Does anyone else run a Garmin Striker 4 sounder ? I just got one and need to get a battery for it but not sure which to get.

12V 9ah SLA batteries seem to be mentioned, but from the Garmin Striker 4 sounder manual they say it draws 1ah, which means maximum you get 9 hours - but I assume you are not supposed to to discharge a SLA all the way so you will probably get much less time.

For you guys who run this sounder, what battery are you using and how long does it last you ?

I use a striker in the AI with an SLA not sure what amp hour, I can check it. The 1amp would be max current draw? so it depends on how you use it. The striker has a quick menu where you can turn the transducer off. And I normally do this if I'm not using it. A sunvisor would help with current draw as you can run a lower setting for brightness. I am going to change to these little guys.

https://m.ebay.com.au/itm/Portable-DC-1 ... 33f3bed585

frappa11 wrote:Does anyone else run a Garmin Striker 4 sounder ? I just got one and need to get a battery for it but not sure which to get.

12V 9ah SLA batteries seem to be mentioned, but from the Garmin Striker 4 sounder manual they say it draws 1ah, which means maximum you get 9 hours - but I assume you are not supposed to to discharge a SLA all the way so you will probably get much less time.

For you guys who run this sounder, what battery are you using and how long does it last you ?

I've got the Garmin Striker 5. As you mentioned, lead acid you cant deep cycle so I went with an FPV 12v 7ah Lithium ion which you can and it runs all day no worries. You could also get the 17.5ah version if you want to do multi day trips. They weigh a third of a lead acid but the cost over a lead acid is significant. You would be looking at $129 for the 7ah versus $30 for the equivalent lead acid

These are light weight and well known ..you can get bigger ...not cheap but .
https://www.fpv-power.com.au/kayakbatte ... duct_id=50

Oh I have a blue brick (15000 stated mah) for my old eagle cuda - that ran fine all day but as soon as I changed to a striker 4 I could only get around 4-5 hours on it - it was obvious that the stated mAH are no where close to reality.

Thats why I am looking for power options. I wont recommend these blue bricks unless your power requirements are low.

inshorebrawler wrote:I use a striker in the AI with an SLA not sure what amp hour, I can check it. The 1amp would be max current draw? so it depends on how you use it. The striker has a quick menu where you can turn the transducer off. And I normally do this if I'm not using it. A sunvisor would help with current draw as you can run a lower setting for brightness. I am going to change to these little guys.

https://m.ebay.com.au/itm/Portable-DC-1 ... 33f3bed585

How long do you normally spend in the water ? I would expect at least 10hrs from a 15ah blue brick. That's ashame you can only get 5 hrs. They other option I was going to play around with is a portable charger of some sort

Depends where I am - my need for longer run times are for when ability to return is determined by tides (i.e. lang lang) so I need a minimum run time that comfortably lasts a tide change.

The problem with the blue bricks are that the stated capacity is made up and do not match whats inside much of the time. You could get lucky I suppose but in my case it did not.

inshorebrawler wrote:How long do you normally spend in the water ? I would expect at least 10hrs from a 15ah blue brick. That's ashame you can only get 5 hrs. They other option I was going to play around with is a portable charger of some sort

I run the striker 4plus, i would say a 1a draw is over stated, i can leave launch at 3.30-4am and return 3pm+ , my anchor light uses 200ma, it stays on till sunrise at least, while my anchor light is on my sounder is in night mode so uses less power, my sounder doesn't get turned of till i hit launch, going on the sounders V meter, the voltage drop on landing back at launch is usually only 300-400 mv, i use a 9A SLA battery which i plug into a Harley battery charger/conditioner when i get home. I've never had the battery go flat while on the water. Im thinking about going to a 7" sounder in the future, given that it's the sceen that uses most of the power i will probably upgrade to the FPV 17A battery.

Afterthought, the biggest drain on a bettery is water getting into you electrical system, when setting up your electrical system give a lot of thought into how best to keep moisture out. Silicone, heatshrink, and liquid tape then placed into a conduit of some type and sealed either end.

The 1a draw was in the back of the striker manual - when I saw that i was like huh

Oh I got a 9h SLA today so it seems like I made a good choice there. I am not doing the heat shrink thing yet as I am still testing my arrangement but I have the sla and all wiring/fuse inside a air tight box (with a locking lid) and I use a spare gromit from the Hobie kit on it to let the power cable out. This stays in the hull till it comes out next to the sounder head. I plan on leavng the power cable plugged into the sounder head at all times (Even during car top transport, will put the soudner head in the hull hatch) to avoid wear and also put in dielecric grease on the pins and also some blue tack around the edge of the plug to help keep the water out. Need to make a splash shield as well.

Hopefully thats enough - I actually went out yesterday without these precautions and 1 wave hit the back of my sounder and salt water must have got into the plug - this morning I look at the power plug and it was full of green corrosion already. Cleaned it out ok but now I am totally paranoid.

peatop wrote:I run the striker 4plus, i would say a 1a draw is over stated, i can leave launch at 3.30-4am and return 3pm+ , my anchor light uses 200ma, it stays on till sunrise at least, while my anchor light is on my sounder is in night mode so uses less power, my sounder doesn't get turned of till i hit launch, going on the sounders V meter, the voltage drop on landing back at launch is usually only 300-400 mv, i use a 9A SLA battery which i plug into a Harley battery charger/conditioner when i get home. I've never had the battery go flat while on the water. Im thinking about going to a 7" sounder in the future, given that it's the sceen that uses most of the power i will probably upgrade to the FPV 17A battery.

Afterthought, the biggest drain on a bettery is water getting into you electrical system, when setting up your electrical system give a lot of thought into how best to keep moisture out. Silicone, heatshrink, and liquid tape then placed into a conduit of some type and sealed either end.

I spray the sockets and the pins with wd40 after every trip this keeps them like new, you could also use lanox or linox, im thinking about using lanox on my reels, however this might work out to be an expensive option on cheaper reels, so it's just a matter of keeping up the maintenance

But just remember that wd40 and products like it are not lubricants, they are solvents, however lanox is also a lubricant

With the wiring if the salt gets to the copper it will corrode it very fast, if it gets into the wiring it will travel up the sheathed wire and you need to cut the wire thats affected until there's no sign of corrosion.