Cigarette plug vs other plugs for sounder

[tacklebox]

Just wondering whether to go the cigarette plug & socket option for my sounder or something different? Kreel's cigarette plug/socket is a bit temperamental so I'd like something more reliable.

The idea is the battery will live in a waterproof box with a socket mounted to it for easy removal from the kayak.

Saw this at BCF https://store.bcf.com.au/productdetails.aspx?PLU=117704 and other 2 and 4 pin plugs at Whitworths but I have no idea what I'm looking at to be honest.

Also, should I put the fuse between the sounder and plug or socket and battery? I'd prefer it lives in the box with the battery.

[noname]

i'm guessing this is for a kayak? cig lighter sockets are useless in the elements at the best of times, myself i would get 2 water resistant fuse holders, yellow in color, with a soft rubber feel to them. mark 1 accordingly as to positive, and just leave to other 1. so from the battery you will have

2 wires, say between 6 inches and however long they need to be, then 2 fuses on both pos and neg.

and from the fuses to your sounder, and you just disconnect the fuses to take the battery or sounder out! hope it makes sence:huh:

dunno if that helped

rob

[tacklebox]

thanks rob. yes, it's for the kayak. is this what you mean? http://www.whitworths.com.au/main_itemdetail.asp?item=33548&search123=fuse&intAbsolutePage=1

[noname]

tacklebox wrote:

thanks rob. yes, it's for the kayak. is this what you mean? http://www.whitworths.com.au/main_itemdetail.asp?item=33548&search123=fuse&intAbsolutePage=1

yep, thats them

[Feral]

Tacklebox, I dont use a plug as such. My 7ah battery lives under the front hatch in a lunch box silasticed to the hull just in front of the transducer (no dear I dont know where the kids lunch box has gone) I just use two normal spade connectors from the cable to the battery terminals (and yes the positive one has an inline fuse). I also reckon you could easily get away with a 4ah battery, which is half the size of the 7ah unit, as I cant remember how many trips mine has done since last charge and it is still reading 13 volts.

[hairyweasel]

If you want to go with the convenience of a plug in connection, you might consider an Anderson plug. It's a 2 pin plug thats designed to go on the outside of a tow vehicle for aux power to a caravan, so it has good connectivity and reasonable weather resistence.

They're avaialble at most auto accessories stores. You can go with an inline fuse, or install a self resetting fuse of the appropriate rating inside the battery box.

[faulked]

ive found the anderson plug to be terrible versus the elements i left mine plugged into the battery 'not the motor' and left it on the tinny seat it fell down into the hull where about half inch of rain pooled it shorted that badly one terminal of the plug dissaperd i had to replace the whole plug

if the sounders a ram mount id forget putting an exposed union in at all and do it the feral way of just disconecting at the battery when parked and using the device switch the rest of the time

[hairyweasel]

faulked wrote:

ive found the anderson plug to be terrible versus the elements i left mine plugged into the battery 'not the motor' and left it on the tinny seat it fell down into the hull where about half inch of rain pooled it shorted that badly one terminal of the plug dissaperd i had to replace the whole plug

if the sounders a ram mount id forget putting an exposed union in at all and do it the feral way of just disconecting at the battery when parked and using the device switch the rest of the time

For it to short badly enough to burn out a terminal, I'm guessing you didn't have a fuse?

[faulked]

hairyweasel wrote:

faulked wrote:

ive found the anderson plug to be terrible versus the elements i left mine plugged into the battery 'not the motor' and left it on the tinny seat it fell down into the hull where about half inch of rain pooled it shorted that badly one terminal of the plug dissaperd i had to replace the whole plug

if the sounders a ram mount id forget putting an exposed union in at all and do it the feral way of just disconecting at the battery when parked and using the device switch the rest of the time

For it to short badly enough to burn out a terminal, I'm guessing you didn't have a fuse?

unfortunately no fuse it was on the battery side of the cable ive learnt a lesson there though :blush:

[tacklebox]

thanks for the replies everyone. I've posted a pic of kreel's to help explain this a bit better. the cable that attaches to the sounder is fixed to the kayak so that we can seal in behind it.

noname: when you unplug the fuse holder, does the fuse fall out?

feral: I presume you've just drilled a hole in the lunch box and siliconed around the cable? I already bought a 7ah battery so will have to lug it around for the time being.

hairyweasel: anderson plug seems overkill for what I need but thanks anyway. [img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/mao.jpg

[noname]

it will have a small bit of tension holding the fuse in place. i was refering to a water resistant fitting/ plug! that you could disconnect quickly and easily, and also be reliable.

