Rigging Two Bateries In My Boat

[Fishcapades]

I Need Some Help... I Want To Instal Another Batery In My Boat, Curently Only Have One. I Cant Have Them Sitting Next To Each Other. It Has To Be On The Other Side Of My Boat, About 5 Feet Away From The Existing One. Is There Any One Who Can Help Guide Me Thru This Instalation?.. Im Planning On Installing A Onboard Charger Also. How Do They Work And Whats A Good One To Get?

Thanks For The Help.

Carl

[WALLEYE MIKE]

Are you having 2-12volt or a 24v system?

[SalmonBum]

Most boats I have been on have one battery on each side. You want to start out with a Dual Battery switch. Make sure to spend the extra $10 on one that has the field disconnect to eliminate the chance of alternator damage due to inadvertent switching. The switch will have super easy instructions on installing them. Pretty much run your main positive wire from the motor to the switch. The switch will have a positive wire for each battery. The ground from the motor can go to any battery, then just get another ground cable to hook neg #1 to Neg #2. You may need to get longer cables that come with the switch. I'm not sure the length that comes standard.

Depending on your needs, a simple on-board charger will do the job if just wanting to maintain the charge. The one on my boat is a converter/charger and when hooked up to Shorepower, the DC stuff on my boat will run from the converter/charger and not off the battery. Example: I have a dead battery at the dock, as soon as I plug in the SP, I have full use of all 12v. With a regular charger, you would need to get a charge back into the battery because the juice will be pulled form the battery and not the charger. Most of the time you shouldn't have a dead battery and the reg charger will do the job since it there to maintain the charge.

I know many people that have a $100 charger that takes care of their needs. I have a 4/4 amp, 2 bank charger on my 17 ft Bass boat just to maintain the trolling motor batteries and it does a great job for $60. I have a friend that has this same unit on his Big water boat and it works just fine.

[Fishcapades]

Its Going To Be 2 Deep cycle 12 Volt Batteries. What I Want To Do Is Be Able To Run My Lowrance GPS And FishFinder While My Main Motor Is Shut Down And I Am Trolling With My 9.9 Johnson Kicker Motor. I Still Want To Have Enough Power To Start Up My 125hp Force When I Decide To Move Or Head In. Once I Head In I Want To Be Able To Charge The Batteries With Out Pulling Them From The Boat... For Instance, When We Go Down To Steerling State Park I Want To Be Able To Back My Boat In To The Camp Site And Plug Something In That Will Charge Both Batteries For The Next Day.

Thanks For The Help.

[SalmonBum]

This will do what you are asking.

http://www.basspro-shops.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=45195&hvarDept=200&hvarEvent=&hvarClassCode=3&hvarSubCode=4&hvarTarget=browse


I had a 15hp kicker on my old boat that was set up to charge one battery. It had a harness coming out of the motor cover that would connect to one of the batteries to keep a charge on it. Worked pretty good. I wish I had more info to give you on it, but that is all I know. I bought it that way.

[Fishcapades]

Thanks, But Would A 9.9 Johnson Have A Alternator On It?
It's A Older Model Like Early 80's.

Carl

[Beave]

Probably not. You can buy a trickle charger for $15 at most automotive stores, the kind with a 120VDC plug. Plug the battery in when you park the boat in the garage and you're good to go.

[WALLEYE MIKE]

On my boat all electronics are hooked to the starter battery and only the trolling motor is on the other batteries.(24v system) Never had a problem with the starter battery going dead.(even while using lights) Those ectronics consume little battery power.

For an on board charger you would need a 2-bank charger. It will have 2-pos. and 2-neg leads to hookup. Very simple instuctions will come with it.

[Fishcapades]

Wont Rigging Two 12v Batteries In Line Make 24V? I Dont Wanna fry All My Electronics.

[Jason Adam]

They need to be rigged in Parrallel to remain 12V. 2 12V in series will be 24V. Some people want a 24V system for high amp applications like big trolling motors. If you were going for 24V, the switch would not be necessary. If you go buy a switch, it will have instructions with it. This is really a pretty simple setup done on most boats out there. Just go get a swich, read the directions and you'll be good.

[Fishcapades]

Thanks Guys For The Info...