Best Marine, Lithium and Trolling Motor Batteries - Wired2Fish

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Marine batteries for electronics, starting outboards and powering 24-volt or 36-volt trolling motors have come a long way in the last 20 years. Where we basically had a cranking battery and a deep cycle lead acid battery for our trolling motors, now we have a plethora of options from AGMs to Lithium and of course still lead acids. The marine batteries of today are some of the best trolling motor batteries and best marine electronics batteries we’ve ever had at our disposal.

With all this new technology in batteries, especially around lithium options, it’s created a lot of misinformation and made it more complicated to find the right battery for your setup and budget. This piece will share a ton of hands-on experience on the best marine batteries and trolling motor batteries out there today and how each one and each company handles their batteries. We will give you a bunch of good options you can trust.

We have also interviewed several of the engineers for today’s batteries and will follow up with a comprehensive guide to lithium power in another piece shortly. In addition, we have individual reviews of each battery coming shortly as well.

Of all the lithium options out there, we have the most experience with Dakota Lithium. I have run Dakota Lithiums for the last two years. I have used the 12V 100AH batteries and have charged them with both the Dakota Lithium 10A charger and the Minn Kota MK550PCL LiFePO4 compatible charger. Our team in Minnesota has run multiple configurations of Dakota Lithiums on the ice, in boats and in kayaks.

What we have loved is how well these batteries manage their power and how consistent they always are. I have tested them to several extremes: fishing hard on hot above 100-degree days as well as fishing on below freezing days. I’ve gone up to four trips without charging them and had them finally go to sleep on my fifth trip. And I’m always able to wake them easily by just plugging them up to their Dakota 12V charger.

The best part is I now charge them after every use and they are never below 75% on my trolling motor batteries or my electronics battery. They are charged and ready to rock in under an hour most days. It’s pretty incredible how well they hold up and provide clean, consistent power. Additionally, they make some great lithium chargers in 12V, 24V and 36V options.

Dakota Lithium has been providing stable lithium power for longer than a lot of other brands, and their batteries are some of the most proven in a wide plethora of applications. They offer some of the most robust options as well as, considerably, the widest array of options to fit any scenario or need you could have in fishing. Even their smaller batteries are solid choices for kayak fishing and ice fishing applications as we’ve used them a bunch for both.

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Millertech is one of the more impressive lithium battery options out there with more than 15 different options of lithium batteries for anglers and boaters with more in design now. They have a battery to fit every application a fisherman may need. Their prices range from $329 up to $1,499 covering a lot of bases in batteries that will last you 5-10 years, sometimes much longer depending on usage.

We spent a lot of time testing their batteries in a variety of situations from powering electronics, starting an outboard and powering a trolling motor. Their battery management system (BMS) is very well designed, and we never encountered the first problem. It hardly seemed that the batteries even got drained down. I ran the Millertech Dual Purpose 12V 135Ah lithium battery for several trips without charging and it was still more than 50% charged. A very impressive battery to say the least.

The battery is rated at 1,500 cold cranking amps, which is not really a thing in lithium power, but it’s more than enough to start an outboard. What you actually need to start an outboard is so many continuous amps for a number of seconds. Say, 5 seconds. So say 20 amps at 5 seconds. This battery has 200 continuous amps. Now keep in mind, you might not want to get this as a cranking battery if you have an engine where it voids the warranty, like Yamaha. However, you can for sure with a Mercury outboard and probably other brands as well. So it’s more than enough to crank your outboard and power your graphs all day long.

We’ve also tested the 24V 80Ah battery as a single battery for a 24-volt trolling motor, and it’s been super impressive as well. The batteries are extremely well made, manage power terrifically and charge fast. We are reassured that any issue that might come up will be handled swiftly.

What you really pay for in this battery are the quality components and build and the service and hassle free warranty. This is where Millertech really shines. They believe that is where they excel. They are making batteries to last a long time, but they are standing behind them with a no-hassle, long-term warranty with quick, immediate service. We talked to the owner Lester Miller about this recently.

“All of the top lithium battery makers are using the best cells,” Miller said. “Can I make a battery better than the other guys? Probably not if we are all using the best available stuff. But what I can do is make sure if you have a problem, I take care of it. And if you dial our phone for support, someone answers immediately. If you spend a lot of money on a lithium battery, someone better pick up the phone when you call and need them. That’s what we’re focused on. Building the best, smartest batteries possible that fit the actual needs of anglers, and then being there if they need us or just have a question about the best way to maintain their battery.”

