Got a question…What would be best size to go with? It’ll be for my cranking, electronics, power poles, basically everything besides my trolling motor. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Was thinking maybe 12v 100ah or should I just get one for my electronics only?

Ionic 125 Ah
I would also recommend a separate Ionic for the Electronics to!

Be sure you are looking at a "cranking" or "dual purpose" battery. A standard 100Ah "lithium" is not intended for cranking and you will very likely run into issues using it as such. It'd also be good to know what your "electronics" look like. That could be one graph or five big ones.



I've had pretty good luck with this 140 Ah dual purpose so far

https://youtu.be/VCwavUKtb6A

I have a Relion RB100HP that I am looking to sell. I am upgrading from 12V TM batts to 36V, so went ahead and got a good deal on a new cranking battery as well. Bought in 2021, weekend warrior lifestyle (if when my 2 HS aged sons baseball schedule allows....so that'll tell you how much use its had lol) and has never NOT gone green when charged. Always stored inside boat, which stays inside garage. If I had to guess, you'll probably get another 6 years out of it at a minimum. Am also selling the charger as the current setup is 12V. It's a Dual Pro (charging systems Int'l) 3 bank 15 amp Lithium charger.

Batt- $350
Charger- $300

PM for pics if you're interested.

An Ionic125 is what you need.

What motor and electronics do you have? That's the first thing to look at before selecting a battery.
Several people on here jumped in and said get an Ionic 125a, heck I have one myself but if my electronics were a little different then it may not be enough.

I run four Lowrance Lives, an AT2, sonic hub, separate livewells, lights, power poles, and my SHO off of one Ionic 125. It never gets below 60% in an 8 hour tournament. I also seldom put screens in standby and I usually forget to turn off my nav lights till around 9-10am.

Two 12" Helix's, a 15" Helix, Garmin 1222, Mega 360, Livescope, along with everything else in the boat. Our lakes out here are a bit small so not a lot of running around to keep the charge up and at end of day I'm usually around 50%. I imagine if I had Solex or Apex units in leu of the Helix's I'd be danger low and those units suck some serious juice.

I have an Ionic 125 AH on my 225 Pro XS (2 stroke) #1B243409 and i'm not getting that good snap the Pro XS should be giving at start up. Battery is running a Garmin/GLS10, Helix 12 and Helix 10. Battery is in good health and is charging normal and not over loaded. My dealer states to use a AGM or Lead with the correct cranking amps.

I have 250 merc, one hummingbird at console, one hds pro 10 at front with at2 and 2 power poles

Lakes I fish ain’t very big either and I don’t do a lot of running around usually

Same motor and battery, my ionic was “snappy” up until it got cold. My lead acid was always weaker sounding than the ionic. I think it was in the 40’s last time out and i didn’t think the ionic was going to fire the motor off, got better once it warmed up during the day. I have wondered if it’s something in my motor or thickening of the oil residue in the cylinders. Interesting that you are experiencing the same thing.


I have the ionic and a big lead acid (napa7234) on a battery selector switch, so it’s easy for me to compare the start up of each.

I’ve had my Ionic 3 years now and never noticed that cranking my SHO in the cold.

Must be a Merc thing. My SHO fires off quick

ionic 125 for graphs will still give you fuzzy picture towards the end of the day due to lower voltage if you run 4 graphs (it would show that it still was 40-60% charged but my volts would go on my garmin from 13.2 to 12.9 and it would destort the picture.) I went 100 amp hour 16 volt from power house lithium for all 4 graphs, livescope and 360 and it solved all my problems.

If you're getting distortion at 12.9vdc then you have some questionable wiring or connections. All manufacturers graphs are internally regulated to around 6vdc. A higher voltage battery will overcome crappy wiring though.

Sea harness and Ive seen it on multiple boats. I know we disagree about this everytime I post my set up but I am telling you i have seen this multiple times on multiple rigs with good wiring. im not going to argue with you.

I do think it’s a Mercury proXS 2 stroke thing.


