Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I am looking to purchase a Garmin EchoMap plus 63cv fishfinder/GPS combo unit.I see that Garmin offers an ice fishing package that includes a battery and charger to power the unit.They say that when the battery is fully charged you can get up to 10 hours usage.I was thinking that rather than wiring power to the pontoon boat,just use it off battery pack,and recharge between trips.Any thoughts on this or experience running a combo unit on portable power?Thanks in advance for any feedback or advice.

How close is the power source to where you will mount it? My assumption is the wires are already there and you may already have an open switch to wire it to.

Personally, hard wiring it seems like the best option (assuming all the wires are already there) as you know it will never run out of juice.

On the other hand, if it is a pain in the butt to run the wires and you plan on taking the unit in/out every time (due to possible theft) then maybe the battery option would be the best.