I should add a 2nd battery...

[airshot]

Agreed I have good covers & always used them even though it’s a pain but the boat isn’t self bailing so you just have to use em. And no matter what they all leak some!

Back in the day, my canvass covers always leaked a little, but very manageble. Last cover I had made looked like the material used in convertible car tops, not sure the name. Never leaked a drop, sold the boat after 10 years and did not when I sold it. Neighbor has that stuff, I think it is sunbrella, not positive, but it is light weight and blows around in the wind and that one leaks alot. If it were mine, I would have returned it....

 

[cyclops222]

My Chaparral Had a 2" stitching that leaked when new. Took cover to a canvas maker. & $ 15. Done.

 

[JASinIL2006]

My 19' bowrider came with a single battery, which I did not like. I added a house battery via the Blue Sea Add-A-Battery kit. Pretty easy installation. There are many online vendors that will make custom marine battery cables in just the length and size you need.

I really like the redundancy of having a second battery.

 

[Lpgc]

My boat is daily launched so is unlikely to ever have a flat battery due to the bilge pump. But it has 2 batteries and a battery selector switch (off, battery 1, battery 2, or both batteries connected).

I recently took the boat to the river after not using it for 5 weeks, turned the key to start it, no start I just heard a click then saw the voltmeter was reading off the bottom of the scale. Checked to see which battery(s) were selected on the switch, thankfully only one of the batteries was selected. Turned the switch to the other battery and it started straight away... I'm not sure what flattened the battery that was flat but I was pleased the boat had 2 batteries and the ability to easily switch between them.

This reminded me of something I had intended to do but never got around to it... With only 1 battery selected on the switch the alternator only charges that battery but if I fitted a voltage sensing relay setup I could leave the switch with only one battery selected, it would still charge both batteries when the alternator was running but any electrical load while the engine wasn't running could only flatten the battery that was selected at the switch... I had intended on fitting a voltage sensing relay that would connect both batteries in parallel whenever the alternator was running even if only 1 battery was selected on the switch.

Voltage sensing relays usually switch when they read above around 13volts. Some have only 3 wire connections, a common earth, connection to a primary battery and a connection to a secondary (or leisure) battery, if a type with only the 3 connections were fitted it would work to charge battery 2 (the secondary battery) if battery 1 (the primary battery) were selected on the battery selector switch but if you selected battery 2 on the battery selector switch it wouldn't charge battery 1... unless you fitted 2 such relays and wired them so each battery was wired to the 'primary' of 1 of the relays.

But some voltage sensing relays have 4 wire connections, a common earth, connection to a primary battery, connection to a secondary battery and a separate voltage sense wire (the voltage sense isn't hard wired inside the unit to the primary, you choose where to connect the voltage sense wire to). If a 4 wire relay were fitted and connected to each battery via a diode (2 diodes) you'd only need 1 relay and would have a system that charged both batteries if the battery selector switch were set to either battery 1 or battery 2 but if it were supposed to switch at 13volts it might switch at 13.7volts due to a 0.7volt drop over the diodes... although you can buy voltage sensing relays with adjustable switching voltage so could set switching voltage to 12.3volts and it would still switch at 13volts. In fact it just occurred to me the diodes wouldn't be necessary, just connect the voltage sense wire to the charge wire of the alternator.

 

[dingbat]

....

 

[kd4pbs]

The best solution would be to use a battery isolator for the charge circuitry. No moving parts, no relays, no voltage sensing circuitry which might not actually switch in case of a heavy load. Can be used for any number of batteries.

 

[ESGWheel]

My 23’ bow rider came equipped with only one battery as typical. For the last few years, we are moored at a dock that is 3+ hrs away. There is no power at this marina, nor is it manned and no cell service, so my concern is similar > bilge pump running the battery down (yes it covered and seals as good as can be but leaks a little and what if it a section gets accidently unbuttoned, etc.). And it can be weeks between our visits.

While I have not done it yet due to life’s events, I have all the bits and pcs and will be installing a Blue Sea Add a Battery with their ACR device.

But with an added piece of mind: a second bilge pump at a slightly higher level. I plan on having the primary bilge pump wired to the house battery and the 2nd pump to the starter batt. But the 2nd pump will be at a higher level then the first, idea is that if the first fails or the onset of water intake exceeds it, the 2nd will kick in when it gets high enough.

Another aspect of 2 batts: need to be sensitive to mixed battery chemistry. Ability to have mixed chemistry is a function of how you charge.

Also, the ACR device does have a slight current ~ 1mA (even with everything off) so for my situation I plan on adding in a relay tied to the ign switch that will ‘turn it off’ when docked (how to use this feature is called out in their instructions).

To answer you question “should you add a 2nd battery?” my suggestion is no. Reason you are 200 feet away from the boat and can easily monitor it. Is there power at the dock? Could add in a charger. If you are away on vacation for extended periods where you will not be able to monitor, then yes.

 

[Jeff J]

We have had bilge pumps kill batteries here with boats parked on lifts in covered slips and good boat covers (not generic fit all) installed. You wouldn’t think much water would get in but it does. I have also encountered bilge pumps running with no water to pump and the switch off because of stuck floats. It kind of freaked me out the first time I encountered a bilge pump emptying a boat and found all of the switches off.

Most of these boats have 2 batteries and a battery selector switch. Kind of nice to have a backup battery. I pitched the #1 battery on odd days and #2 battery on even days to a couple fleet managers but I don’t think any of them ever attempted to do it. I guess they would rather pay me to needlessly swap out batteries.

