Canoe And Electric Advice

[Lizardboy]

G'day All,

I found a second hand Coleman Vantage in the trading post and drove all the way out to Lithgow on Sunday to buy the thing...bit of a mission , but I was going to buy myself a new one ended up saving myself $400-500

I bought a 40lb Minn Kota Riptide about three months ago and its been sitting in its box, but now I have the Canoe I'll be looking to give it a run this weekend. I need to get a battery and charger first though so I'm after some oppinions...

How big a battery do I need...am considering doing some overnight camping trips? I was thinking about 80 Amp/hrs What brands do people suggest and where do oI get them? I'm thinking a Gel batteries may be lot safer for a canoe?

I've heard SONNENSCHEIN (80 amp/hr $400 @ Battery world) are the best, but I'm thinking that maybe a bit extravagent for a canoe What are some other quality batteries? would a 80 Amp SONNENSCHEIN provide more running time of use per charge than another brand of gel or normal deep cycle battery or would it just last a lot longer in terms of its life?

and if I get a top of the line battery do i need a top of the line charger?

It there anything I should be looking for in a charged other than autoshutoff?

Also what happens to the Battery and the electric motor if I tip the canoe (assuming the batteriy is fastened)...is everything buggerred?

I'm also looking at installing some seats, one of the " coleman stadium seats" (patented 1984 ...or something) came with it but they look pretty crap. Any tips on what seat to use, how to install it...my major concern is that i would need to be removable so it wouldn't get in the way when mounting on roof racks.

Any other modification tips appreciated!

Cheers,

Lizard

Edited November 8, 2004 by Lizardboy

[patl]

I have a Coleman Scanoe and find the stadium seats OK to use, so you can take them off when you turn the canoe over. What i also use are those cushions you can get for outdoor seats, we eventually found some smaller than normal that fit realy well.

I also run a battery (12v sealed) but I only use it to run a small Eagle sounder, FYI I mounted this with a suction cap mount (you can buy), it doesnt come off even with a small 3.5 hp outboard pushing the scanoe.

Also a set of rod holders so you can paddle if you want to troll really slow.

[junglejunky]

Hey lizard, I use a Vision 12 volt, 75amphr, deep cycle sealed marine battery on my Vantage. It runs a 30lb minkota endura. The battery lasts for ages. A mate runs a 55amphr on his and he has no probs either. Will set you back about $200 from Birkenhead batteries and is completely waterproof, so getting it wet isnt an issue. The charger I use is a sinergex pure charge 10 (intelligent 3 stage charger), will set you back about $200 as well. Have never had a problem with either product. I certainly wouldn't pay $400 for a 80amphr.

Good luck.

Matt.

[Lizardboy]

Thanks Pat,

I might give the cushions the cusiions a go, for the time being at least.

I've seen quite a few pictures of Coleman canoes with the seats modified by attaching a "School" type chair, I'm just not sure whether they are detachable.

As for the sounder I used a suction cup to mount the transducer on my kayak,

but I may eventually look to install the transducer permanently by shooting through the hul when I get around to buying a new sounder.

Junglejunky...loved chasing those JP's on a semi recent trip to Port Douglas!

Thanks for the battery advice...$200 for the charger eh, sound like the charger is very important, although I've heard plenty of people us cheapies.

I'll try and track down those brands closer to my hood (Northern beaches)

Cheers,

Lizard