finder/depth sounder. My question is - w/o an electrical system, what type of battery does the little hummingbird require to run? I believe its the Hummingbird 80.

any help would be appreciated - thanks
Vince

Title: Re: Powering my fish finder
Post by: chum dad on June 29, 2008, 12:01:34 PM

I ran into a similar problem when i wanted to run my fishfinder without going through the expense of getting a 12 volt deep cycle so here's what i did.
Most fishfinders run on 12 volt battery so you will need a battery pack that you can run in series using 8 1.5V AA batteries. Go to Circuit City and ask them for a battery pack that will hold 8 AA 1.5 volt batteries, it should cost less than $2.00 for the battery pack and what ever 8 AA batteries go for. You'll also need the power wires that go off the battery pack, cost about another $2.00 and come in 2 packs.

You'll want to keep that battery pack water tight so you will have to improvise and make your own container for it.
In the Walmart  camping section they sell these yellow soap containers that fit the battery pack perfectly, you'll need to drill a hole in the side of it to feed your power cable from the fishfinder to the battery pack, i siliconed mine. I store mine on my boat bench seat not on the floor, try to find a dry spot for it.

Hope this helps

Title: Re: Powering my fish finder
Post by: island boy on June 29, 2008, 04:46:33 PM

try and find a used 12v battery pack out of an electric scooter or wheel chair. they're not that big and they will last forever. when they get low just charge them up.

Title: Re: Powering my fish finder
Post by: Britguy on June 29, 2008, 08:49:02 PM

i Jus run mine on two 6v batteries but can add up if you use it a lot
Rechargable is the way to go

Title: Re: Powering my fish finder
Post by: troutbreath on June 30, 2008, 10:26:09 AM

http://www.thesource.ca/estore/category.aspx?language=en-CA&catalog=Online&category=BatteryAccessories&pagenum=1&sort=1

wire the 2 cases in series, use the AA rechargeables I have the same fish finder and can run it on 6 1.volt no problem. It was only battery case I had around. Though I was making one out of toilet paper rolls and duct tape, which may be the way you want to go if your looking to do it cheap.

Title: Re: Powering my fish finder
Post by: aquaboy24 on July 01, 2008, 07:40:59 PM

thanks so much for responding to my fish finder battery question. I got those battery packs you  mentioned - but not being much of an electricity guy - how do I go about wiring them in series?t

Title: Re: Powering my fish finder
Post by: troutbreath on July 02, 2008, 08:05:27 AM

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_battery_wiring.html

this should help

Title: Re: Powering my fish finder
Post by: Bradbeer on July 02, 2008, 10:45:45 AM

I have used two large, square, 6V spotlight batteries. They were taped together and run in series for the 12v needed to power the ff.

Good Luck,
Brad