Electricity question
 

Because I am weak on the electricity subject (aka: gypsy tears and fairy dust), I thought I would ask on here: Two 6 volt batteries in parallel make a 6 volt system, right?

Yes, go on.

I am thinking about adding a new fish finder to my kayak and instead of buying a new 12 volt, just buying another 6 volt and putting them in parallel to extend battery life. And when I decide not to take my fish finder, I can still run my bait tank on 6 volt.

Wouldn't you want them in series so you'd have 12 volts for the FF and a separate 6 volt line for the bait tank? May require a diode in the line to the bait tank?

Ah I see, check this link out and it will let you know every thing you need to know about dc wiring.

http://www.trojanbattery.com/tech-su...nsdiagram.aspx

Ps I'm an electrician ;)

Save yourself the hassle and get a 12v battery.

P.S.
Why would you take a bait tank and not a FF? I would assume that the FF would play a bigger role in your fishing than a bait tank.


P.S.
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I'm also an electrician

If i'm in the mission bay, i pretty much know where to go for halibut. I may skip the ff for less hassle. I may just get a separate 12 volt battery for the ff and keep the bait tank on the 6 volt.

that's what 99.99% of the yakkers do.


Sometimes simple is better:D

i ALWAYS always take my FF, in Bays & LJ.
(a) its so simple to include on any trip.
(b) even in the bay, i want to know depths, drop-offs, etc.

i never take a bait tank into Bays, but i only use artificials in Bays.
i am mainly targeting Bass in Bays.
i gladly catch any Hali that wants to bite plastic or a crank bait. :)
but i'm not "focussed" on Halis, and i release ALL bay fish anyways.

if you want to fish live bait in Bays for Hali's to keep & eat,
is the only time i would think someone would need a Bait tank in Bays.

or, if you do a Bass trny in Bays, use the bait tank as "live well" until fish measured/recorded.
.

Answer: 2- 6 volt batteries wired in series will provide 12 volts.
depending on your batteries you may have a better longer running system with the 2 - 6 volt batteries. alot of electric golf carts and motor home deep cycle systems use 6 volt batteries wired in series. most scissor lifts you find on construction sites use this method and wire 4 of them to get a 24 volt system.

You could connect two 6v batteries in series for 12v to the FF, and center tap 6v for the bait pump.

All good info. I think i'll keep it simple so i have less problems. Will using a car battery charger hurt a smaller 12 volt battery?

Generally, yes it will hurt a small battery. Unless your charger has a low enough amp setting, car chargers are meant for bigger capacity batteries and put out too many amps for our little AGM batteries.

I think the rule is to use a charger that puts out at least 10% but no more than 25% of the batteries rated AH, so for example use a 2500ma max output charger with a 10ah battery.

I use one of these G3500 Genius chargers for my 12ah batteries
http://www.geniuschargers.com/G3500

And I'd use something like the G1100 Genius (or equivalent) for a 10ah battery

Awesome! Thanks!

I have the older version of this charger from Walmart, I've used it to charge my motorcycle battery, bait tank battery, ff battery and dead car batteries


http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/02...06_300X300.jpg