THUNDER DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES

[MIKES, GUIDE]

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THESE NEW TYPE OF BATTERIES LAST MUCH LONGER ON A SINGLE CHARGE, AND IF THEY REALLY DO CHARGE MUCH FASTER. I DO ALL OF MY TROLLING WITH A 24 VOLT MINKOTA MAXUM
TRANSON MOUNTED MOTOR. MY DEALER CLAIMS I CAN TROLL FOR 2 MORE HOURS ON A CHARGE WITH THESE NEW BATTERIES AND RECHARGE MUCH FASTER. I GET ABOUT 4 TO 5 HOURS OF CONTINUOS TROLLING AT APROX. 2 MPH WITH STANDARD DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES. I BURN UP A PAIR OF BATTERIES IN A SEASON BECAUSE I TROLL ALOT. ANY INSIGHT WOULD BE HELPFUL

[John N]

Hi Mike. Might be well to visit with the technical folks at www.hepi.com about the trolling thunder batteries. I think they can probably give you pretty specific answers about how long the batts will go based upon the draw of your motor and their knowledge of their product. I did this before buying mine, which I've used to power a MK 824 for the last couple years. My propak generally seems to recharge fully in 4-6 hours with a 15 amp charger and splitter (7.5 amps per battery). So it certainly gets a quick recharge. I believe the Trolling Thunder folks will tell you there isn't much difference in power between theirs and good new wetcells for the first few uses. However, after that, the Trolling Thunders will recharge hundreds of times and still have nearly the same power as when new, while the wetcells will experience a gradual fall-off in power over time with each recharge. Hope this made some sense. Might be worth a visit with their technical staff. Good luck in your shopping. John.

[vets pet(ind)]

i may be wrong but the way it has been explained to me you can only go by the amp/hour rating and that gives you the no. of hrs a battery will last with a give amp usage....a 125 amp hr battery...no matter what type will provide 25 amp draw for 5 hrs.....the gell batteries recharge fully many more times than conventional deep cycle batteries and i think perform much better in cold weather....steve

[Driftr]

Howdy,
I thought I should add this. Trolling Thunder Batteries are not Gel or wet acid cell. They are completely dry. They also use a pure lead that holds & recharges much faster & many more times than any gel or wet cell. I did own a pro-pak that I used with a 3700 Pinpoint & never ran out of power in the day it was used (7520 graph included)
Another thing, these can be shipped anywhere without a surcharge due to being dry.
Nope , I'm not a salesman....just a former satisfied user.
Good fishin....Drift'r

[EJ]

HI MIke, for what it is worth I just used my Trolling Thunders for the first time this week. I ran my 24 volt Pinpoint for 5 hrs at 2-4 on the speed dial (1-9 range) and only used 10-15% of capacity. Using a Guest 2620 dual 10 amp charger the batteries were topped off again in less than an hour. If they fully cycle as many times as they say they will (400+) I think I made the right choice. EJ

[Matt]

Former?

[Nate W.]

Where do you find Thunder batteries?

[Drift'r]

Yep, former. Sold the boat- & have sold all the goodies separately. I did keep the Pinpoint graph. My new boat is just a bit big for a bow mounted trolling motor.
Drift'r

[Chaz]

They are available in Cabelas and BPS.

[SRB]

Are you guys running these batteries as singles (One battery)? Or are some of you running 2 of them in parallel (or 'series', I forget which term applies)? I realize they're spendy, but with 2, I would think the total discharge being cut in half with each use would prolong their life expectancy somewhat, maybe quite abit. And I would also think that you would never have to worry about running out of juice during a long weekend out at the campsite where there's no electrical hook-ups.

I'll be looking for a couple of new batteries next spring to run my new pinpoint system on my new boat, so I'm pretty interested in this subject. (and I haven't had good luck with batteries in the past)

Thanks

[John N]

For my part, I have a 24v troller so they're wired that way. Anyway, your post about running the batteries over a weekend without a charge made me think it's worth noting that a big enemy of battery life is leaving them in a partially or completely discharged state for any length of time. Of course, in some applications that might not be avoidable, and then it's just a cost of doing business. But it's my understanding that to maximize battery life and health, they should be put on the charger and brought back up right away after each use. I've learned that the hard way over a few wetcells, and been real fussy about getting the Trolling Thunders charged up right away. So far, they still act like new. Good luck. John.

[Larry]

I had a chance to pick up these batteries at near cost about a year or two ago and did some serious checking on the dual set-up. At that time the capacity was somewhere between two wet cell grp 24's and two grp 27's. The capacity just wasn't up to what I was expecting for the price. This was offset by all the other fine features these batteries have. When I talked w/ a rep, I was told that in the near future, the capacity was going to be upgraded....which may already be the case by now.

I ended up buying two grp 29's on sale at Wal-Mart for a lot less money. I normally get about 4 years of service from my batteries before replacing them. They're always recharged at the end of the day via the on-board charging system and left plugged in all year round. I usually need to add a bit of water about once a year.....which is a good thing since they're very hard to reach !!