I haven’t noticed any distortion on my Garmin, but I’m only running 1 now so it might be possible, I mostly have lowrances and they seem to stay the same throughout the day.

Barrett, you have 12’s or 16’s?


MinnerB, have you noticed this situation on that sexy Skeeter?

Not arguing with you at all. I have Sea Clear harnesses as well. Something I found when upgrading all my graphs this past spring is the connectors on the Sea Clear were oxidized really bad. Discovered it when pulling the old power cables off that go to it from the graphs. I didn't have a problem before hand with old graphs but did clean them up really good with a wire brush before installing new power cables.

I have an AGM dedicated for cranking only. The 125 Ionic runs all electronics/lights/pumps. I will say since it’s not connected to motor and doesn’t get the alternator top offs while running, it gets into the %30s after 9 hours. I think am 11 hour day would kill it!

On my old boat with the AGM X2, I saw voltage drop to high 11s and no change with LS clarity.

As far as cranking, my other old boat that had a merc 2 stroke required a high cranking amp battery as recommended by Merc.

I had an X2 prior to my Ionic and saw it dip into the mid 11's a few times. The SHO cranked slow then for sure. I used to carry a jump box just in case.

Yeah I always carry jumper cables and the X2 made me use them more than a few times.

I've noticed my Ionic 125 go down to 12.9 at the end of the day, but I've never seen a difference in my Active Target. I don't think I've ever ran it below 50% in a full day with some running.

Minner, do you see the Garmins start to go a bit fuzzy when the battery starts to get low?

I also believe it's a Merc Pro XS 2 stroke deal. On the BBC it's not recommended for engine over 150 pro xs as i read it. I could be wrong. I've put a 31 XHD Interstate on will see how it responds.

Lithium batteries can be a bit sluggish when cold. Once a few amps are drawn to heat it up then they perform better. As for cranking the motor first thing on a cold morning the SHO only requires 500 cca where as the 2 stroke Pro XS minimal recommended is 800 cca. Even though the motor has less displacement and lower compression that compressor takes a lot to spin over. Some say to turn all your graphs and lights on when you pull up to the ramp and get your boat ready helps warm the battery up and crank better.

I’ve got an Ionics 125 it powers two 12s a 9 and livescope. SHO motor has bust right off every time. I’ve never got below 70 percent on a single day of fishing when fully charged. Sea clear harness as well usually start the day with 13.4 volts never seen it below 13.1. I did just read an article that keeping your batteries at or below 80% charged is the “comfort zone” for lithium battery cells. Im doing this as best I can to see what kind of life I can get out of them. I’ve had this set up for 3 years and love it.

Wet cell for starting (wally world battery), dedicated 100ah lithium for electronics, two 100ah lithium's for the TM. I would ask a experienced marine engine mechanic and see what they say. They know what you should be using, and what you should stay away from.

It will change on a Garmin. Launch a jerk bait at 70 feet and see what it looks like compared to when you started the morning. Maybe its just a Garmin thing. The thing about ionics ( I have 3 50 AH trolling motor and a 125 now overkill for cranking, live well, gauges and lights etc) is why at 60 percent does a 125 AH battery start losing volts?

Have you contacted Ionic or yiur seller about your battery? Reason I ask is one of their selling points is there is supposed to be no voltage drop-off as they go down in capacity. Theoretically they should ve the same at 1% as they are at 100%.

They start losing volts as soon as anything turns on. Every battery ever made does.

The difference in the clarity of any graph changes during the day. Water clarity changes with microorganisms as they react to light. As the daylight changes, so does the need to adjust the graph for the best returns.

Modern electronics have such a tightly regulated power supply, that even if you send them 16v, the unit is only allowing 12 (or so) volts into the circuits. The other 4 volts is there to empty your wallet and make you feel better. Pure snake oil.

That’s impossible. There will always be a voltage drop…that is how the % of charge is calculated. 99% is always lower voltage than 100%. It’s simple physics.

Correct, I have non bluetooth lithium batteries for my trolling motor. The only way to calculate % is by voltage.

I'm obviously not a physicist.

