Topic: POWER USAGE 997C SI

[trickyric]

Hi there folks
I have a 997c si and have been having problems running low on battery power when i go fishing for more than 5 hours often not moving so the battery is not being charged by the motor.
I have limited space for a battery and need to keep it as small possible.
The manual only states Power  Requirements as 10-20 VDC no mention of amps the unit draws.
How many amps does it draw?
How many amp hour battery is needed to run the my sounder for say 8 to 10
hours .(IE 2 mornings fishing or long day without the need to charge the battery )
Thanks Trickyric

[Humminbird_Greg]

The Humminbird web site shows that the 997 has an 800mA current draw.
http://www.humminbird.com/support/FAQ.aspx?faqid=499

I would use a 1 amp draw for figuring though as this will give you a little more capacity which could be needed.  Not sure how much this will help though as you cannot directly translate this into needing a 10 Amp/Hour battery to be able to power the 997 (at a 1 Amp current draw) for 10 hours.  As a lead acid battery gets discharged the available voltage drops as well.  When the voltage gets low enough the 997 will shut off (in theory this is at the 10 volt level).  So what you need is a 12 volt battery with enough capacity that after 10 hours at a 1 amp current draw rate; it will still have enough capacity to output 1 amp at 10 volts.  I have looked at some battery specs and discharge rate charts but have not seen anything that would provide this sort of information.  Basically you should by the battery with the highest capacity rating that you can afford and it still fit into your boat.

[trickyric]

Thank you very much Greg that's a big help.
Sorry i took so long to reply .
I was waiting for an email notification. I think I have fixed that now.
Cheers
Ric