Electronic Accessory Q's - Heading Sensors / Lithiums

[Corry]

So I'm about to bite the bullet and fit a heap of new toys to the boats, I'm replacing the 36v Minn Kota on our big boat with a Kracken, this is more so it talks to the Garmin MFD's I've already got, question I've got on this side is the Heading Sensor. The Minn Kota runs a Heading Sensor, from what I can research, this is more for the MFD's to know the heading when the boat is stationary. I'm taking it that I will need to remove the Minn Kota one when removing the electric motor, but do I need to fit a Garmin one, is it actually required?

On the little boat, we're fitting Livescope, a 2nd 12" screen up the front and replacing it's Minn Kota with a Kracken as well.
Questions I've got here is I'm changing over to Lithium Batteries, I'll do the research on brands cause I know everyone has there preferred brand, but the question is to go 12v or 24v. I run a 32l Engel under the front cast deck, so it will obviously still use 12v, but the Kracken will be 24v.
Do I run a single 24v and a single 12v battery, is it feasible to run 2 12v batteries, in series for the lecky motor and connect the fridge to just one of them, should I run 3 12v batteries, 2 in series for the motor and 1 for the fridge. At the moment I get away with a single 12v 100aH wet cell battery for both motor and fridge.
I'm really unsure if I can run a 12v accessory off one side of a pair of batteries that are running in series.
Fears I have of running a 24v and a 12v is charging, it means I'm going to have 2 chargers, and I believe more difficulty if I want to run a DC-DC charger to charge them from the start battery/outboard. I am happy not to set up charging on the boat and charge via 240v.

In the big boat, I've got a 36-12v converter that almost all of the accessories run off of, as I don't utilise a great percentage of the 36v battery, this was going to be the plan for the little boat if I went for a dedicated 24v battery.

Thoughts, experiences.

[chris69]

You can do the 24 volt for the kracken and run a 24 to 12 v step for your fridge the 32 lt won’t use much compared to the Kracken

and have you thought that you can run the Engel on 24 volts some do I’d check that out then you don’t have to worry about anything then.

[Lovey80]

Most fridges will run on 24v no problem.

for me I would always want on board charging. So I would run the step up 12-24 converter.

[Corry]

and have you thought that you can run the Engel on 24 volts

Oh how dumb of me, of course, yep it does run on 24v, been so wrapped up in getting 12v to it... doh

for me I would always want on board charging. So I would run the step up 12-24 converter.

It is very tempting to retain on board charging. Are you suggesting run 12v batteries in parallel and a 24v step up for the motor, or 12v batteries in series and run other stuff off the one?

[Spaniard_King]

Oh how dumb of me, of course, yep it does run on 24v, been so wrapped up in getting 12v to it... doh


It is very tempting to retain on board charging. Are you suggesting run 12v batteries in parallel and a 24v step up for the motor, or 12v batteries in series and run other stuff off the one?

Have a look at these
https://www.scintex.com.au/products/...ttery-chargers

you may never have to charge the troll motor battery again

[Dignity]

Have a look at these
https://www.scintex.com.au/products/...ttery-chargers

you may never have to charge the troll motor battery again

Trollbridge is another worthy of investigating.

[Flex]

i have just installed new Kraken myself.
I dont think you'll need a heading sensor as the kraken uses the compass off the sounder/gps. but the boat display on your sounder may be a smidge slow.
I do run a garmin GPS 19x (faster gps devie) i find this helps alot when going slow and boat positioning. without it the MFD is slow to respond.

I am thinking of installing a heading sensor. I have noticed when stopped or going super slow and the boat image doesnt match the actual direction of travel. If you put a GPS mark down on sidescan the sounder can actually record the mark on the opposite side of the boat. as its thinking its going the other direction. so be careful.

[Corry]

So, motors, Live, batteries and chargers are all bought.
Live is already fitted, just waiting on batteries, motors and chargers to arrive. I'll see how we go without a heading sensor Flex, and keep an eye out for 'reverse' marks on sidescan, if this is troublesome than a heading sensor might be the go.
The Live fitted really easy, I mounted it using a TPA (Transducer Poles Aus) pole and mount, only took about a 6 pack to install.
Garmin Live Installed.jpg


I've gone for 3 12v lithiums, this was so that I didn't end up with a 24v and a 12v. I'll run two in series that will solely run the lecky motor, and 1 that will run the Live, Front MFD and fridge. I've been told that I can charge all 3 via a DC/DC from the start battery, and it would probably involve installing a VSR between the start battery and DC/DC charger, but I'm yet to have it fully explained on exactly how it all will work.
Hopefully the rest of it arrives this week, the weather is looking crap this weekend so will be a great weekend to sit in the shed and fit it all, and remove and post the Minn Kota lecky on marketplace.

[Flex]

Im not sure why you went with 3 x 12v only to run 2 in series? wouldnt it be far easier to run a 12v and a 24v for electric?

be careful charging lithiums in series. alot of manufacturers suggest that you dont do it.
Mostly due to each BMS in each battery is never identical and its very hard to maintain cell balance over time. you can initially balance each battery via a 12v charger then charge them on 24v in series. but this isnt ideal and you will find most manufacturers will advise against it.

