My IPilot is Pretty Awesome But....
 

Ok, so I bought a new boat and it has an I Pilot. I am pretty amazed with it for the most part but there are a few things that have me wondering. The anchor feature is invaluable but if you are in a strong current the motor will basically run non stop anywhere from half to full throttle. This puts some serious drain on the batteries. I have a 36 volt and after 2 to 3 hours the batteries are pretty much drained. This is my first 36 volt so I am not sure if I am asking too much of it or if I have bad batteries. To me it seems like it should have a little more juice than what it has but I due realize it is bucking some serious current holding a heavy boat in place. The batteries are interstates and look to be about a year old. If it is the batteries how do I tell if they are all bad or if its just one? Can you burn these things out running them hard? Anyone have any experience using the anchor feature in a strong current?

Clampy does . I had a 101 normal and I could push my 24' bay boat all day long in a stout wind and not kill the batteries. All my batteries were gel though. Idk if that makes a difference.


"Go ahead, share your opinion! I won't cry"

Bad batteries. Might just be 1. I could run mine all day with regular batteries Now I have agms and I could probably fish in heavy current two days straight

Been thinking about swapping mine out to AGM. Im having the same issues with interstates on my ipilot, 24v though. they are slowly loosing capacity. mine are starting year 3 so im due to replace after this season.

Your charger should tell you if batteries are bad and if only one or two which ones they are.

I've anchor locked mine in strong current for a few hours with no problems.
It does awesome if the current or wind is constant in one direction. I don't use it much when it's calm.

Turn your motor on and check eA cb one with a volt meter

Thanks guys. I probably just replace them all with AGM. Where's the best place to buy them?

Ive been looking at Amazon and they have a great deal on on Optima D31 AGM battery for like 218. Everwhere else its about 250.00.