old fish finder power

[ifishy]

I have an old fish finder that i salvaged.  it had a cut transducer cord and i was told it didnt work.  I repaired to cord and hooked it up my boat battery and it seems to work fine.  turns on gets signal the transducer puts out sound wave and i get a reading in the fish tank.  I would like to turn this into a portable for ice fishing.  It worked hooked directly to the deep cycle batt i have on the trolling motor.  there is no way I am not dragging that on the ice.  there seems to be a lot of small 12v batterys out there for good prices but I have no idea what i need other than 12v the graph is a lowrance x25 which is a discontinued model. How many amphours does a battery need to power this graph for a 4-6 hour trip in the cold?  my electrical knowledge is at a minimum and i dont want to spend a lot as I dont know for sure the finder will even work in the real world for any leangth of time.  the lighter the better i'm on foot on the ice.  

[skipjack]

I would use the same ones used on the vexlar . and the likes. It is the one that is used on all portable fish finders. It's cheaper to get one from the game feeder section of a sporting good store. There like 30 bucks if I remember right. Just tell them you're looking for one for a vexlar.

[Sk8man]

The usual batteries are the relatively small 12 volt batteries that come in 8 amp hr and 9 amp hr. I've had the 9 amp hr. in my Vexilar flasher for 6 years (also have a backup just in case at home) but have charged it with the adapter after each use and kept it fully charged. They run about $30 as stated and I've had mine operating for more than 10 or 12 hrs at a time in the extreme cold without the "Low Battery" light coming on. I would suspect however that there could be significant differences in the way the various units and models use current but that is the data for mine. You can often find the batteries and adapters in places like Radio Shack, Runnings, Gander Mountain etc or online. I think the charger was about $24 These are my "backups" as I still use the original battery and charger that came with my flasher.

 

Here is a pic of a battery and adapter: (measurements 5 3/4 inches long, 3 3/4 inches wide, 2 1/2 inches thick)

Edited January 15, 2015 by Sk8man

[ifishy]

thanks for the advice i'll be in canadaguia this weekend i'll stop by runnings i've always wanted a protable for the ice but as always i am very budget restricted so to end up with one for 30 bucks is a hell of a deal in my mind maybe i can finally get  a lake trout through the ice

[Sean Youngblood]

If your using the transom mount transducer you will have to rig something up so it is shooting straight down so you get accurate readings.  

[Sk8man]

For something quick just a 10-12 inch section of 2x4 will do and mount the transducer to it or make a hole in the center of it so the transducer can be "adjusted" and let it "stradle" the hole. it can be anchored with snow at the ends

Edited January 17, 2015 by Sk8man

[JJBat150]

I used a couple of pieces of 3 - quarter inch PVC pipe I had laying about to make this cross bar to mount the transducer to.

Drilled a few holes in it, so it's adjustable to get the 'ducer below the bottom of the ice.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[ifishy]

i had an old plastic paint stir stick in the basement thick plastic with holes in it fit the bolt perfectly I put a piece of PVC through the handle part as a cross bar hangs about 15"down.  i'm thinking i can do somthing with this on a canoe as well still gotta test It my next chance to go is next sunday I am divided between fishing and the lotsa marketplace i've never been.  I might have to wait till the watkins show thats a few minuets closer i just dont want to wait that long

[Thun]

Nice sled JJ! I painted mine black too and it's a great color (if it is a color) to absorb all that light and keep the beer from freezing.

[Sk8man]

Good thinking JJ and great looking sled.  I have returned to my plain old sled (and my "old school" ways) and put my Clam Fishtrap Pro in the cellar because it is a pain to drag out there in the snow (especially with all my crap in it ).  I did kind of pay for it yesterday though in that 8 degree weather in the wind

[JJBat150]

As far as the battery goes, I've been running Sealed  lead acid (SLA's)  in the kayak and on ice, but recently got a couple 12V Li-ion battery packs and mounted them into a old Plano storage box and a pelican case that I had laying around.

 

The batteries themselves run anywhere from $25-$50 on ebay / amazon. You can get them from 4500 mAh (4.5 amps hours) up to 13 amp/hours

 

 

Little bit of work to get them set-up the way I did, but if you've not concerned about water proof or getting too fancy, you could just hook up directly to the battery.

 

 

Trying not to hijack the thread....

 

Here's a thread on ice shanty regarding the sled... I built it based on one my grandfather build 40 years ago that I grew-up ice fishing with. (grandpa's is in the background of my earlier picture of the ducer set-up).

 

http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=295083.0

 

Sometimes old school is the best way

Edited January 18, 2015 by JJBat150