Minn Kota 1820175 Trolling Motor Marine Battery Power Center

This is an excellent product for the price point. If one were to buy all the components separately this product would cost nearly double the price. I paid $56 dollars for this product. The circuit breaker and power level gauge alone cost about that price. Throw in a rather sturdy case and two dc outlets with circuit breaker make this product an easy buy. Oh, and the outside post terminals are extremely convenientPro's: 1.Battery can be charged from the outside post. Thus you never have to open the top of the case.2. Power gauge/meter is a great feature.3.The 2 DC outlets work great. Before I bought this power center I connected a DC outlet to my battery and it fried my charger. No issues with this thus far.4. Case is rather sturdy and built of decent quality.Con's: 1. Battery gauge/meter only works accurately if the motor has been off for 60 seconds. This is written on the box itself. Not a big deal but it would be nice if you could test the battery while the motor is running.2. As some have commented I wish the top snapped onto the bottom of the box. The strap is what is used to connect the bottom and top box together. It doesn't feel secure so I just grab the box by the bottom of the box. Not a big deal.Overall, this product is excellent. The con's are me just nit picking and for the price this is a no brainer. I did several hours of researching this type of product and buying the componets seperately. This is the best product that I could find that has everything you need and is the best overall value I could find. Hope that helps.Battery Info: For those individuals who where wondering about 27 batteries and bigger fitting into this product.This Minn Kota Power Center fits my EverStart 29DC Marine Battery from Wal-Mart. However, it is a tight fit and this case would not hold anything much bigger. Many have commented that this only fits 27 batteries or smaller but this is not true. Wal-Mart lists the dimensions of my 29DC battery at 13 inches x 6.75 X 10 (L x W x H). I am not recommending getting a 29 size battery and Minn Kota only rates this to fit 27 or smaller sized batteries but this product is excellent considering the price point. Closing the top on the 29DC battery takes a little caress but this is not an issue since you never really have to take off the top cover since you can charge the battery from the outside posts.

I really like how this is set up. It has (2) auxiliary cigarette lighter type outlets to run things from your iPhone or iPod, GPS, fish finder, or whatever you desire and can plug into a cigarette lighter plug. Not to mention that it is protected by a breaker and you do not have to worry about things possibly getting damaged. The top of it is set up great with the battery power meter which displays the current state of charge left on the battery, and the breakers (a 60A for the trolling motor, and a 10A for the accessories) to reset. The posts where the trolling motor hooks up are very sturdy and are quite easy to use. The battery box as a whole is very sturdy and well put together. I have a size 24 deep cycle marine battery and there is ample space inside to put a size 27 battery. It also comes with brackets to secure the battery box strap to the boat. I use this in my 9 foot john boat and it does quite well. My only gripe for this is that it does not come with foam spacers for the size 24 batteries. I do not need a heavier 27 in my john boat and the size 24 does the job with the trolling motor since it is a 115A/h. Other than that, it is a great box that has the cool things and will do what you need and then some while protecting your boat and trolling motor.

I own both the MK (Minn Kota) pwr station and the UM (Unified Marine) 50090681, therefore I'm writing this for both. Luckily I purchased the UM to hold my back up battery. If quality is worth the cost to you then the Minn Kota is the choice. I've had the MK pwr station on few trips so far with no problems.Quick comparison: MK box container is well made and transports my heavier 27 battery with no problems, strap is well made. Now for the UM, placed my lighter 24 battery and proceeded to lift box by the handle - handle came up but the box remained on the floor. Unbelievable...quick fix drilled some screws through to secure the handle, not sure how long this will last. Strap hasn't broke yet, but my confidence is very low that it will make it out of the garage for the 2nd trip.Power meter: MK works well with good quality readings on charge. UM, not sure why they bothered to even place this on the box...cheap/unless. Only reflect a full charge when you have it plugged to the charger, and that's the only time you can trust what it reads.Power lugs are fine on both, with the MK still being better quality.Power accessory have not used yet so can not provide any feedback.As stated above I only got the UM for my back up battery case so not overly disappointed, it works for my application, it's priced low, has a circuit breaker and pwr lugs work fine, so I'll give it a 2 star rating. However, if your getting this as your primary box for your trolling motor with needs of a higher quality box with a power meter that works, it's best to spend the extra money on better box. I'm rating the MK with 5 stars