I haven’t had a lot of luck with jump packs. They seem okay for boosting a weak battery but I have yet to see one that will start anything that actually has a dead battery. It is as if they won’t even try if they don’t sense enough voltage. Modern battery chargers seem to be the same way.

 

[ESGWheel]

I haven’t had a lot of luck with jump packs. They seem okay for boosting a weak battery but I have yet to see one that will start anything that actually has a dead battery. It is as if they won’t even try if they don’t sense enough voltage. Modern battery chargers seem to be the same way.

I got one of these some years ago: NOCO Boost GB40 and last year my truck batt was dead, as in not even a click. The NOCO has an override button for when it does not sense the min. of 2V (I think its 2). To my amazement, it did the job. Amazement b/c like you I had my doubts but bought it anyway. Glad I did

 

[airshot]

Being that far away and unmaned, I am surprised your boat is still there ! With that said, you safest bet would be to go with a LifeP04 battery. The run time is easily 3-4x as long as any lead acid battery and you can get them in even bigger capacities, so they can run for days. My 140ah Lipo battery can run my trolling motor for over 20 hours with ease, imagine how long a little bilge pump can run ?? If you have two pumps and two batteries you could go for weeks !

 

[Lou C]

I added the dual battery system w/ 1, 2, 1+2 and off switch & all new cables about 20 years ago, I keep the boat on a mooring that is basically right behind where I live, private beach assn., so I can always monitor it and get to it, but still nice to have redundancy. I just alternate use of the batts, odd days, #1 and even days #2, I also use a digital voltmeter on the dash. I check the voltage of each battery and will use the one that is a bit lower, just to make sure it gets charged. It's nice to have a digital read out of each battery....

 

[guy48065]

...
I haven’t had a lot of luck with jump packs. They seem okay for boosting a weak battery but I have yet to see one that will start anything that actually has a dead battery. It is as if they won’t even try if they don’t sense enough voltage. Modern battery chargers seem to be the same way.

Around 2010 or so I bought a used Ford Explorer. It had a 5.0L and after owning it a few weeks I found that of I left it for more than about 5 days it would run the battery down and not start. After dealing with this a few times I bought a cheap lithium pack from Walmart and it never failed to start my dead V8. I was impressed. As a test I disconnected the battery one winter morning and that lithium boost pack started the V8 stone cold motor. Now I'm REALLY impressed.
Ever since I've had one in both my cars, and sometimes keep one in a side-by-side.

The only issue I've had is they don't last more than 4-5 years.

 

[ESGWheel]

Being that far away and unmaned, I am surprised your boat is still there ! With that said, you safest bet would be to go with a LifeP04 battery... If you have two pumps and two batteries you could go for weeks !

Dunham’s Bay Marina > about 100 slips in a feeder to Lake Geroge. Low bridge to get to the lake so all the big boys are on other side (and its a different ownership). Our windshield clears the bridge by only 6 inches. We were day trippers for years there before renting a slip. I talked to a lot of the locals, and no one even seemed concerned nor knew of any issues. Some of the locals had been there more then 20 years. So yes, concerned initially but no more. Only concern now is battery going dead while still needing to pump water I have already bought matching lead acids but when they need to be replaced, I will consider going the LiFePO4. Thanks!

 

[Lou C]

I've been getting 7 years average from the lead acid GP 27 dual purpose batteries I use. My boat is covered but of course some water always gets in and I have never had a dead battery from whatever time the bilge pump has to run.

 

[froggy1150]

If you are away from boat for long periods you might want to look into a solar charger/maintainer

 

[cyclops222]

I NEVER recharge a really run down battery with the boat engine alternator. Almost none are rated to charge a full sized battery if it is very run down. Use a 120 vac plug in wall charger.

 

[airshot]

I've been getting 7 years average from the lead acid GP 27 dual purpose batteries I use. My boat is covered but of course some water always gets in and I have never had a dead battery from whatever time the bilge pump has to run.

I had 6 good years from my LA batteries, no complaints, but for the price of two LA deep cycle batteries, I bought one 140ah LifeP04 battery and it has 3-4x the run time as the 2 LA batteries ! Plus is not worrying about recharge until the Lipo gets down to 30% capacity. These batteries actually last longer by not keeping them at full charge like an LA battery needs.

 

[airshot]

I NEVER recharge a really run down battery with the boat engine alternator. Almost none are rated to charge a full sized battery if it is very run down. Use a 120 vac plug in wall charger.

Most battery mfgrs that make LA batteries, recommend a slow charge when their battery is really low....the high voltage charge from an alternator when the battery is really low will shorten the battery life. Family member has an auto repair shop, when folks run their batteries really low then just let their vehicle charge it back up, typically need that battery replaced within 6 months or a year at best. Often within months. While most battery mfgrs honor the warranty, it will definitely shorten their lives, however if slow charged up to 70-80% the battery life is extended greatly.

 

[guy48065]

I had 6 good years from my LA batteries, no complaints, but for the price of two LA deep cycle batteries, I bought one 140ah LifeP04 battery and it has 3-4x the run time as the 2 LA batteries ! Plus is not worrying about recharge until the Lipo gets down to 30% capacity. These batteries actually last longer by not keeping them at full charge like an LA battery needs.

So now you're running just the one battery?

 

[airshot]

So now you're running just the one battery?

For the trolling by motor...yes...just one 140ah. LifeP04 and can get 20 hrs of operation or more.