Question on Battery for FF

I just bought my first fish finder the other day and I have a few questions on batteries I hope you guys could help me with.

First off, I don't know too much about electronics, lets get this out of the way.

I was thinking of buying this battery I saw mentioned on here to power it - Anker 20,000mah
http://www.amazon.com/20000mAh-Aluminum-Portable-Multi-Voltage-Technology/dp/B005NGLTZQ

But my impatience kicked in and I bought this from Fry's for the price listed.
http://www.all-battery.com/ComboTenergyLiFePO4BatteryChargerand12-8V10AhLiFePO4Battery-90593.aspx

Now my question has to do with the outputs and capacity.  As I understand "mah" stands for milli amp hours, and "ah" stands for amp hours.  So I would assume the LiFePO4 battery has 10,000 mah, which is half of what the other battery shows, yet costs twice as much.

The LiFePO4 battery is meant as a direct replacement for a SLA battery, so I'm sure its more heavy duty, etc, but is it more than I need?  Should I order the Anker battery instead?

Thanks in advance guys.

What is the operating current draw of your fish finder?
Also, how long is a typical fishing outing for you and how many outings would you like to have before you run out of battery for your ff?

10ah lipo? Should be fine in my opinion. Which model ff? I would make sure to protect that lipo battery from any water exposure. More so than a sla battery.

Sorry, forgot to give the rest of the info.  The FF is the Lowrance Elite 4x HDI I picked up from Fisherman's.  I plan on running an over the side transducer (if that matters), or possibly the through the scupper.

Oh, and the battery isn't LiPO, its an LiFe battery which doesn't have near the water problems as LiPo if I'm correct (which I may not).

Dang, that thing pulls .75 amps according to the manual. 

Anyway, if you don't mind paying the money, the LiFePO4 is a top-notch choice.  You'll for sure want a 10 amp-hour battery though.  Theoretically, that will give you 10/0.75 = 13.3 hours of continuous operation.  You could probably dial down the screen brightness and get an extra 20% more life.  A sealed lead acid gel cell battery is a good way to go too and they are much cheaper(that's what I use).  You could go with the 20 Ah Anker but it's tough to know what kind of life you'll actually get out of it.  Since you're going to be running it at 12 volts, it won't be 20 Ah but you'll probably get at least 10 or 12. 

I and others would be really interested to know what kind of life you would get out of the Anker battery though.  So if you go with that, be sure to let us know how it does.

I run the elite 4 hdi and an 8ah sla. 100% brightness and all three screens. I never had it die, and I will run 4-5 small trips or one whole day before charging. I also would like to see your results with better quality batteries. Good to hear that is not a lipo, I have little knowledge in the battery world.

I run the elite 4 hdi and an 8ah sla. 100% brightness and all three screens. I never had it die, and I will run 4-5 small trips or one whole day before charging. I also would like to see your results with better quality batteries. Good to hear that is not a lipo, I have little knowledge in the battery world.

How much does that 8ah SLA weigh and what are the dimensions?  I'm curious about the cost/weight/size comparison.

Pricey batteries!  I use a cabellas 12v battery+charger that cost me $20...it lasts me at least 12 hours on my Lowrance Elite4.  Sometimes the cheap ones work fine too!

-Martin

I'm actually on the water now, so a cannot give you specs. I will weigh it tomorrow

I'm actually on the water now, so a cannot give you specs. I will weigh it tomorrow

I won't usually bro a guy if I don't know him...but bro, put the phone down and fish!

I use a cabellas 12v battery+charger that cost me $20...it lasts me at least 12 hours on my Lowrance Elite4.  Sometimes the cheap ones work fine too!

-Martin

Right on! I probably have the exact same battery (8ah) and it's been kicking for almost two years now...probably over 100 trips and it lasts a full day with no issues on my elite-4...on overnight trips I just hook it up to my jeep battery with some alligator clip leads and let it equalize then go out again the next day (I've done this for as many as 4-days straight). I know you EEs are freakin' out but hey...it works absolutely fine...no fuse, no dry box, no math equations, no problems.

I use a cabellas 12v battery+charger that cost me $20...it lasts me at least 12 hours on my Lowrance Elite4.  Sometimes the cheap ones work fine too!

-Martin

Right on! I probably have the exact same battery (8ah) and it's been kicking for almost two years now...probably over 100 trips and it lasts a full day with no issues on my elite-4...on overnight trips I just hook it up to my jeep battery with some alligator clip leads and let it equalize then go out again the next day (I've done this for as many as 4-days straight). I know you EEs are freakin' out but hey...it works absolutely fine...no fuse, no dry box, no math equations, no problems.

As someone in the EE world; freaking out...not so much.  Curious...sure.  Did you connect it in series or parallel?

I won't usually bro a guy if I don't know him...but bro, put the phone down and fish!

Don't you know that checking your phone, grabbing a snack or taking a relief zipper break, while your line is still in the water, entices fish to bite.

Funny you say that. I dropped anchor in 40' and set my line to about 25'. I proceeded eat my lunch leftovers from work and play on my phone for a few minutes. Sadly, no bites.

I don't purport knowing much more about electronics than I can get (and usually do) shocked often. That said, I use a 12V flashlight battery that lasts me about 40 (3-4 hrs.) trips fishing. I have the Lowrance X-4.