I honestly think you would have been far better off with a 24v battery and install a onboard 12v/24v charger. I feel its the best option. this way your outboard charges your 12v system and inputs into a 12-24v lithium charging system for your electric. this will maintain your lithium battery longer and is super simple.
ive installed a few boats like this and its honestly the best option.

heaps of options for 12to24v chargers now.

[Lovey80]

What I was meaning earlier was to either have one large 12v house battery. Something in the vicinity of 300Ah charged on board by an Dc-DC charger. And then use a 12-24v DC converter for the leccy. Something like this.

https://revolutionpoweraustralia.com...DhLVZ-P09TR0Pu

the other way would be to have two smaller house batteries with one dedicated to fridge and other house electronics and the other stand alone for the leccy with the above converter. From here you can have a parallel switch so that if you are away camping or similar you can just parallel the leccy battery to take juice from the house and also take engine charging.

[Corry]

What I was meaning earlier was to either have one large 12v house battery. Something in the vicinity of 300Ah charged on board by an Dc-DC charger. And then use a 12-24v DC converter for the leccy.

Setting it up this way was on the cards, one of the challenges I found was that a 300ah battery is quite large, and trying to fit that, along with everything else, under a cast deck on a 4.2m tinny was proving difficult. Slimline isn't really in the options when looking at high amp hour batteries.

the other way would be to have two smaller house batteries with one dedicated to fridge and other house electronics and the other stand alone for the leccy with the above converter. From here you can have a parallel switch so that if you are away camping or similar you can just parallel the leccy battery to take juice from the house and also take engine charging.

This was definitely an option, I just wasn't sure how much power I would need, it is still on the cards to convert over to this config and use the current batteries on order in the camper.

Im not sure why you went with 3 x 12v only to run 2 in series? wouldnt it be far easier to run a 12v and a 24v for electric?

Thought behind this was that I can spread the batteries out and fit them in where I can under the deck. There's a lot going on under there with safety gear, tackle storage, fridge and batteries.
The other train of thought for 3 12v batteries was that if one died, I could then sacrifice say Live and the front Sounder and connect the remaining 2 for the electric.

be careful charging lithiums in series. alot of manufacturers suggest that you dont do it.

Yeah, I won't be doing that, all intentions is to charge separately. I've been warned that it's not a good idea.

I honestly think you would have been far better off with a 24v battery and install a onboard 12v/24v charger. I feel its the best option. this way your outboard charges your 12v system and inputs into a 12-24v lithium charging system for your electric.

Would this mean a 12v DC-DC charger going from the start battery to the 12v Lithium, then a 12-24v DC-DC charger going from the 12v Lithium to the 24v Lithium? I'm keen to learn the best way of charging everything if I'm going to set up onboard charging.

The complete configuration is still adaptable, so if there is a better way to do it, I can change it all. I just need to make sure it fits in under the cast deck and has the ability to spread the weight around, and it is reliable for remote travel, or be able to be reconfigured while remote to keep some things going still.

[Lovey80]

Check out the 300h from these guys. Same floor space as the average start battery but just a bit taller. https://www.lfpcellsaustralia.com.au/

They use the same case as the power Paul battery.

[marto78]

Have a look at these
https://www.scintex.com.au/products/...ttery-chargers

you may never have to charge the troll motor battery again

I added one of these to my boat with the trolltek vsr.

The vsr was rubbish and clapped out in a couple of months so I put a bla digital vsr i had laying around in instead which seems to be going fine.

The victron 12/24v dcdc charger works a treat but isn't quite as weather proof as the Trolltek one.

With the trolltek 30a dcdc charger you need a vsr to turn it on and off otherwise it will drain the start battery. I use the vsr to activate both chargers however you can program the victron charger to operate at set voltages and times.

[chris69]

So, motors, Live, batteries and chargers are all bought.
Live is already fitted, just waiting on batteries, motors and chargers to arrive. I'll see how we go without a heading sensor Flex, and keep an eye out for 'reverse' marks on sidescan, if this is troublesome than a heading sensor might be the go.
The Live fitted really easy, I mounted it using a TPA (Transducer Poles Aus) pole and mount, only took about a 6 pack to install.
Garmin Live Installed.jpg


I've gone for 3 12v lithiums, this was so that I didn't end up with a 24v and a 12v. I'll run two in series that will solely run the lecky motor, and 1 that will run the Live, Front MFD and fridge. I've been told that I can charge all 3 via a DC/DC from the start battery, and it would probably involve installing a VSR between the start battery and DC/DC charger, but I'm yet to have it fully explained on exactly how it all will work.
Hopefully the rest of it arrives this week, the weather is looking crap this weekend so will be a great weekend to sit in the shed and fit it all, and remove and post the Minn Kota lecky on marketplace.

A six pack to install the live..... your a slow installer or a fast drinker LOL. not that ive installed one but i thought it might be a 4 stubby install and a 2 stubby sit back to admier your work and play with the transducer pole.

[Corry]

A six pack to install the live..... your a slow installer or a fast drinker LOL. not that ive installed one but i thought it might be a 4 stubby install and a 2 stubby sit back to admier your work and play with the transducer pole.

Ya right, it was probably more like a 2 stubby install and a 4 stubby admire and play