Bored!!! What is happening out there?

[Waterfoul]

turning them on and off requires bending down to press the button. mine stay on until i hit the master power switch at the end of the day. granted, i don't turn the front on until i get to the first spot.

Are you running a seperate battery for electronics?

I don't have a seperate electronics battery but I do run a Deka M6 group 27 high reserve starting battery.  It has 1050 cranking amps and a 182 minute reserve, which is better than some deep cycles.  It starts my Merc, runs the livewells, and both fish finders.  It's been in the boat since spring of 2012 with no issues so far.  I do turn the brightness down one or 2 notches on the 997 at the dash though.  Still very visable and draws about 1/4 less power than full brightness.

[Redbone]

Didn't you get a dead battery last season?

[Waterfoul]

Didn't you get a dead battery last season?

Yes, but that was a charging issue with the motor, not the fault of the battery.

[Mike S.]

I have the same battery for my starting/electronics. We were on Manistee for almost 12 hours running electronics and livewells. It was close, but it still fired the big motor up.

[Lightningboy]

Just curious, but how are you determining that turning down the brightness is reducing power use by the unit?  Ammeter hooked to it?

[Waterfoul]

I could actually see the voltage go up a touch on my volt meter when I tested it in the garage... not a ton, but anything helps on a long day.

[Lightningboy]

Interesting.  I may have to measure the power use by my units with and without backlighting.

Although the worst offenders are pumps.  Gotta keep the livewells pumping, but boy they suck power if you're not driving much.

[TheFishinPollock]

Here ya go waterfoul    22 inches,  12 inches around

[Mike S.]

At least it's not brown!!  I just had to get a poke in at you while I could. There's not a whole lot of conversation going on lately.  . I expect it to come back around.

[Waterfoul]

That's a cute little walleye!   

[Firefighter Jeff]

  Looks yummy to me !!!

[TheFishinPollock]

It was fried, um in some real butter !!!!!  Ate the whole thing all by myself like a big boy! 

[Big dreams]

Interesting.  I may have to measure the power use by my units with and without backlighting.

Although the worst offenders are pumps.  Gotta keep the livewells pumping, but boy they suck power if you're not driving much.

I do the same as many people on here and leave the electronics on after the first stop.  Normally I leave them on until the trip back to the launch.  I have an HDS 5 up front and an 8 on the console.  I have fished two full days without any issues on my batteries. 

[Waterfoul]

Bringing this back to the top because I haven't seen a customer in about an hour.... so what's going on out there???

Anyone shopping for a new boat?
Who's planning a trip out of state this spring?

[Mike S.]

I'm always shopping for a new boat. My wallet always stops me though.

[Got Fish??]

 Wow. you guy's are bored. You should go  down to the Monroe Fishing Show. It is the 2ND weekend in Feb. There will be Lot's of different types of tackle there. With several local tackle company's. I will be at the Mad Viking Tackle booth on Saturday.

[Dan]

I just bought a Stealth Charging system for my boat last spring. It charges the batteries whenever you are up and running and it has an optional switch that I got that if your starting battery goes to low to start the boat for whatever reason you just flip a switch and it uses the power from your trolling motor batteries to start the boat. Really nice back up feature. You cannot beat a Stealth Charging system. KVD runs them and they are top of the line with top of the line support.

[Lightningboy]

I drool over the stealth charge system, but just never seem to have the cash to drop; always something else to buy.  Bonus on the stealth charge system is that you're charging the batteries ASAP.  Charging right after discharge lengthens your battery life.

Anybody used the Oxygenator system in their livewells?  Supposed to use much less power than regular pumps.  Just a lot of cash to take a chance.

[Big dreams]

What is the big deal with the Oxygenator?  I hear people talking about it and the advertisement.  From what I understand it puts out a myst spray that adds more oxygen compared to the standard jet spray?  Is that right?

[Waterfoul]

What is the big deal with the Oxygenator?  I hear people talking about it and the advertisement.  From what I understand it puts out a myst spray that adds more oxygen compared to the standard jet spray?  Is that right?

Nope, it's acutally under the waters surface and takes the water and ADDS oxygen to it via very, very small bubbles so the O2 can be absorbed by the water mollecules easier.  And yes, they do work well.