FF question

Hey guys! Well, today is my birthday and to my surprise, my wife got me the Lowrance X4 fish finder. Question is, how would one go about mounting one of these onto your float tube? I don't have a fancy float tube like a fish cat or one of the pontoon float tubes where there is a storage in the rear. I wouldn't even know where to mount the 12v battery that is required to power this thing up. I'd hate to ask her to return it and get me something like the hummingbird's fishin buddy.. I really like the X4's display but not sure how I would or if I could mount the thing. Any suggestions?

Well now, happy bday there mightyminnow..you're not longer 25..right? So, we may have to change your username to mightyminnow26..

You got a wonderful woman there, buying you such a critical piece of toy. You don't have to mount a huge 12V battery. Get yourself a nice LiPO 14.8V power pack. Go to the local electronic store, and grab yourself some water shielding connectors. If you want some photo, let me know. I'll show you my setup for the Fish Cat 4 with the Hummingbird 718.

Thanks Leo but I'm actually 29 now. Getting old! 25 is just a lucky number for me haha. I would like to see photos if you have time to post them up. I found some more compact 12v batteries but they are still bulky/heavy. If anything, I was just going to make a case out of plywood or something and mount the FF on top of the case. But, I rather have the smaller 14.8v battery. I'd appreciate it.

Here are my photos of my Fish Cat mods:

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Fishfinder, and battery packs:
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2-pins tail connectors up close:
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Fishfinder power line, running to a recommended fuse box, splash proof, and to the 2-pin tail connector, also splash proof. No short circuit on my watch.
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Where did you get the fuse box?

Either at Radio Shack or the local electronic store. There is one here I always go to. The name is Electronic Warehouse in Riverside. I also see them at the local O'Reiley, Autozone, and even at Lowes and Home Depot.

I should've looked in the box first because it comes with it along with the 3 amp fuse haha. This is gonna be fun. I'll let you know how it goes

hey Guys,
Hey MightyMinnow, happy B-day. I have the same meter. Check out one our sponsors (featured add at the top of the page) floattube fanatics has some great gear for just your situation. For your power system, I use the Power Sonic PS 1229, (2.9 amp Hr.) and/or the Werker WKA12 -2.3f (2.3 amp Hr.) Both are 7"L. x 1 1/4"W x 2 1/2"T. They are a bit heavy (3lbs or so) but are VERY LONG lasting and in most cases do not need to be charged very often, (I haven't charged mine for the last 3-4 trips and I run my meter ALL DAY!). I get them from Batteries Plus+. (The chargers can be bought at the same place.) These things last a good long time. I got about six years from my last one.  

   checkit out!     bodfish

i just picked up a fishing buddy i just need to figure out how to mount it on my tube

Idratherbefishing wrote:i just picked up a fishing buddy i just need to figure out how to mount it on my tube

Here's an idea that has worked really well for me: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks for the birthday wish. Wish I would've saw this earlier but I've already purchased the material to build my mount. I'll get to it when I have free time:)

Awesome suggestion Gatorfan ima get started on it tonight I'm making a new rod rack out of abs instead of PVC my PVC rod rack fell apart on me on the water it isn't sturdy enough so I figure ill go with the ABS pipes

Im always impressed with the addition of FF's to tubes. It just seems so 'de luxe'!

David, I don't think it's a deluxe thing. Rather, it's an essential thing that float tubes lack. Of course, like a stock race car, to make things better, you just have to do some grinding, welding, and pounding to make the stock car into a performance machine..the 6-sec car. For us tubers, it's the "Stay afloat and not have the sinking feeling while you're gears-loaded" performance tubes.

YOU'RE righty Leo.
I'm always looking for the minimalist approach, so everything seems luxe to me.

Well, here's an update on what I ended up doing (Sorry guys, no photos though) So, instead of purchasing a 12v battery, I bought a this battery box kit off ebay for 5 bucks. It's very compact (maybe the size of a smart phone) and runs off 8 AA batteries which is the same output as a reg 12v battery. It also has a on/off switch. So with that aside, I followed Leo's instructions on connecting the wires together with waterproof connectors and I taped it off with electrical tape to prevent any shortage. Then, i built the housing and mount out of acryclic sheets. I drilled holes into the top of the housing to mount the FF and inside the acrylic box are the battery and wires. I also purchased a battery tie down strap made of nylon to hold the housing in place around my floattube. I also modded it so the transducer can mount on the bottom of the strap. So far so good