Lithium trolling motor batteries

[bascat98]

Has anyone made the switch from lead acid to lithium ion trolling motor batteries? I have a 2020 pantera classic with 200 merc and was just wondering if anyone has seen a gain or loss in speed. I know some boats slow down with weight taken out of the back end. Let me know if anyone can help.

[SLumpp]

I did make the switch to lithium batteries for my trolling motor.  I own a 2017 Cougar AE and went from 3 group 27 lead acid batteries to 3 50AH Lithium Batteries.  I switched out trays, and charger as well, if your charger does not recognize the lithium batteries it does not work well.  All in all it was a reduction for over 125 lbs out of the back of my boat.  The lithiums weigh about 14 lbs each compared to the 60 to 80 lbs for the conventional.  I currently have a group 31 AGM for my starting battery and when it takes a dive I will commit to a lithium starting battery.  Performance wise, my Cougar is even faster from a dead stop than before, a lot faster.  Handling is no difference.  Fuel economy might be better, I have not checked that.  I load my boat heavy, as in about 20 rods and every compartment full of stuff to include tools, and so on.  I compared before and after with full tanks of fuel and the same load.  The biggest reason why I went to lithiums was what I paid for them and the warranty on them versus what warranty there is on lead acid batteries.  The x2 AGM I have has a good warranty, about 4 years, lithium is better.

[Ritt]

Yes I switched out my Puma to 3 100 amp hour lithium’s, no issues and love the performance. I highly recommend the 4 Bank NOCO automatic Lithium capable charger. Each of the 4 banks has a switch where you can select the type of battery (Lithium, Lead Acid, Gel, etc.) so you only need one charger which keep every battery fully charged

[Corky]

Slumpp:  Did your top speed improve as well as your hole shot?

Corky

• This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by Corky.

[Ritt]

Corky:

 

I got improvements in both hole shot and top end, figured it was a reduction of over 100#+.

[Corky]

Thanks Ritt.  I have a 36 volt 50 amp pro guide trolling motor battery, 100 amp 12 volt Pro Guide house battery, and a Pro Guide AGM battery ordered for my Puma that is hopefully being built soon.  Thank you for the information.

Corky

 

 

[SLumpp]

Corky,

I have not figured out if there is an improvement in top end.  I don’t drive it enough at top speed to recognize that.  I will say that I do believe there is an overall improvement from getting it on pad to whatever speed I desire to go at, it is much quicker.  I also believe somewhat, that fuel economy has improved some, which to me is a very big deal.  I also am using a gen 4 Noco charger as Ritt stated and it has performed flawlessly.  What is amazing is the amount of time you can get out of a fully charged lithium battery for the trolling motor versus lead acid.  I went out yesterday, it was windy, I was on the trolling motor for at least 6 hours and I used 9% of the battery, that is it.  That is amazing, however I did contact Mercury in regards to using a lithium starting battery versus the AGM that I am currently using.  My motor is a 2 stroke Optimax, with low hours on it.  Mercury told me no, due to the charging system on the 2 strokes, which was not set up to handle the charging of a lithium battery.  That makes sense, since I did have to replace my on board units with the NOCO gen 4 one.  I asked it the Power Pole Charge system would be ok, and if that would make a difference, Mercury said no, they still do not recommend  using a lithium starting battery on 2 strokes.  So I will continue to use the AGM starting battery with lithiums for my trolling battery.  FYI, for future reference what I have seen personally, is the voltage drop off using lithiums for the electronics versus lead acid or AGM is amazing.  My AGM starts dropping voltage after maybe an hour of use with out the battery being recharged, the use of the lithiums I have seen no voltage drop in a friends boat that is full lithium without a dedicated battery for just electronics.  That too is a very big benefit.

[Corky]

Slumpp:  Thank you very much for the information.  What trolling batteries are you using?  I will have a Pro Guide 36 volt 50 amp battery for the trolling motor.  The technician at Pro Guide is a great guy and said I should be able to use the trolling motor all day with just the on 36 volt 50 amp battery that will fit in the factory battery holder.  That is just amazing to me and I hope I don’t have any problems with it.

Corky

[SLumpp]

Corky,

I am using 3  12volt 50amp lithium Ionic Batteries.  Matt Mosier, the gentleman that runs the facebook hybrid page is running 2 Proguide 12v50 batteries on his hybrid 203 and he was telling me that it powers his trolling motor just fine and he has not had any problems with not having enough juice to run the day.  I am assuming that you are having a new Puma built, and quite bluntly I would be looking into a lithium starting battery versus the AGM.  The new motors can handle that battery, and a person that I fish with has a lithium starting battery and 2 50 ah hour batteries for his trolling motor.  What amazes me is when I see the voltage on his graphs never drop below 13 volts all day versus how mine does drop with the AGM that I have to use.  I would also make sure that whatever charging system that you have installed works with 36 volt lithiums.  The power pole charge to me is amazing, however the cost of it made me back away from it.  John Crews has some videos on it and how he set up his boats with the power pole system.  Both the NOCO gen 4 that I have and the Minn Kota latest are very good units as well.  If you are somewhere where the temp.  drops below 32 degrees on a regular basis check into the charging requirements that the manufactor of the batteries has on their product.  So far, like I said I am amazed with how these have done and now I am debating about taking one of those batteries off the trolling motor, making it into a 24 volt system.  I have a Garmin trolling motor.  Then using the freed up battery for my live scope, both graphs on the bow and whatever I have tied into the fuse panel I have in the front.  I think that might provide some more juice for those electronics.  I might do that prior to going out this week, since it is going to be outstanding in Missouri and it is time to stick a couple of big ones for sure.  Good luck on getting that boat rigged up.  The new Puma is a nice boat, matter of fact I seriously doubt that anyone would go wrong with any of the current lineup of Basscats.

 

Steve

[Corky]

Slumpp:  I really love BassCat boats, but it seems to take forever to get them built.  I forgot to mention to you that I have a Pro Guide 100 amp 12 volt battery as a house battery to run my three Lowrance 12 Pros and Active Target.  The boat comes standard with an AGM Pro Guide starting battery, so I will use that just to power the boat until it gets weak and then put everything on the 100 amp 12 volt house battery.  The house battery will be the 100 amp 12 volt Pro Guide Lithium starting battery.  Thanks again for your feedback.  It was very helpful.

Corky

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