Battery question for a fishfinder!

[Parasite]

[font "Times New Roman"]I recently purchased a Humminbird PiranhaMAX 20. It was a tough choice considering there are many happy and content Eagle 168 owners out there, but I decided to try this one out instead of the Cuda’s.

My concern is I can’t seem to find what the amp hours are for this unit. I’ve looked all over websites and can’t seem to find it. Even with the packaging and manual it does not say how much battery power it uses.

So my question is what size of battery should I buy according to it’s specs to ensure it will work for around 10 straight hours in the cold?

I’m considering two SLA 12 volt 18 ah batteries. So I would have around 36 ah total. But I don’t know if that is overkill or even worse underkill for this finder. Perhaps I should just buy the smallest battery around and see what it draws out. Any help or ideas would be appreciated. Below are the finders Specs.[/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"] [/font] [size 5][font "Tahoma"]Humminbird Piranha Max 20[/font][/size]
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Key Features [ul] [li]Highest definition 240V x 160H display [/li] [li]60° dual beam sonar covers a wider area for fish with better bottom definition. [/li] [li]See fish below as solid symbols and around the boat as hollow symbols. [/li] [li]Swivel mount adjusts for optimum viewing from anywhere on the boat. [/li] [li]True 4-level grayscale delivers clearly better image of bottom, fish and structure. [/li] [li]Easy One-Touch™ control accesses full set of advanced features [/li] [li]Water temperature included in transducer [/li] [li]Ultra-Compact Size Mounts Almost Anywhere[/li][/ul]
Additional Features [ul] [li]Selective Fish ID+™ with target depth [/li] [li]3-level backlight for night fishing [/li] [li]Big, easy to see digital readouts [/li] [li]High contrast bottom black viewing option [/li] [li]Fish alarm, depth alarm, zoom, sensitivity, depth range, bottom view and chart speed controls [/li] [li]Feature Memory remembers settings [/li] [li]Easy on-easy-off mounting system [/li] [li]High speed microdynamic transducer for optimum performance [/li] [li]Built tough and fully waterproof [/li] [li]One year warranty [/li] [li]Assembled in the USA[/li][/ul]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font] Specifications

Depth Capability:
600 ft
Display Window Size:
4” Diagonal
Display Matrix:
240V x 160H
Display Type:
4 Level Grayscale High Contrast FSTN LCD
Power Output:
100 Watts (RMS) & 800 Watts (Peak to Peak)
Operating Frequency:
200kHz & 83 kHz
Sonar Coverage:
20° & 60° @ -10db
Transducer:
Inside Hull or Transom Mount
Power Input Range:
10-20 VDC
Mounting:
Easy On, Easy Off Tilting Mount
Unit Size:
4 3/8” W x 6 1/8”H x 3 ¼”D
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[utfishguy31]

Sportsmans wharehouse has 12volt batts. for sale $20.00,They are compact and perfect for icefishing,I have ran mine for 3 days striaght with my sonar befor its dies.It works well for me and its not expesive.
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[cat_man]

For a float tube that unit is definitely overkill. I assume you'll be mounting this on a boat. Sounds like a nice unit.
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[Parasite]

Yea it will go on a raft and I'll use it for ice fishing.

I've seen some batteries at the Sportsmans I believe they are around 7AH. Are those the batteries your referring to?

Thanks again for the help.
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[utfishguy31]

Yes..They are 6"x3.5" black. there right by the fishfinders..You can buy a wall charger for them to.I think it will work for you just fine.I have a lowarance x97 that I use on my boat with my boat batt,but i use HAve a another sensor I bought for ice fishing to use the X97 for ice fishing.Hopefully I can buy a x67 ice machine for ice fishing this year .
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[Parasite]

Well price wise it was cheaper than the cuda 168 which seems to be the norm for many float tubers on this board.

I found the best price at [url "http://www.boatersland.com/"]http://www.boatersland.com/[/url] for $94.

Shipping was free and no sales tax. It took 4 days for it to get here so for that price I decided to be the guinea pig for this unit, even though I've heard mixed reviews on Humminbird products.

However there are not many reviews are out about this model yet. So once I use it some I'll let ya'll know.
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[Fishhound]

Howdy Parasite,

Radio Shack sells a Universal non-spillable battery(UB1270 [7Ah]) for about $20. I have one for my Humminbird Matrix 37 and it has powered my finder for 2 days without any problems - I have had it for around 3 years - just keep it charged up with a standard(non-deep cycle)low amp charger(I use my old motor cycle trickle battery charger).

BTW - I also have used it ice fishing and the cold temps did not seem to bother it. When I ice fish, I keep the battery in a small lunch cooler - just to keep it off the ice and protected a little.
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[addicted2fishin]

The ones that Sportsman's sells would do just fine and take up less space. However, you can save a couple of $$$ by buying them from other places. They are the same batteries used in security lighting systems in businesses, so if you can find somewhere that supplies them you could probably get it cheaper.
Or, if you want to risk going to the rat hole and giving your money to greedy idiots, you can go to the NPS warehouse. They usually have a ton of those batteries for around $4 each. However, everything there is 'as is' and some might not work. But you can buy 5 for the cost of 1 at Sportsman's. If 4/5 work, you then have several backup batteries.
That is where I got the batteries for my finder.
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[Coldfooter]

I suppose most dont realize that I'm a HUGE fan of the sport of Coldfooting/ice fishin'[]. One charge of my Gell cell usually affords me 3 hard days on the hard top using my 2000 wat peak to peak. And as some will testify, I've been known to pull all nighters on the ice at FG..
Whats more, if 800 wats is over kill on a float tube I'm way out of the ball park because I also use the same finder on my float tube. Altho', not many other folks are crazy enough to bob around in a float tube near mid channel at FG.. lol...
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[cat_man]

Ya I was mistaken on the overkill for a float tube comment.
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