Nah. But you do save lives…so that’s pretty bad [censored] in its own. ^^^

I'm just one part of a team that helps people. I don't do any of it on my own. I appreciate the thoughts though.


On the battery deal I guess I was thinking of the lithium trolling batteries where they don't slow down they just die when they hit zero unlike wet cell/AGM.

For those of you who are wondering about voltage drop on lithiums here you go. If you have less at your graph it’s your wiring. As far as image clarity, again it’s wiring or need to adjust gain like Steeze said. Water clarity changes throughout the day and even in different parts of the lake.

And when I said 12.9 volts, that’s at the graph. Not the battery.

Awesome. Thanks

Have you tried starting your engine to get your screen back running better?
If your graph is showing more than a tenth you could probably improve your situation with bigger wire from the battery to the graph.

Goodness, this thread is all over the place. Is it Spring yet?

Man. It ain’t even winter yet.

They all do it Mark. I have checked the volts at the battery and it reads the exact same as it does at the Garmin- just on hour 8 or so on a 125 IONIC (depending on the load of course) you will see your volts start to drop and change the picture. I have spoken to a friend of mine who is literally a Garmin engineer and makes this stuff. Ive seen this on 3 boats, all new, all top notch wiring etc. But in the winter when it gets good I will go out at day break and stay on the graph until sundown. Not much running around. So Im not putting a lithium battery for electronics through what most people are. All my problems solved with a 100AH dedicated 16 volt battery- it's a BEAST. It has nothing to do with the water clarity magically changing in a matter of hours... it has to do with the battery but not many are going to experience it because most are not spending a 10-12 hour day on the water when it's 35 degrees outside.

I use one of those batteries to run my garmin and scope at the bow. I would say that chart is 100 percent accurate.

Ok so let’s say I got an ionic125… how long should it last if I have it designated strictly for my electronics without being hooked to motor for charging through the day? I run a lowrance hds pro 10 and front with active target 2 and a hummingbird at console

125 ionic runs these

2 solix 15 gn 3
1 solix 12
360
mega live
2 network boxes
after 10 hours of fishing i will still be at 57 percent

Awesome. Thanks much

Also, I do some winter fishing and jw if it would be better to go with the one with the built in heater or not? 🤔

Same challenge I put forth on BBC.

For all you high volt believers, start up your OB before you turn on your electronics. Probably 13 - 14 volts. Turn them on. Let them power up fully. Turn them off. Shut off the OB. Now power up your electronics. Any difference?

Reverse the procedure. Start your electronics before you start the OB. Let them boot completely. Start the OB. Any difference?

Try in in the late afternoon after you've been fishing several hours.

I've tried this multiple times. Never a change. Helix 10, Helix 12, M360, ML, TL Ethernet. 125 AH Ionic Lithium. Dedicated 8 ga pair to a Blue Seas fuse box. Short runs to the units.

HB and Garmin both say higher voltage means nothing as long as in the specified range since voltage is controlled in the unit.

Hds 10 pro = 2.9 amp/hr
Helix 12 = 3.2 amp /hr
AT2 = 1.5 amp/hr
AT2 module =1.5 amp /hr
Total amperage draw is about 9.1 amps per hour.
In theory a 125 ah lithium could support this draw for 13.7 hours

Are you sure calculate the AT2 transducer and the AT2 module (3.0Ah)? I've not installed a Lowrance, but that doesn't feel right.

On their site, the AT2 Transducer + Module current draw spec is 1.5a @ 13.8v (20.7W). Convert that figure over to a 12.8v nominal battery and that turns into 1.6a @ 12.8v. Also each component separately is showing the same, I can only assume the pair of components is that current draw, I doubt the module sitting there without a transducer pulls much of anything alone.

My calculator is estimating around 18hr of run time for that setup.

Went ahead and got me an ionic 12v 125ah. Preciate all the help everyone

If all you are doing is running electronics without using it for the starting motor, just about any lithium battery with sufficient amp hours would do.
You don't need a battery with a big BMS rated for the cranking and charging amps that a starting battery would use.

You’re gonna like it.