Ice Fishing With Dakota Lithium Batteries by Scott Olsen of HSM Outdoors
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I’ve been testing the Dakota Lithium 10Ah battery in my Vexilar for the last month and a half and it just won’t die. When I first got the lithium battery, I let it charge overnight to make sure it had a full charge.
The Dakota Lithium battery doesn’t need a special charger when using your Vexilar. It has a peak detection charger built-in its charging system. At the end of the charge cycle, my Vexilar FLX-28 read 13.6 volts, which is a full charge for this battery. In my testing of this battery, I wanted to know a couple things, first, what the weight of the lithium battery is compared to the traditional lead-acid battery and second, how long will the battery last if left out in the elements and under normal use of ice fishing.
The Dakota Lithium 12V 10Ah battery is the perfect companion for your fish finder.
The results were remarkable. The Dakota Lithium battery weighed in at 2.14 pounds and the lead acid battery weighed 5.3 pounds. For me, this was huge difference because I’m a hole hopper when I’m out ice fishing.
The second part of this test was even more remarkable. I wanted to see how long the battery would last by leaving it out in the elements using it in normal fishing conditions. I left the battery hooked up to my Vexilar and left it in the elements.
Temps ranged from the low -30° to as warm as 45°. I used it primarily on weekends and a couple days during the week. After the first day’s use, the Vexilar read 13.6 running after about 6 hours of use. I continued to use it a few more days with about 5 hours each day.
It wasn’t until the tenth day when I started to see a voltage of 12.7 and 12.4 after the 15th day of use. If you were to add up all the hours, I figured I ran my Vexilar for about 68 hours. I would have let it go farther, but I was heading out to Hill City, SD for a long weekend.
If you’re looking for a new lightweight battery, I highly recommend the Dakota Lithium 10ah.