Hey all,
I recently picked up a 14' Bris boat (similar to Kaboat) and am now researching motors for it. At some point I'm going to throw an outboard gas motor on it but only after we find a home to settle into. Right now we're in an apartment so with the limited space, I think the most I can pull off is a 55lb thrust trolling motor. That said, I realize the *cheapest* way to power this is by getting a 12v100ah SLA battery. The problem is that I don't really want to be carrying around 75lbs worth of battery, as if I won't have enough stuff to be lugging around already. And my left wrist is not in good shape either (some form of tendonitis/RSI). That said, I started researching more and discovered LiFePO4. Expensive but I can probably justify it as a 'backup power source' for the car, house, etc especially if I add some extra ports (USB, DC, and a readout perhaps...)
All this in mind, would you guys suggest this size of battery (12v100ah~)for my needs? Should I size up? I may consider 'future-proofing' as far as capacity need is concerned, so the 200ah~ batteries do come to mind. I'm not sure if I'd really have a need for any higher voltage though. Basically, when I'm on the boat I'd primarily use this for the motor. Maybe I'd use it to emergency-charge my phone, other devices, etc and or *possibly* power a fish finder (but I'd be more inclined just to buy a separate battery to power all that stuff. Outside of the boat, I'd may use this for the car (are these batteries even safe to leave in the car btw? I'm guessing not?) and or around the house as a emergency/backup power system - one really thing that comes to mind as far as use on the road is running one of those Massimo refrigerated coolers of these while camping.
If it makes sense to do so, I may even want to consider adding an AC outlet to the side of the case to power a laptop and possibly other stuff.
Also, what (if any) are the options for recharging this while in the car on a road trip for instance? I'm assuming you can't really charge this, or at least efficiently, from the car cigarette lighter/battery. Do you go solar in that case?
I recently picked up a 14' Bris boat (similar to Kaboat) and am now researching motors for it. At some point I'm going to throw an outboard gas motor on it but only after we find a home to settle into. Right now we're in an apartment so with the limited space, I think the most I can pull off is a 55lb thrust trolling motor. That said, I realize the *cheapest* way to power this is by getting a 12v100ah SLA battery. The problem is that I don't really want to be carrying around 75lbs worth of battery, as if I won't have enough stuff to be lugging around already. And my left wrist is not in good shape either (some form of tendonitis/RSI). That said, I started researching more and discovered LiFePO4. Expensive but I can probably justify it as a 'backup power source' for the car, house, etc especially if I add some extra ports (USB, DC, and a readout perhaps...)
All this in mind, would you guys suggest this size of battery (12v100ah~)for my needs? Should I size up? I may consider 'future-proofing' as far as capacity need is concerned, so the 200ah~ batteries do come to mind. I'm not sure if I'd really have a need for any higher voltage though. Basically, when I'm on the boat I'd primarily use this for the motor. Maybe I'd use it to emergency-charge my phone, other devices, etc and or *possibly* power a fish finder (but I'd be more inclined just to buy a separate battery to power all that stuff. Outside of the boat, I'd may use this for the car (are these batteries even safe to leave in the car btw? I'm guessing not?) and or around the house as a emergency/backup power system - one really thing that comes to mind as far as use on the road is running one of those Massimo refrigerated coolers of these while camping.
If it makes sense to do so, I may even want to consider adding an AC outlet to the side of the case to power a laptop and possibly other stuff.
Also, what (if any) are the options for recharging this while in the car on a road trip for instance? I'm assuming you can't really charge this, or at least efficiently, from the car cigarette lighter/battery. Do you go solar in that case?