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Thread: 125 amp upgrade for Minn Kota

  1. #1

    125 amp upgrade for Minn Kota

    Hi All

    As many would know - I've been an advocate for LiFePO4 batteries for use with Minn Kota & for the last 2.5 years have been running a pair of 100amp FUSION LiFePO4s on my 615 Barcrusher (80lb 24 vlt Riptide) without drama. The FUSION s are quality batteries & i cant fault them being chosen for the reputation of the brand / local stockists & available at a reasonable price ($1100 each approx)
    So without fault - i discovered that a pair of 100amp LifePO4s wont do a whole days fishing in anything other than good conditions (<10 knot ) where we could only get to maybe 8-9 hours of spotlocking before the batteries would shut down . Typically you'd get 7 hours on a normal offshore day. This was OK but not ideal.

    So cutting to the chase , for my recent trip to Evans Head I decided to bite the bullet & do an upgrade to 125amp LiFePO4s - This time I went in boots & all going with Enerdrive B-TEC 125amp. I'd been running one in my canopy for the past 18 months so was comfortable with them & going to that additional expense . Enerdrive are probably the best available but you do pay for the privilege @ around $1550 a pop .

    So with the new batteries fitted the real world test was as expected - no issues & fished through each session without running the battery down to cutout . We were pretty lucky on this trip as conditions generally improved during the day so with the exception of perhaps 1 day the batteries weren't stretched - but that day was a 10 hour one with around 8 hrs of actual spotlocking ....... so they did the job.

    Just a little on the B-TEC EPL-125BT-12V-G2 - It has app based monitoring incl state of charge / individual cell monitoring & has a reset if fully discharged . Weight 15kgs

    In the end $3K plus is a lot of coin for batteries - but at just 30kgs (24 vlt system) & the equivalent usable amperage of a 200amp AGM x 2 (120kgs) it is IMO worth the investment. Time will tell

    Chris
    Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
    Teach him how to fish
    & he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
    TEAM MOJIKO

  2. #2
    Ausfish Platinum Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Seaforth QLD & Cairns

    Re: 125 amp upgrade for Minn Kota

    That's a great run down Chris. I think if you weigh up the cost of the Enerdrive setup compared to AGM over time, I would guess that the $$ outlay isn't that much more when you take into account the life of an AGM in that environment/application, but as you point out, the weight savings is massive, and probably the main reason to do the change.
    We've just been talking about batteries as we toss up getting a new boat built, and as much as we've had a good run with 'normal' batteries (as well as running solar over the top of the bimini), I'm keen to look further into the Enerdrive setups as I've seen them in canopies for a while now with great success.
    Cheers
    Corry

  3. #3

    Re: 125 amp upgrade for Minn Kota

    Quote Originally Posted by Corry View Post
    That's a great run down Chris. I think if you weigh up the cost of the Enerdrive setup compared to AGM over time, I would guess that the $$ outlay isn't that much more when you take into account the life of an AGM in that environment/application, but as you point out, the weight savings is massive, and probably the main reason to do the change.
    We've just been talking about batteries as we toss up getting a new boat built, and as much as we've had a good run with 'normal' batteries (as well as running solar over the top of the bimini), I'm keen to look further into the Enerdrive setups as I've seen them in canopies for a while now with great success.
    Corry

    Weight is a massive incentive but other advantages are even greater - depth of discharge 80% vs 50 % without harming the battery .... but you can go to 95% before the BMS cuts in . ..... so the 125 amp is equivalent to a 200 amp AGM . The rate of recharge ( up to 50amps ) so if you have to put your battery on a gennie there is no issues with running a big charger Vs an AGM which really should be charged at 10% of the battery capacity .

    If you did a cost analysis - you could buy 3 or 4 quality AGMs for the price of 1 decent LiFePO4 ....... run them into the ground & throw them away every couple of years - but you certainly miss out on the weight advantage ...... how many litres of fuel would be saved by not carrying 90kgs of extra batteries (equiv amps) ? .

    I thought the whole LiFePO4 thing was pretty compelling & now have really put my money where my mouth is

    Chris
    Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
    Teach him how to fish
    & he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
    TEAM MOJIKO

  4. #4

    Re: 125 amp upgrade for Minn Kota

    Hi All

    Very pleased with the upgrade

    - Spent last Sunday spotlocking at Crowdy Head - 6am - 4pm probably 90% with the leccy down in 10 knot plus winds .
    Came back in - Ran the gennie to recharge the batteries & in 2 hours 30 mins the batteries reached absorb - That's 95% charged & ready to go for another days fishing.

    I should have checked the app to see how much the batteries were discharged .... but I didn't Theoretically I pulled the batteries down to around 40-45% ( charging at 25 amps)

    So very pleased with that - plenty of charge left in the batteries fishing in what were getting close to marginal conditions for using a leccy.

    Chris
    Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
    Teach him how to fish
    & he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
    TEAM MOJIKO

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