How to charge the echo sounder battery using a car charger?

December 17, 2020
Equipment
Irina Mylnikova

Fishing has been known to people since ancient times. And in this regard, quite often fishermen were interested in the same question: how can you quickly detect fish? Currently, this problem is solved by an electronic echo sounder.

Features of the echo sounder

At first, the echo sounder was designed exclusively for river and sea vessels. Thanks to this device, you can easily and simply track depths, as well as determine the exact location of any underwater obstacles. Thanks to echo sounders, it was possible to avoid underwater reefs and shallow water areas.

Gradually, this device was improved, and the development of these devices led to the creation of special fishing echo sounders, thanks to which it is possible to determine the depth, bottom topography, and also what fish are in the area under study.

In addition, thanks to this device, it is currently possible to additionally measure water temperature, atmospheric pressure and many other parameters that quite often affect the behavior of fish.

Fishing echo sounders are usually purchased for winter fishing, as well as by owners of sea and small river vessels. Their popularity arose due to the fact that it became possible to equip them with a GPS navigator.

Thus, we can conclude that a modern and improved echo sounder allows a person to simplify the process of routine work. As a result, fishing is a great pleasure.

12 volt battery

In order to understand how to charge the battery for an echo sounder, it is recommended to read this article to the end.

Modern echo sounders for fishermen can operate on 12 volt DC power. There are currently a very large number of such products on the Russian market, and they are manufactured by various manufacturers.

Most often, the echo sounder operates in cyclic mode. This mode uses the battery until it is completely discharged. Therefore, it is very important for the echo sounder to work fully and to use batteries that can withstand deep discharge well. These batteries include maintenance-free ones, which are manufactured using AGM technology.

A special advantage of such batteries for 12-volt echo sounders is that they are made in a special sealed case, thanks to which they can be used in absolutely any position, and without fear of electrolyte leaking.

Battery for echo sounder 12 volt

Modern fishing echo sounders operate on a 12 V DC network. There are a huge number of such products produced by various manufacturers on the domestic battery market.

Typically, the echo sounder operates in a cyclic mode, which involves using the battery until it is completely discharged. Therefore, to operate echo sounders, batteries are used that can withstand deep discharge well. These include maintenance-free batteries manufactured using AGM technology.

Due to the fact that these batteries are made in a sealed case, they can be used in any position without fear of electrolyte leakage.

Rules for choosing a battery

In order for the echo sounder to operate continuously and uninterruptedly, it is necessary to use batteries whose operating voltage is 12 volts, and their capacity varies from 1 to 15 Ah.

It is also worth noting that the main parameters that greatly influence the choice of a maintenance-free battery are dimensions. Each echo sounder design has a seat for a battery. Therefore, the selected battery for the echo sounder should fit in this location without any problems.

Before choosing a battery, you must remember that its weight should be directly proportional to the capacity itself. That is, it turns out that the larger the battery capacity, the heavier it is.

In addition, it is recommended to pay attention to its performance in the temperature range from –10 to +40 degrees, as well as such parameters as:

Tightness.
Light weight.
And also the ability to work in any position.

As for the power source, series-connected batteries with a voltage of 1.5 V * 8 = 12 V are also suitable for the echo sounder.

However, it is worth noting that this option is not entirely economical. Therefore, when fishing, it is necessary to have a whole set of spare batteries. In addition, you will need to independently make a special waterproof container to accommodate them.

How to choose a battery?

When choosing a battery, you must consider the following features:

size;
the presence of additional functions and the power consumption capacity of the device;
the ability to operate the battery in any position;
the device’s light weight and dimensions allow the battery to be moved during transportation;
the type of device that will be used for charging;
the battery must be protected from moisture and placed in a waterproof case;
the ability to recharge at different times of the year.

Note! The duration of recharging is also of great importance. If you frequently use the sensor for fishing, you should give preference to batteries with a power of at least 12 volts, this will ensure uninterrupted operation of the gadget for a long time.

Connection process

To charge the fish finder battery, you will need a special electrical cable. As a rule, it is included in the package. Its length can vary from 1 to 5 meters. In addition, it is equipped with a special connector, which is designed to connect the power source to the echo sounder.

On the side opposite to the connector are the ends of the wires; they are bare. These wires are specifically designed to connect the fish finder to the battery. In order to ensure reliable contact between the echo sounder and the power source, it is very important to pre-equip the ends of the cable that are exposed with suitable terminals.

After this, you need to connect the cable connector to the echo sounder. Next, you need to connect the wires to the battery terminals. Moreover, it is recommended to do this in the following way: black wire to black, and red wire to red. Then you need to turn on the echo sounder and then configure it and operate it.

The process of connecting the battery to the echo sounder

In order to connect the device to the battery, you must use a special cable that comes with the charger. This cable has a special connector that is used to connect to the battery.

The second part of the wires does not have any devices and are bare. This is necessary to connect to the battery.

The exposed wires are connected to the terminals, and the fishing gadget begins to charge. After connecting, it is recommended to turn on the device and check for charging.

Review of models with prices

Most importantly, before purchasing a battery for an echo sounder, it is recommended to pay attention to its reliability and quality. If, for example, you save money, you can buy a battery from an unknown manufacturer, in which case there is a risk that at the most crucial moment the battery may fail a potential consumer.

