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can't answer all your questions but i can tell you i just bought one today. it was a 12V 2.3Ah one I got from Batteries Plus (don't know if you have these or not) I believe the most common usage for this particular battery is a backup for emergency lights. it cost about $20. i should note that it's only for my FF...nothing else...i expect to get a few days use out of one charge but can get back to you after practical application.
and lastly...the homeboy @ the store told me you ARE NOT supposed to let these things run down, that you are supposed to keep a charge in them.
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buckdawg is right, never run them all the way down, but you can get a couple of days out of one for sonar easy.
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[cool][#0000ff]SLA batteries are what have made using sonar on tubes and toons practical and efficient. Over the years, I tried everything from rigging two 6 volt lattern batteries in tandem to using the liquid acid batteries sold for motorcycles. The former were heavy and expensive, and did not last long. The latter were potentially dangerous and seldom lasted more than a year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As already mentioned, SLA batteries are not intended to be used as "deep cycle" batteries. They should not be drained beyond the point that they will operate your sonar. Of course, the type of sonar you have and the wattage will determine how much of an amp draw it puts on the battery and how long it will last.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The most commonly recommended battery for running sonar...for ice fishing or tubing/tooning...is a 12V, 7 amp/hour battery. For the sonar units we use most for tubing/tooning, with 1000 - 1500 watts, that battery will provide a couple of long days on the water between charges. However, it is best to recharge after every use...and/or to top off the battery before taking it on the water. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]SLA batteries do not operate like the rechargeable Nicad or NiMh batteries. They can tolerate wide ranges of charge and discharge and do not have "memory". You can top them off at any point in their cycle without affecting life or performance.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are two items you should have to check your battery and keep it properly charged. One is a volt meter and the other is a little "trickle charger". A volt meter lets you see exactly how many volts your battery is charged to. For a 12 volt SLA battery, a full charge will show something between 12.75 volts to over 13 volts. If it shows less, before you go fishing, put it on the trickle charger for awhile.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The trickle charger is a step down transformer that feeds 12 V. current into your SLA battery at the rate of anwhere from .500 amp/hour to as high as 3 amp/hour. Lower is usually better, with less potential for overheating your battery. These little chargers are usually sold wherever you can buy the batteries and should cost no more than about $10.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you fish in cold weather, it is a good idea to wrap the battery in some kind of protective material while you are using it. Cold knocks the heck out of a battery's life and performance.[/#0000ff]
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Great practice to charge after each use.
During the summer I am on several occassion in remote places with no electricity and I will use my sonar for a couple of days, but I do have several of them for this reason.
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[cool][#0000ff]I keep several SLA batteries charged and maintained on some shelves in my "staging area". I keep a voltage tester and a couple of chargers at the ready. My batteries range from 4 amp/hr to 8 amp/hour. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I select the battery "du jour" depending on where I am going and how long I plan to fish. For short trips, I will take the smaller batteries, without concern for completely draining them. For longer trips, with a higher wattage sonar, I take the bigger batteries...or for two day trips where electricity is not available for recharging.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Since I have several batteries, I almost always bring a spare in the bottom of my bucket. It's a bummer to hit the water and find out that your aging battery puked on ya. Better to be able to replace it on the water than to do without all day.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It might sound like I am a real spendthrift on batteries. Not so. I hit NPS freight clearance store here in Salt Lake regularly. They have SLA batteries in two places. In the bargain cave the batteries are only $2 or so. Out in the main area, the newer ones are just 70 cents a pound...about $6 for a 7 amp/hr battery.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As long as you have them put on a voltage tester, to determine if they are good, you can get perfectly suitable tubing and tooning batteries for very little money. I have only seen a couple that were not testing over 12.5 volts. And, the peace of mind of having extra batteries for even the longest "primitive camping" trips is well worth spending a few bucks extra.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Your 2 amp should work fine. I know of others who have used that satisfactorily.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I would suggest that you get a voltage tester, and that you use it to test the battery before you put it on the charger and at intervals, to learn how quickly your charger will bring your battery back up to full charge after use. That will insure that you charge it properly without leaving it on longer than necessary. Not so much of a potential problem with a low amp trickle charger but it might not be good for the battery with the higher amp charger. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Some SLA batteries have lights or audible signals when they are fully charged. Most do not. Same with chargers. There are some that either have a signal or automatically shut off. If you don't have something like that you need to watch a charging battery more carefully. I have been told that there is no harm in leaving a battery on the charger...AT LOW AMPS. Not sure what the difference would be for the 2 amp.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Since different model sonars draw batteries down at differrent rates, we each need to find out just how our system works. Once we know that six hours on the water equates to "X" amount of time on the charger afterward it becomes easier to maintain our batteries better.[/#0000ff]
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I usually carry 2 of the 7ah SLA batteries on a trip or on longer trips. I can always have one charging and standing by just in case. I do keep a small, motorcycle solar charger with me. It uses a 1amp output for the charge.
I have actually left it connected while in use since my sonar only uses 250ma and during certain conditions, I am using a DVD player on the lake which uses 500ma. The total uses less than the 1amp charging output and is just fine to keep a charge all day long.[cool]
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