Deep cycle battery question

Is it necessary to have a deep cycle battery simply for my depth finder? No electric start on the motor, and no trolling motor as of yet. And I apologize in advance if this was a stupid question…

As long as it’s a 12 volt you can use any battery you have. If you have a Vex or Marcum you can even use that battery.

A HB 597 will last about 14 hrs on a vex battery.

I would agree that the vexlar/marcum battery may be your best option as long as it lasts long enough for your day of fishing. Mills Fleet may still carry a deep cycle the size of a lawn mower battery that would give you a bit more capacity. I had a portable unit when I was a kid and would use disposable 6 volt lantern batteries, connected in series, in a pinch when I couldn’t recharge a vexlar type battery. In general, with no other power needs, I would go as small and light as you can that still gives you enough run time.

My buddy uses a 12ah SLA for is electronics. He just unplugs it and takes it in the house to charge after fishing.

I ran my graphs on my flasher battery for a couple summers. Usually would make it the weekend.

Just remember with any 12v battery you use you should be running a protection circuit for the locator. Normally an inline 3amp fuse it’s what’s called for.

The advantage to the deep cycle is the repetitive discharge/recharge cycles. You will have longer life out of the deep cycle.
As mentioned is the sealed 12v 12ah make a great alternate battery. I have a few I use for black lights, other electronics, spot lights…. Ecspecially in cases where I have limited place to charge. Easy to take with you

Lets say I intend on camping on an island with no means to recharge. And I’d be there for 4-5 days. Would a regular deep cycle last that long?

And yes I will be running a circuit protector.

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Lets say I intend on camping on an island with no means to recharge. And I’d be there for 4-5 days. Would a regular deep cycle last that long?

And yes I will be running a circuit protector.

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if your just running your graph off it you would be fine with a 24 series deep cycle with power to spare.

Sounds like a small 12V solar charger would be a nice thing to take along if you don’t want the weight of a battery to transport. I got a couple for <$20 at Northern Hydrolics a couple of years ago and have used it to keep my batteries topped off, but I don’t know whether the output is going to work for constant current draw condition if you were using the battery all day long.

bottom line is you will get longer run times and the life of the battery is better with a deep cycle