Helix 7, trying to run on battery charger with out the battery

I thought it would be nice to be able to practice with my Ice Helix 7 with just the head only and not the shuttle and battery.

I took the unit power cord off the battery, hooked the alligator clips from the charger directly to the unit power cord and the unit wouldn’t power up. I tested my set up with a VOM and I had 13.2 volts at the unit end of the power cord.

I put the battery back in the system and the unit power on without any problems.

Why won’t the unit work with the battery out of the system? It is getting 12+ volts from the charger. My only idea is that the charger doesn’t supply enough amps to make it work.

It just seems a little weird that I don’t have a way to power it from the wall. It’s a ton lighter without the battery and sits easier in my lap in my comfy chair.

Thanks for any thoughts.

What kind of battery charger are you using?

HRG

The one that came with the unit, from the charger: Humminbird Model AU121000US-E Part #406694-2 Output: 12v DC -1A.

Thanks for the reply.

the 1 amp output probably isn’t enough. What else do you have that outputs 12V DC?

HRG

Hot Runr Guy wrote:

the 1 amp output probably isn’t enough. What else do you have that outputs 12V DC?

HRG

Well, I’m that guy that never throws away a charger so tons, but I’d be afraid of polarity problems. I also have a deep cycle battery that I could MacGyver.

I looked up the power draw and the non Ice Helix 7 CHIRP GPS G3N draws 800MA so the charger should be enough. The charger does charge the battery after I’ve used it.

That’s an excellent way to fry your electronics.

So you have the shuttle and battery but rather take your chances frying your unit?

I don’t get what the advantage is here

slowpoke wrote:

That’s an excellent way to fry your electronics.

How so?

tornadochaser wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>slowpoke wrote:</div>
That’s an excellent way to fry your electronics.

How so?

You need what is called a “filtered power supply” to avoid voltage spikes which can and will damage sensitive electronics. The link below is a short explanation .
power supply info

I’m no genius on this kind of stuff but aren’t those little chargers just trickle chargers? Maybe that’s it.

Wow, I had a nice post almost all done when something shiny floated by, I chased it, failed to catch it, and when I got back my reply was lost somewhere in the ether. Oh well.

So, my conundrum was I wanted to practice with my unit without the weight of the shuttle and battery. I want to sit in the comfort of my living room, in my comfy chair and not have 16 pounds of stuff on my lap. To try and accomplish this goal I took unit out of the shuttle and therefore the battery out of the power equation, replaced it with the charger hooked up to the power cord and the unit would not power up.

What I have discovered since is the charger is rated at 1amp and the unit draws 800mA.

In my quest for a solution I visited Humminbirds site. They sell filtered power cords but not for the Helix system. The filtered power cord appears to have the same end on it as the Helix. My unit is an All-Seasons that came with a power cord for boat installation, this cord is not filtered. Huminnbird also sells a 12v power cord that plugs into a power port, it is not filtered either.

I thought about purchasing the 12v power cord for a power port (cigarette lighter hole) and using the huge deep cycle battery that lives out in the garage and the cord with the female power port and clips that is around here somewhere, but carrying that battery around is worse than having the 16 pounds of fish finder, shuttle and battery in my lap.

Perhaps there is some kind of feed back system that detects if there is a battery in the system. All I know about electricity is it is invisible until it arcs and then it hurts a lot. So does the battery act in someway to filter out the voltage spikes and smooth out the signal/wave form from the charger?

Lots of hassle for something I though would be easy. It is odd that there isn’t a power supply that I can plug into the wall and learn my ‘bird. I went to a seminar at the local big box store and they had 25 units plugged into a system that plugged unto the wall. The seminar was sponsored by Humminbird and the power supply was provided by them.

Anyway, just trying to pass the time in a constructive way instead of being glued to the corona news.

Thanks for all the replies.

Fishbonker wrote:

So does the battery act in someway to filter out the voltage spikes and smooth out the signal/wave form from the charger?
Lots of hassle for something I though would be easy. It is odd that there isn’t a power supply that I can plug into the wall and learn my ‘bird. I went to a seminar at the local big box store and they had 25 units plugged into a system that plugged unto the wall

Typically the charger is only charging the battery with the unit turned off. No the battery will not filter the line voltage spikes.

” It is odd that there isn’t a power supply that I can plug into the wall”

There is, I already told you about it. You should be using a “filtered/regulated power supply”. This will plug into a 110 volt wall outlet and provide 12 volts of filtered clean power for your electronics to run off of. Google is your friend and you will find many choices on Amazon and Ebay as well as other direct sellers of “filtered/regulated power supply” devices.

Fishbonker wrote:

W

So, my conundrum was I wanted to practice with my unit without the weight of the shuttle and battery. I want to sit in the comfort of my living room, in my comfy chair and not have 16 pounds of stuff on my lap. To try and accomplish this goal I took unit out of the shuttle and therefore the battery out of the power equation, replaced it with the charger hooked up to the power cord and the unit would not power up.

Why not just make a set of extension leads, so the battery sits on the floor? Nothing more than male & female spade terminals and some wire,,,,

HRG

Huntindave wrote:

There is, I already told you about it. You should be using a “filtered/regulated power supply”. This will plug into a 110 volt wall outlet and provide 12 volts of filtered clean power for your electronics to run off of. Google is your friend and you will find many choices on Amazon and Ebay as well as other direct sellers of “filtered/regulated power supply” devices.

Sorry, I didn’t discern that from your post and if I had I’m not sure I’d trust my investment, big to me small to some, to a non-branded item. If Humminbird had a product that does what I’m trying I might think about it. It was a fun exercise in trying to make it work.

Hot Runr Guy wrote:

Why not just make a set of extension leads, so the battery sits on the floor? Nothing more than male & female spade terminals and some wire,,,,

HRG

I though about doing that on the end of the extension that goes from the charger to the battery to get rid of those alligator clips and leave that extension on the battery when I go fishing. I’m afraid the alligator clips will fall off.

I did see a post somewhere on here on which terminals to purchase. As soon as the corona passes I’ll be headed to town. No hurry on that project.

Thanks for the reply.

You could just buy a cheap 110 converter to 12 volt from Harbor Freight, or online.

One thought about the stock 1amp wall charger not getting it powered up. If the unit is rated 800ma but the startup needs more that might be it. Thinking along the lines of generators and how things like freezer compressors need a ton more juice at start up than to keep running.