battery life

[3pepper]

hi
i plan to build an all wood jonboat and power it with a 50lb thrust trolling motor . i will install two deep cycle marene batteries under the center seat .

is there any way to have the equivilant of a gass gage for the batteries ? i would like to know how much power i have and an estimated run time so i don't get stranded .

thanks
stephen

[ted655]

Yes they make several types. Google Trolling motor acceseries, Golf car, Solar power and EVA sited.
By the by, here is a site (PDF file) that has a cool chart in the middle right colum, which shows the impotance of knowing WHEN to recharge a deep cycle to get the most charge cycles from a battery.
http://www.mrsolar.com/pdf/MK_Battery/MK_8A8D-LTP.pdf

Watch for "extender" controlers for trolling motors that will add extra length of operation time.
Good luck.

[FAST FRED]

A nice gage called the "E" Meter will tell you the SOC (state of charge) in percentage in real time.

Its about $150 , but a really wise investment , to keep the batteries alive.

Over discharging is early DEATH to even the best deep cycle battery, and fulll 100% recharge is hard to do , with out a meter.

E meter , Bogart Engineering and Trace "Link" 10 , are brands.

FF