Minn Kota 55lb battery usage?
Hey all
Bit of a curly question which I know has a lot of variables involved, but Ive bought a 2nd smaller boat and it has a minn kota fitted and Im wondering how long the battery will actually last using the spot lock (will mainly be using that feature to hold on deeper spots etc as its too small and I cant be bothered with a electric winch at this point!)
Stats:
Hull: 5.35 Sea jay centre console with a 100hp Honda
Elec motor: Minn Kota 55lb
Current battery: 100ah AGM (not connected to motor or solar for charging at this point)
I will only ever be getting to the spots I have in mind in good/ fair weather so dont anticipate too much swell/ current for it to have to work overly hard
Guess the question Im asking is how long realistically should I expect the current battery to last on spot lock? I do have a couple of larger batteries I can plug into it but hoping to avoid that if neccisary due to the nice and tidy battery boxes and set up of the current one!
Cheers in advance
Lefty 44
Posts: 152
Date Joined: 04/12/17
It will vary
As you said it will vary a lot depending on hard hard it is working.
A still day it would last all day but with some breeze and current 3-4 hours.
I used to run 2 x 125ah batteries for a 55lb bow mount.
I'd get about a day and a half with it working pretty hard.
Faulkner Family
Posts: 17919
Date Joined: 11/03/08
Best bet would be to go out
Best bet would be to go out and give it a crack. Too many variables involved. If it runs out just drift fish. Will be interesting to see the out come as I will be investing in one soon myself
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Mick C
Posts: 606
Date Joined: 26/12/13
Minn Battery Life
A 55lb Minn Kota will draw about 50A at maximum thrust. It follows that a 100Ah battery will last approximately 2 hours if the motor is working at maximum capacity at all times.
As correctly noted above, there are many factors that determine how "hard" the motor will have to work under spot lock conditions. As a general rule, the bigger the boat the more thrust is required to keep the boat within the 100ft tolerance of the spot lock feature.
I run a 55lb motor on my 5m Hornet with a 100Ah battery. It will generally hold spot in winds up to about 16kn, but is working at pretty much full capacity in those conditions. I have found that in light to moderate conditions you get a full day of performance, and I haven't seen the need to add a second battery as yet.
Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it - LH.
Reefsta
Posts: 289
Date Joined: 03/08/19
Just bag out quickly
Been a few years since I used electric, but found current draw on spot lock was usually not maximmum. The manufacturers tend to only quote maximum draw, given all the other variables. One thing though, was advice we got to try and avoid heavy discharge of the battery too often, otherwise battery life can be greatly reduced.Was told if possible to limit discharge to less than 50%, or even less if possible.
Bodgy 79
Posts: 271
Date Joined: 04/08/22
Battery
I have a 112lb kota on my 6.1m plate cuddy with a single 36v battery.Was holding spot Sunday in 12 knot wind and 2m swell off the south but current draw was up to 4O amps @ 39 volts