FatherOfMany
1 µW
- Joined
- May 12, 2015
- Messages
- 3
Hi guys, my first post here. I had it in the Battery Technology first, but then saw this forum so moving it.
I've just bought an Old Town Predator XL kayak, which comes with a 45lb thrust Minn Kota electric motor.
I'm in New Zealand, which is really just a big island between two oceans, so weather conditions change very quickly here and I wanted a motor on my kayak in case I get caught out there by bad weather.
The Minn Kota motor comes with this Maximizer technology which means that (when not at full throttle) it sends short pulses of electricity to the motor to control speed rather than just burning off energy with a coil. It's meant to give you up to 5 times more battery life, depending on what speed your going at.
Currently I have an el-cheapo 40AH LifePo4 battery from a previous motor, but I want to upgrade as this motor supposedly uses up to 42 amps per hour at full throttle, which doesn't give much running time.
I'm looking at getting a 100AH LifePo4 battery and would want to drain it to 70-80% to get as much time as possible on the water.
I've just installed a "Watt's Up" meter which gives you AH consumed, but someone commented that a watt meter is not very accurate with the pulse (Maximizer) technology.
So my questions are:
Is that correct? Will an average watt/amp meter (AH meter?) not be accurate with pulse technology? If not, how far would it be out? (I don't need 100% accuracy, but probably I want to know within 10% of actual remaining battery AH).
What can I use to check remaining battery power for LifePo4? It sounds like their voltage stays pretty solid until it's drained, so that might not mean much with LifePo4.
FYI, I haven't been out with the new kayak yet
Hope you can help. I have read what my little brain can consume about batteries and LifePo4 and whatnot over many weeks (starting before I bought the 40AH), but have no prior experience with electrical systems.
I've just bought an Old Town Predator XL kayak, which comes with a 45lb thrust Minn Kota electric motor.
I'm in New Zealand, which is really just a big island between two oceans, so weather conditions change very quickly here and I wanted a motor on my kayak in case I get caught out there by bad weather.
The Minn Kota motor comes with this Maximizer technology which means that (when not at full throttle) it sends short pulses of electricity to the motor to control speed rather than just burning off energy with a coil. It's meant to give you up to 5 times more battery life, depending on what speed your going at.
Currently I have an el-cheapo 40AH LifePo4 battery from a previous motor, but I want to upgrade as this motor supposedly uses up to 42 amps per hour at full throttle, which doesn't give much running time.
I'm looking at getting a 100AH LifePo4 battery and would want to drain it to 70-80% to get as much time as possible on the water.
I've just installed a "Watt's Up" meter which gives you AH consumed, but someone commented that a watt meter is not very accurate with the pulse (Maximizer) technology.
So my questions are:
Is that correct? Will an average watt/amp meter (AH meter?) not be accurate with pulse technology? If not, how far would it be out? (I don't need 100% accuracy, but probably I want to know within 10% of actual remaining battery AH).
What can I use to check remaining battery power for LifePo4? It sounds like their voltage stays pretty solid until it's drained, so that might not mean much with LifePo4.
FYI, I haven't been out with the new kayak yet
Hope you can help. I have read what my little brain can consume about batteries and LifePo4 and whatnot over many weeks (starting before I bought the 40AH), but have no prior experience with electrical systems.