View Single Post
Old 08-16-2018, 12:56 AM   #39
Apex Predator
pushpt.com
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Granite Hills
Posts: 62
How much Battery Power will a trip like this require?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mootaineer View Post
Do you know if there is electricity at campsites to recharge fish finders? Thanks in advance.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When I do a trip like this, I don't like to have to skimp on fishing gear, I bring 4 rods, a Gaff, Fish Finder, tackle and of course a bait tank. I am sure you could just use bait when you roll up on it, but you never know how consistent that will be especially in October. I didn't bring a bait tank on my last crossing to Catalina because I didn't have a good solution at the time to have enough juice for 3 days of GPS, Phone, radio, FF and Bait tank. Parsons Landing(where I camped) is primitive camping with no power sources. This time however I have a solution.

In a 10 hour day of Kayak Fishing, the average person would use no more than 6Ah(Amp Hours) of energy to power a 12vFish finder/GPS and 6v Hobie Live Well. Despite using less Voltage your bait tank consumes more than Twice the power of your GPS/FF. Also our first two days, our campsites won't have power. It will not be until the end of day 3 when we arrive in Avalon that we will have access to electricity to recharge our batteries. in Addition to the 18Ah of power we would need for FF,GPS and Bait Tank; we also need to have and Additional 4Ah of Power to Charge Your Phone and Radios. This means you will need a minimum of 22Ah of electricity if you want your to be able to use that bait tank you are planning on bringing.

22Ah in a Lead batteries would be way too heavy, who wants to lug an anchor like that across the pacific?!, not me. The lightest batteries are Lithium Polymer, but if you have ever seen a "hover board" or a "Samsung galaxy 7" burst into flames, you realize really quickly why that might not be such a good idea for open water kayaking. That leaves Lithium Ion, Still light enough, but without the risk of a burning/sinking kayak in the middle of the ocean. Lithium Ion batteries are expensive, and if you ask me, too expensive if their only purpose is for your kayak.

I have a lot of 18v Ryobi Power tools that I use all the time on all sorts of things, they have 4Ah and now 6Ah Batteries that are much more dependable then anything else I've used, plus you can buy/return them at any Home depot. After a bit of tinkering, I made a waterproof box for them that runs them in Parallel and steps down the Voltage to 12V for my GPS/FF/Lights and 6v for my bait tank. My Ryobi Charger charges 6 of them a once in about 30 minutes.

Normally for a long day of fishing I bring one 6Ah battery to Power everything from the same source, but when you go in the deep water, and "lose sight of shore", you want to have a separate power supply for your GPS/FF so just in case your Bait Tank sucks up sea weed and zaps all of its power supply, you will still have your primary Navigation equipment working.

So this is what I will be using:

GPS/FF - a small water proof box(Walmart) and a 6Ah Ryobi Battery
(3 days of Power)

Bait Tank - A larger water proof box(Harbor Freight) with 2 x 6Ah Ryobi
Batteries run in Parallel (3 days of Power)

Radio/Phone Charger - a small Waterproof Box(Walmart) with a 4Ah Ryobi
battery(3 days of power)

Spare- I will bring along 1-2 additional 4Ah Ryobi Batteries in a small
waterproof box(Walmart) in case of an emergency.

Total 5-6 batteries with 26-30Ah of power that can be recharged in 30 min while we are chilling in Avalon.

I can show you my box and how to make one if you are planning on making the Trip.

Hope this helps.
Mike
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IMG_20180815_114346557_HDR.jpg (46.5 KB, 92 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_20180815_114352136.jpg (55.7 KB, 93 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_20180815_114404144.jpg (46.6 KB, 94 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_20180815_114419881.jpg (37.8 KB, 93 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_20180815_114431343_TOP.jpg (40.7 KB, 93 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_20180815_120014630.jpg (39.4 KB, 95 views)
File Type: jpg IMG_20180815_120017254_TOP.jpg (33.1 KB, 96 views)
Apex Predator is offline   Reply With Quote