Also, this type of battery has the shortest lifespan, lasting 1-2 years, although this is reflected in the lower price. For a 24-volt trolling motor, you need two 12-volt batteries connected in a series. For a 36-volt trolling motor, you’ll need three 12-volt batteries in a series.
Any dee cycle battery will power Marine Battery a trolling motor, but a marine battery tends to be built tougher for use on a boat. To choose the best trolling motor battery, think about how you will use it. For a low-power trolling motor on a small boat, a wet-cell battery should get you around. The AGM battery is the best choice on a larger boat that will experience rolling and pounding. A bank of lithium-iron-phosphate batteries is the way to go for anglers running multiple batteries to power a full bevy of electronics and a trolling motor.
How To Choose The Best Lithium Battery For Your Trolling Motor?
Getting it right ultimately means more fishing, less hassle and years of performance. Here’s our take on the best trolling motor batteries, no matter the need or circumstance. Whether you fish freshwater or salt, inshore or off, or are powered by paddle or engine, trolling motors open many doors. Pairing your trolling motor with the right battery is the first step to unlocking these benefits. Everyone is very pleased with the quality of this battery, and they say the life cycle is great, the speed of charge is excellent, and the ease of use is perfect.
Now, granted, a Garmin Force is very good at managing power consumption when on Anchor Lock. I was doing that a lot and used almost nothing out of my RELiON system. I’m somewhat amazed how little these RELiON batteries have to be charged. An hour on my charger most days, and the system is fully charged again.
Best Trolling Motor Batteries: All Types Explained & Top 5 Picks
However, performance doesn’t deteriorate with repeated discharging/recharging. On the downside, this is the least environmentally friendly type of battery. If you need a battery that will work in all weathers, even in extreme cold, you need an AGM battery – short for absorbed glass mat.
For example, a battery rated for 100Ah can deliver this capacity only when discharged slowly over a 20-hour period, which means a current of 5 Amps. If you want to increase the current to 20 Amps, the same battery will give you only 80Ah, and the available capacity rapidly diminishes as you draw more current. Since a dual-purpose battery does two jobs, its lifespan isn’t as long as a deep-cycle marine battery. Dual-purpose batteries are more for long-term use and quick power.
Somewhere around the third carburetor rebuild for our 3.3 hp four stroke dinghy outboard, I decided enough is enough. Four stroke outboards are supposed to be cleaner and quieter than two strokes, but they are heavier, more complicated, and in smaller sizes, not that much quieter. The old two stroke that we replaced always started first pull, but regurgitating two stroke oil into the ocean and atmosphere is no longer a responsible option. Keep your electric outboard battery happy and your dinghy range optimized with these charging tips.
This will provide stable power to start the trolling motor, and the battery life will remain in the long run. The running time of a trolling motor battery depends on its amperage. The max runtime should be about 5 to 6 hours in ideal conditions.
What To Look For In A Trolling Motor Battery
The trick to rigging a boat with a trolling motor battery is ensuring the system will last for a long day of fishing. Follow the trolling motor manufacturer’s instructions for the amp-hours, group, and the number of deep cycle batteries required to power the motors all day. The latest and greatest trolling motor batteries are made of lithium iron phosphate. Unlike heavy, bulky lead-acid batteries, lithium is lighter and more compact. The compound also handles power more efficiently and lasts considerably longer with a greater tolerance for recharging. The downside is lithium batteries cost three times as much as a lead-acid battery.
Sealock has been an avid angler for the better part of 40 years and has been writing and shooting fishing and outdoors content for more than 25 years. He is an expert with fishing electronics and technologies and an accomplished angler, photographer, writer and editor. He has taught a lot of people to find fish with their electronics and has been instrumental in teaching these technologies to the masses. He’s also the industry authority on new fishing tackle and has personally reviewed more than 10,000 products in his tenure. He has a 30-year background in information technologies and was a certified engineer for a time in Microsoft, Novell, Cisco, and HP. He has, however, caught fish in 42 of the 50 states in the US as well as Costa Rica, Mexico, and Canada and hopes to soon add Finland, Japan, Africa and Australia to his list.