Adding a secondary battery?

[rhino_160]

Hey all,
I have acquired a second marine battery for a Manitou toon. The second battery will only be used to power my cd player and led lights. I will NOT have it hooked up to the motor. My question is this:
Can I jump the negative on my 2nd battery to the negative on the first battery so I will have a proper ground? I have a battery shut off switch that the cd player hot wire runs into, so i can cut power at the end of the day. I just need to be able to ground it and didn't want to have to run a long ground cable somewhere. Thanks.

 

[alldodge]

Re: Adding a secondary battery?

Hey all,
I have acquired a second marine battery for a Manitou toon. The second battery will only be used to power my cd player and led lights. I will NOT have it hooked up to the motor. My question is this:
Can I jump the negative on my 2nd battery to the negative on the first battery so I will have a proper ground? I have a battery shut off switch that the cd player hot wire runs into, so i can cut power at the end of the day. I just need to be able to ground it and didn't want to have to run a long ground cable somewhere. Thanks.

Yep, no problem with that. There will be no impact to either your main battery or your second

 

[rhino_160]

Re: Adding a secondary battery?

thanks for the quick reply. i might as well ask: what if i jumped the ground and the positive to the main battery, so they are hooked up together. would the alternator charge both the batteries that way or am i putting too much of strain on the alternator and looking for more problems? Its a Suzuki DF70A motor. Thanks

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Adding a secondary battery?

When you start getting into that sort of thing its time for a selector switch.

 

[alldodge]

Re: Adding a secondary battery?

thanks for the quick reply. i might as well ask: what if i jumped the ground and the positive to the main battery, so they are hooked up together. would the alternator charge both the batteries that way or am i putting too much of strain on the alternator and looking for more problems? Its a Suzuki DF70A motor. Thanks

+1 with MH Hawker, your engine is enough to charge both batteries given enough time, but the Alt on your motor is not big enough to do both for normal operation. Get a onboard battery charger and just plug it in when you get back. If you get a 2-bank charger it will maintain your main and charge your second

 

[HarborRat]

Re: Adding a secondary battery?

I'm trying to think of a good reason to even ground it in the first place? Everything should be two-wire hook ups, the body of a pontoon isn't used as a ground for electrical reasons, I wouldn't think, and the less attached to the body means less hydrolysis of your toons if something goes wrong. Lightning strikes? I still don't see how it would help. Trolling motor batteries aren't normally bonded, so why for a radio? Maybe there is a reason....I just can't think of one unless you expect to use the "body" as a ground, which is a very bad idea.

Either way, I'd go with a Perko 1/2/both switch. Go out on 1 and come home on 2 so both stay charged with the alt...only use "both" in an emergency....your little alternator will not last long charging both at the same time.

 

[dls322]

Re: Adding a secondary battery?

+1 for all the responses. I used a dedicated stereo battery in my old boat. I liked the piece of mind that i could park the boat then listen to the radio all day not worrying about the boat not starting. Then depending on how much i used it, i would just remove it from the boat and bring it up to the house to charge it over night. I wired everything to the post terminals so i just slid them off and grabbed the battery handle and off i went...easy.

 

[rhino_160]

Re: Adding a secondary battery?

i ordered the Perko switch that Harbor Rat recommended. I am just going to hook everything up to both batteries via the switch. I will just switch back and forth depending on the need. I also installed two marine trickle charges for the batteries that way at night I will give them a full charge before the next day.