Full disclosure, we know a lot about lithium power now thanks in large part to spending time learning from the engineers at these companies and owners like Lester Miller. This is one of the best batteries we have tested thus far. Read the full spec sheet here.

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I’ve fished a bunch of days out of a kayak with a Motorguide Xi3 trolling motor with this battery and I love it. It charges fast, holds a charge a long time and provides ample power for all day trolling around in a big 13-foot kayak. It’s built with precision waterproofing, vibration controls and fire suppression technology. One of the worst things for a lithium battery is water on the cells and keeping water out of batteries in an environment prone to be more watery is an important feature. Higher peak discharge means it also has stronger starting power. But for running a graph or a trolling motor all day on a small boat or yak, this battery is hard to beat.

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Compact. Light. Powerful. These are all reasons we rated this as a top choice for Fishing Kayaks. I have been running the ZPRO Lithium 12V 50Ah battery in my Jackson Kayak Byte FD to power my Livescope and 9-inch graph. It’s impressive how good my screen looks and how it’s good all day. The battery charges quickly at the end of the day as well. ZPRO has done a lot of testing and provides a lot of options that fit a wide variety of fishing applications from kayak batteries to full 36-volt trolling motor solutions and everything in between.

The 12V 50Ah comes with a handy app that tells you how each individual cell is doing as well as operating temperature, voltage levels and a lot more! It’s one of the better apps for these bluetooth battery options we’ve tested. We also got the 10AMP charger for $79. It charges the battery fast enough to be back on the water in about 4 hours.

I keep mine in the YakAttack BackPak Pro Krate along with my Livescope module. I can take the whole crate out and charge and travel with ease. Then I can fasten the crate to my Kayak to keep my battery secure on the water. The ZPRO Lithium 12V 50Ah has been a perfect kayak solution for me.

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A relative newcomer to the Marine Battery market, the Precision Power has been testing for more than 2 years behind the scenes, putting their battery through every possible scenario through a network of anglers and using that feedback to perfect the control board and algorithms of their lithium battery prior to release. Their engineer has arguably some of the most extensive knowledge and background in lithium power of anyone in the industry. They are moving slowly and cautiously to understand how lithium power is needed in fishing boats and what issues anglers constantly face with power in boats to best address these concerns with the best batteries on the market. Several batteries are in development now that they have done the ground work on what is missing and needed in lithium power for marine applications.

All of this is in an effort to make sure fishermen feel confident they are getting a well made, solid battery at the price. It is IP66 rated for waterproof build. The death knell of lithium power is water. So keeping water off the cells is paramount. Where most folks run into trouble is charging a really cold battery, and the heat builds up condensation inside the battery. These batteries have a slick display panel for the status of the battery and an app on Android. The Apple app is going through final stages of approval.

The batteries have a 5-year full warranty and a 10-year limited warranty. Customer service is what they pride themselves on. Working at all hours of the night to help fishermen make sure they are good to go the next morning for an early tournament. They are also currently developing other options so their lineup will continue to expand after perfecting this first battery for marine electronics—their bread and butter knowledge base.

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The voltage is probably what stood out to you on the list, as it should. This is actually a great differentiator and what sets this marine battery apart from its counterparts. This was the first, and one of just a couple, 16V lithium multi-cell marine battery options on the market. While some of you are worried about it blowing up your graphs, it’s actually the opposite. Many guys have been powering their Livescope box with jimmy-rigged cordless drill batteries that are 16 volts. Today’s modern electronics are power hogs and actually want more than 12-volts. Increased power allows you to have a cleaner image, especially on live imaging and forward-facing technologies.

Terry Brown has been running the PowerHouse Lithium battery system in his boat and raves about how clear and bright his graphs are while fishing all day without any interference or stepping down while the motor is in use. He paired it with a PowerHouse Lithium Run and Gun 16V Charger so he can charge his batteries on the water and off.

PowerHouse Lithium offers good warranties that include full replacement for the first 7 years. At 7-10 years, it is repair or replacement, whichever is necessary. They also offer the only additional extended offer past 10 years where at 11-15 years you can still get a 30% discount on buying your replacement if you are the original owner as a reward for being a loyal customer.

Their service is some of the fastest and preventative in the industry. Their app checks for potential problems on a constant basis with the battery. The app will report a slight degradation in any cell, so you can file a claim and get a replacement quickly BEFORE YOUR BATTERY DIES. You don’t even have to send the battery back for verification, you simply send the app screenshot of the cell in question and they ship your replacement, sometimes same day if filed early enough. Customers in Zone 1 or 2 will have a new battery the next day and usually 2-3 days for everyone else. You might not even experience any downtime.

