Feedback on 12 Volt Gel Cell battery Life

I purchased a Cabelas 12volt 7mah gel cell battery to power the fish finder. Having used it for about 15 months I'm lucky to get 2 hours out of a full charge. I'd love to get some feedback on how long these small batteries should last. It only came with a 1 year warranty which implies it might last longer than a year. Looks like I'd be purchasing another one.

Any recommendations for a particular 12volt gel cell replacement or are they all about the same? Not looking to use anything large in physical size. I like the storage in the rear utility box.

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Steve Stubbs
USAF (retired)

SeaDek Fishing Team
Unfair Lures Pro Staff
Ziptailz Ambassador

2015 Pro Angler 14 - Papaya
2018 Compass - Sea Grass

I am getting 12+ hours out of my battery. If you have a color screen, it will drain your battery faster.

Couple of things I learned is to keep your battery hooked up to the charger when you are not using it. The battery will lose it's charge just sitting there while not being used. Also, when returning from a trip, you should connect it to the charger even though it was a short trip. Partial charges are not good on a battery.

I thought I read somewhere that you should not overcharge the battery and I'm only assuming that the small charger is not an automatic type charger that will reduce the charge to a "trickle/maintain" voltage. Or am I wrong? Thanks for replying!

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Steve Stubbs
USAF (retired)

SeaDek Fishing Team
Unfair Lures Pro Staff
Ziptailz Ambassador

2015 Pro Angler 14 - Papaya
2018 Compass - Sea Grass

Automatic charger for sure. Think it cost $15

From what I read on line, from the Cabella's battery info, Q & A......the charger does not have an automatic charging circuit and you must only charge the battery for the time it has been used.....never leave the charger plugged into the battery after the charge time has lapsed...and it does no have any charge indication LEDs......IMHO, "a cheap charger".....your only way to tell if the battery is fully charged is to measure the DC voltage after the charger has been disconnected for a few minutes.
At least the Hobie charger has a red and green LED to indicate charge status and will not over charge the battery.... I am sure there are other sealed batteries with automatic chargers on the market too.

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Dr.SteelheadCatcher
Warrenton, OR

Thanks for the replies. I've been so used to deep cycle batteries using a bass boat for 30 years. This is a definite change for me. I will look into getting a charger that has LEDs and a trickle charger.

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Steve Stubbs
USAF (retired)

SeaDek Fishing Team
Unfair Lures Pro Staff
Ziptailz Ambassador

2015 Pro Angler 14 - Papaya
2018 Compass - Sea Grass

Hahaha. Good luck with those little batteries! If you like to fish all day or for multiple days between charges you're going to need an upgrade. The fact is that the sealed AGM batteries we use just aren't made for all day fishing. They don't last if you run them down to less than 50% of their rates power.

You need to check the specs for your fish finder and any other electronics that are hooked to your battery. Figure out the total amp hours that your electronics use. Then buy a battery that has a high enough amp hour rating that you can fish all day and not discharge the battery to more than 50%.

I went through quite a few batteries in the 7.5-9amp hour size before I decided to invest in a system that could handle my kind of fishing. Granted, aday of fishing for me can quite often be 10, 12, or even as much as 14 hours a day! Right now I'm using a 12v 20Ah AGM sealed deep cycle battery with a Battery Tender Plus charger that is rated at 12v and 1.25amps. I can fish for 14hrs with my Humminbird 587ci HD DI fish finder/chart plotter and still have about 12-14Ah left on the charge. The Battery Tender Plus charger, with the 1.25amp out put can recharge the battery to a full charge in about six hours. Once the battery reaches a full charge the tender automatically switches to a trickle/maintenance mode.

I know I paid too much for my setup bc I purchased it at Batteries Plus but at the time I needed it NOW for a week long trip to SC to fish the KayakBassFishing.com Open and Invitational events. If you look around and shop online you can probably get the charger and battery for less than $100. If you fish hard like I do it's well worth the investment. If not just keep buying the 7.5-9Ah batteries. They usually lasted me about two months before they stopped holding a charge that would allow me to fish all day.

... or you could carry a second (or third) 9aHr battery and swap it out when you need to. You only need to carry the spare when you expect to be out all day.

Get a good solid state charger though. Well worth the money and you can use it on more than just your fishing batteries.

cheers,
Graeme

I realized last night that the big battery charger that I purchased years ago for car, boat and lawnmower battery charging (if necessary) has a setting for gel cell batteries. It also has a "trickle/maintain" function. Using it I now have a status meter and lights to indicate the battery status. My current gel cell now reflects a full charge and is on the "trickle/maintain" setting. We will see how long it lasts the next time I go out.

Maybe I should have realized I had that function before posting here...lol. I knew the small black charger from Cabelas did not have the right capabilities. Getting a spare battery is a good idea. About the only tournament I fish each year is the Jax Kayak Classic each year, so I'm not away from home for long stretches on the water.

Thanks again for all the replies!

_________________
Steve Stubbs
USAF (retired)

SeaDek Fishing Team
Unfair Lures Pro Staff
Ziptailz Ambassador

2015 Pro Angler 14 - Papaya
2018 Compass - Sea Grass