Posts: 410
Location: With my son on the water | A guy should be able to do the math on this to determine this, but there are always variable that will affect this like (wire size, battery condition, temperature, rpms, and alternator efficiency). But it's basically amps being drawn out versus amps being replaces.
If you look at the specs of any given locator you should be able to determine the amps required to run the unit per hour. You can also look at the alternator specs of an outboard which will tell you how many amps are produces per hour (although it is not show in hours so I could be wrong).
In the case of something like a Merc 250 opti it has a 60 amp alternator. So I am assuming that means that at higher RPMs the alternator will product 60 amps per hour, or 1 a minute.
I do know that for many guys on smaller lakes it is common they consume more amps with the electronics than the outboard is able to replace. So it is wise to either have an onboard charger or use some type of battery tender to top off the starting battery on a regular frequency.
I personally have also gone to starting batteries with more reserve and my problems have been eliminated too.
Have a good day.
Brad |