This is another solid brand doing some unique things with lithium marine power.

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These came in late in our testing, so they have not been in our boats as long as some others. I am super impressed with the RELiON 36V 40Ah system. I’m currently running the 36V 40Ah battery in parallel with another one and getting 80Ah on my 36V system. These batteries are powerhouses. You get a 38.4V system 1536Wh per battery with a capacity of 40Ah and you can run the system in parallel to double your amp hours.

What many folks don’t know is that 36V controllers are made to work in 36V environments and give you way more leeway in one battery degrading your whole system. First, you have to understand in parallel or series systems, when one battery goes down, the whole thing is down. You’re only as good as your worst battery.

With a 12V battery you have 4 cells at roughly 3.2V or something like that to get you to 12.8V. So if one of those cells gets close to its shutoff level, the whole battery is dead. This gives you less leeway in that shutoff threshold. However, if you have a 36V system you have a lot more leeway with one cell shutting down the battery. Ultimately, 36V systems in parallel are actually a better choice for anglers than three 12V batteries in a series. Your 12-volt batteries have 12V controllers and are somewhat limited on managing a 36V system. A 36V controller is way better equipped to handle your 36V power environment in each battery and as a system.

The RELiON 36V 40Ah batteries impressed me with their power. I ran a trolling motor the other day on a windy day for about 4 hours. When I got off the water and checked the charge (part of my testing), I had used hardly anything for power. I hooked it up to my 36V 18A Dakota Lithium Charger, and in 8 minutes my batteries were fully charged. Now, granted, a Garmin Force is very good at managing power consumption when on Anchor Lock. I was doing that a lot and used almost nothing out of my RELiON system. I have a lot of examples of this. I’m somewhat amazed how little these RELiON batteries have to be charged. An hour on my charger most days, and the system is fully charged again.

It’s some of the cleanest power I’ve used. This battery is $1,089 which lands it middle of the road for other comparable 36V lithium batteries with similar amp hours. Not the best but not the worst either. They are part of the Navico group so if you’re a Lowrance guy, they are being optimized for those systems. They power my Garmin system equally well. Lastly, they don’t make chargers so you will need a lithium charger of your own.

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Wired2fish Associate Editor Sam Hanggi switched over to all lithium batteries a few years ago. Currently he runs the 12.8-volt, 160-amp hour Impulse Lithium as both a cranking battery and to run all five of his graphs. He also runs two 36.8-volt, 40-amp hour Platinum Series Impulse Lithium batteries for his Ghost trolling motor. He charges all of his Impulse Lithium batteries using the Power-Pole Charge.

Not only did he go from 5 lead acid batteries to three lithiums, but he went from 300 pounds to 91 pounds in his battery compartment with these Impulse Lithiums.

He has been testing these batteries for a while. The 12.8V 160Ah Impulse Lithium battery will run 5 graphs, plus Humminbird 360 and Active Target 2 modules, all day for several days before needing to charge. It also has plenty of continuous cranking amps to fire a Mercury 250 PRO XS 4-stroke without fail. They charge quickly and hold a charge well with a good lithium charger.

Impulse Lithium also offers a full, 10-year (non-prorated) warranty on their batteries. Read our full review on Impulse Lithium 12.8V and 36.4V batteries.

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We took a chance on the Goldenmate battery after seeing it on Amazon. They reached out to us, and we agreed to test it to see if one of these lower priced Amazon batteries was as good as the rest. I have to say, we have been very pleased with this battery thus far, especially at $295 (discount for W2F readers). It has a great digital read out on top, as you charge it. It has a bluetooth app that connected quickly and kept me informed on the battery through my testing. I charged it with a 10A 12V LiFePO4 charger, it charged fast and the charger shut off correctly. We used it as our electronics battery; I was also able to fish 4 trips with it before having to charge it again. So it has a good run time.

I actually expected to have issues as there are so many off-brands on Amazon, that it’s sometimes difficult to tell the good ones from the less reputable ones. The Goldenmate Orion 1000 has been nothing short of impressive to me. Obviously longevity is the question here as is service. So I will continue testing that more and report back. They use grade A cells, and the warranty is 5 years for manufacturer defects. They report that you will get 10 years or 3,000 to 5,000 cycles. Even after that period you will still get 75% to 80% of the battery’s rated capacity as it slowly degrades after 10 years. Service is also said to be “within 24 hours” so it won’t be instant and quick like the more prominent brands.