[buzzid]

mate i use the plugs in the pics for all my electric stuff. had them in place for about 2 years now and no sign of corrosion at all. i use a couple as power points, 1 at front of boat for spotlight etc and 1 near sounder for i don't know what but i put it there anyway. hope this can help in some way mate.

buzz... [img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/boat_007_AFO-7abb01fdf7d29ccc24eba44031deae71.jpg

[buzzid]

the power point at front. the other half of socket plug is connecrted to spotlight or whatever one wants to run.

buzz... [img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/boat_017_AFO.jpg

[Silver]

hairyweasel wrote:

If you want to go with the convenience of a plug in connection, you might consider an Anderson plug. It's a 2 pin plug thats designed to go on the outside of a tow vehicle for aux power to a caravan, so it has good connectivity and reasonable weather resistence.

They're avaialble at most auto accessories stores. You can go with an inline fuse, or install a self resetting fuse of the appropriate rating inside the battery box.

Can anyone tell me what would be the appropriate fuse to install for a 7ah battery running a small Hummingbird sounder and where you would get a self resetting fuse of that rating?

Thanks John

Sorry for the hi-jack

[rayke1938]

Silver wrote:

Can anyone tell me what would be the appropriate fuse to install for a 7ah battery running a small Hummingbird sounder and where you would get a self resetting fuse of that rating?

THe instruction/installation book for your sounder will give the correct fuse rating. You wont be able to get a resetable circuit breaker for such a low rating.

Cheers

Ray

[noname]

as ray said, normally around the 3amp

[hairyweasel]

Silver wrote:

hairyweasel wrote:

If you want to go with the convenience of a plug in connection, you might consider an Anderson plug. It's a 2 pin plug thats designed to go on the outside of a tow vehicle for aux power to a caravan, so it has good connectivity and reasonable weather resistence.

They're avaialble at most auto accessories stores. You can go with an inline fuse, or install a self resetting fuse of the appropriate rating inside the battery box.

Can anyone tell me what would be the appropriate fuse to install for a 7ah battery running a small Hummingbird sounder and where you would get a self resetting fuse of that rating?

Thanks John

Sorry for the hi-jack

Your sounder draws bugger all power, a 2 amp fuse is an overkill. In theory, the fuse really needs to be rated to the wiring. If using 10amp wire, your fuse needs to be less in order to protect the loom in the event of a short. In practice you generally go as light as possible without incurring nuisance tripping.

I'd go for a self resetting 5 amp fuse, you shouldn't get nuisance tripping and it'll easily protect your loom. They're available at Dick Smiths and Supercheap.

[Silver]

Thanks for the replies Guys

I like the sound of the 5amp resettable so off to shops I go.

[rayke1938]

You rate the fuse to the device that you are protecting not to the wiring. Also for a sounder they recommend a quick blow fuse.

Cheers

Ray

[Feral]

Tacklebox,

No, not drilled and silasticked. The lunchbox is open. I did originally set it up for the battery to lie down in the lunchbox and was going to do that.

However I ended up the battery just sits in there up right, with a couple of bits of pool noodle stuffed in between the battery and the edge of the lunch box. Holds it all good and tight, If I turned the yak over it would probably fall out, but I doubt it would do any damage internally.

I'll wander down the shed and see if I can get some photo's.

OK here are a swag of photos from different angles etc. Should be enough to give you the general idea. of how I set it up. Because I colour co-ordinated the lunchbox its hard to see really well, but transducer is just behind it,Battery can sit flat and lid shut, but I figure if the Yak went upside down the battery weight would probably pop the lid anyway, and its only about 150mm to the hatch, so unlikely to do any damage.

[rayke1938]

Simple wiring diagram for 2 pin plug and socket. You only need one fuse that you place in the live ( Positive) lead having a fuse in the negitave lead is only introducing another possible failure point. [img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/IMG_1171_AFO.jpg

[rayke1938]

THis is showing using the 4 pin set up using one socket and 2 plugs one plug is for the sounder and the other is used for the battery charger. Whilst more expensive this set up makes it easy to connect the charger with the assurance that it is impossible to reverse the polarity and blow up your charger.

Cheers

Ray [img size=500]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/IMG_1170_AFO.jpg

[tacklebox]

Thanks for the diagrams Ray. The 2 pin setup will probably be the go as our charger clips directly to the battery terminals and changing this means kreel has to change his setup too.

Feral, thanks for the photos. I like the colour coding! What did people do before pool noodles were invented? :laugh:

Buzzid, great setup! Much better than having wires all over the deck.