Therefore, it is very important not to purchase or even pay attention to products of questionable quality.

Recommended Models

The Russian market offers batteries from various countries, but due to the rise in exchange rates, Chinese manufacturers have become leaders. Their products are the best in terms of price-quality ratio.

Delta DTM 1207

Technology – AGM.
Capacity – 7.2 A/h.
Weight – 2.4 kg.
Size – 151*65*94 mm.

BB Battery HR 9-12

Technology – AGM.
Capacity – 9 Ah.
Weight – 2.75 kg.
Size - 151*65*94 mm.

VariCore – 12V6.8A

Technology – Li-Ion
Capacity – 6.8 A/h.
Weight – 0.4 kg.
Size – 67*110*19 mm.

Charger

It is recommended that you read the following information before charging your fish finder battery.

Batteries that are made using a special technology called AGM require a special charger and operate exclusively in automatic mode.

You can also use a regular car charger to charge the echo sounder batteries. However, if you use it, it can quickly fail.

To charge the echo sounder, it is best to use a charging current that is 10% of the battery capacity.

It is worth noting that the charger, which is used in conjunction with AGM batteries, is not only capable of supporting a given charging algorithm, but also independently completes this process as soon as the required capacity is reached.

The battery charger protects against:

Overload.
Short circuit.
Polarity reversals.

There are a huge number of different chargers of this type. But quite often, fishermen prefer to purchase Russian devices, for example, such as: “Sonar UZ”, “Sonar UZ DS”. The cost of such devices is about 750 rubles.

How to charge a fish finder battery

Charging of gel batteries is limited to a current of no more than 0.2 C10, otherwise there is a danger of “swelling” of the gel with excess gases due to lower recombination efficiency and limited thermal conductivity. Therefore, gel batteries must be powered from chargers with high voltage quality (stability, minimum ripple) to avoid overcharging and overheating. Therefore, gel batteries for echo sounders cannot be charged using a car charger. Special chargers are sold for such batteries.

Connecting the battery for the echo sounder to an uninterruptible power supply

Personally, I use an uninterruptible power supply for my computer (to be absolutely precise, an MGE Nova 600 AVR) to charge the fish finder battery. To do this, I brought the contacts to the side wall of the UPS. I connect the battery to the UPS externally using pieces of cable and terminals purchased at a radio store. To train the battery, I discharge it once a month. To do this, I turn off the external power and work on the computer until the battery runs out (this takes about 15 minutes). Then I turn the power back on. The battery charges in about two days (for reliability, I charge it for at least three days - this is before fishing). In summer, when the echo sounder and battery are used frequently, the latter is connected to the charger from the outside. In winter, when I do not use the echo sounder, I insert the battery into the uninterruptible power supply, but do not forget to completely discharge it once a month.

Connecting the battery using terminals. It is advisable to install the same terminals on the power cable of the echo sounder.

The actual service life of such a battery is about five years. After this, there is no point in trying to revive him. It is easier to break the battery case, remove the lead from it and cast fishing weights. Learn more about how to make your own fishing sinkers.

Using a car charger

Quite often, many users wonder how to charge the echo sounder battery with a car charger and is it possible to do this? To do this you need to know the following.

You can actually charge the echo sounder with absolutely any charger. The voltage for lead batteries must be at least 12.6 V. And the charger current should not be more than 1/10 of the battery capacity, best of all, it should be 0.7 A. For these purposes, you can also use it to charge the battery echo sounder car charger.

The battery itself with such a charger will charge in approximately 12–16 hours. For batteries, this method is the safest.

It is worth noting that fast charging devices are now quite common, but they must be suitable for a battery with a capacity of 7 A/h. As for other chargers, it is best not to use them, as they can damage the battery.

Therefore, if anyone is still interested in the question of how to charge a 12V and 7Ah battery for an echo sounder, this information will give a detailed answer to this question.

Why do you need a battery for an echo sounder?

Like most devices that use electronic components, the echo sounder requires the use of an electrical power source during operation. During operation, electrical energy is consumed, which must be taken from somewhere. And if owners of motor boats do not have problems with this, then for those who do not have them, it is necessary to provide the device with energy. And for this, the ideal solution would be to use a rechargeable battery.

DC sources provide constant operation of the echo sounder. At the same time, they differ significantly from traditional car batteries, so they require a special charger for echo sounder batteries,

which would provide a constant charge and compensation for the self-discharge current. Otherwise, the battery power supply may lose performance.

Therefore, if you are a fishing fanatic, you will definitely need both a bottom scanning device and a charger for the fish finder battery.

The process of using a battery in winter

Currently, there are models of echo sounders that can view the water column even through ice. Such echo sounders are very convenient to use during underwater fishing. However, their use places certain demands on batteries. The most important thing that users need to remember is that such batteries should always be stored in a charged state. Also, when choosing a battery, you need to know and remember that at ambient temperatures down to minus 20 degrees Celsius, they lose approximately 30% of their capacity.

And most importantly, before charging the battery for the echo sounder, it is recommended that you first familiarize yourself with the technical characteristics of the battery itself and its operating instructions. And secondly, already decide what is the best way to charge the battery from the proposed options.