I give this battery a thumbs up. It was my most pleasant surprise in the group as a lesser known brand. Goldenmate is offering our readers a discount on their batteries as well.

If you buy direct from Goldenmate on the button below, you can use code WIRE2FISH to SAVE 30% on their site. Use this code: 786Q9JNH to save 5% on the Amazon link below.

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Amazon Discount Code: 786Q9JNH Goldenmate Discount Code: WIRE2FISH

I ran the Walmart Everstart Batteries for more than a decade without a single problem. I had 3 of those 29 series Deep Cycle batteries last me more than 5 years. The fact that you can pay roughly $100 and get a battery to power your stuff for 5 years is a pretty darn good deal in my opinion. I still use an Everstart Marine battery for my cranking battery because all it does is start the boat and run my livewells.

These are simple, no-nonsense lead acid batteries. They will degrade over time and not put out as much power in the latter years. However, they are easy to keep charged if left on a trickle charger or charged right after use. They come with a 2-year, free-replacement warranty. I’ve even had them prorated if brought back in year three, which is when they start to degrade. This battery also has 845 MCA to start your outboard. Although it’s made specifically for marine deep cycle use.

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When it comes to marine batteries or trolling motor batters, you have your typical 12-volt lead acid batteries, AGM (or Gel Mat) batteries and you have lithium batteries (LiFe PO4). These can be used to start an outboard, power lights and pumps, power multiple electronics and fish finders and run a 12, 24 or 36-volt trolling motor. One of the key components are that the batteries are waterproof. The batteries need to provide ample energy and duration to power your various needs on the boat or kayak and, the batteries need to do so for many years. Obviously there is a tradeoff between price and longevity. When it comes to technologies like lithium batteries, you pay more for service, support and warranty as well as improved information about your battery through bluetooth apps and on-battery displays.

The two main things you need to know before purchasing a marine battery are your budget and your power needs. You can rough estimate some of it. But you can also power to cover your bases. A 12-volt lead acid battery that is a 31 series will have a bit longer run time than a lead acid battery that is a 24 series. They will also generally have more continuous cranking amps to start an outboard multiple times throughout a day of fishing. Likewise, a 12V 160Ah battery is going to be able to run more electronics for a longer period than, say, a 12V 40Ah battery will. Start to game it out by asking yourself simple questions like the following:

When you have a rough idea how much power you draw and how long you draw it you can figure out what setup you need. The best battery manufacturers will provide the best service to help you pick the exact right batteries for your personal setup, not just try to sell you the most expensive battery.

We will also be providing an in-depth guide for choosing the right lithium power options for marine/fishing applications very soon to remove a lot of the myths around lithium power and help you be very comfortable with running lithium batteries. There seems to be as much misinformation out there as correct information and too many people trying to make lithium power work like lead acid batteries work.

I, along with the other editors at Wired2fish, spent an inordinate amount of time testing all of the batteries in various scenarios, recording their usage and data, monitoring battery behavior over days of use, testing in different boats, kayaks and more. We will be adding a comparison table shortly to quickly look at all the batteries side by side as well. You can trust that we don’t just list what’s popular.

We only share information on equipment we have used and fished with. There is not a single battery in this guide that we have not used and tested. A lot of other guides might just go off of Amazon sales or something similar. We won’t do that. We have spent months testing to put together the best resource for anglers. We want to make sure there is as much hands-on information in real-world applications for anglers to make the best decisions they can on how they spend their money.

Currently working as Senior Advisor to Wired2fish. Former COO and Publisher, Jason Sealock came to Wired2fish shortly after inception in January of 2010. Prior to that he was the Editor-in-Chief of FLW Outdoors Magazines. He worked up from Associate Editor to Photo Editor and finally Editor in Chief of three magazines FLW Bass, FLW Walleye and FLW Saltwater. He set the content direction for Wired2fish while also working directly with programmers, consultants and industry partners.Sealock has been an avid angler for the better part of 40 years and has been writing and shooting fishing and outdoors content for more than 25 years. He is an expert with fishing electronics and technologies and an accomplished angler, photographer, writer and editor. He has taught a lot of people to find fish with their electronics and has been instrumental in teaching these technologies to the masses. He's also the industry authority on new fishing tackle and has personally reviewed more than 10,000 products in his tenure. He has a 30-year background in information technologies and was a certified engineer for a time in Microsoft, Novell, Cisco, and HP.He mostly fishes for bass and panfish around the house. He has, however, caught fish in 42 of the 50 states in the US as well as Costa Rica, Mexico, and Canada and hopes to soon add Finland, Japan, Africa and Australia to his list.