Battery cable

[ahmincha]

I am relocating my battery to under the console. That is about a 11' total distance from battery to motor connection Will 2 gauge wire be sufficient

 

[midcarolina]

#2 should be more than sufficient...

 

[UncleWillie]

#2 awg will usually be sufficient, but not always.

Is this the starting battery? Or a house battery?
What size is the engine? 20hp? 300hp?

 

[ahmincha]

Sorry for lack of info My plan is to have 2 batteries right now I have a marine battery. I have not purchased the second battery yet so I can get what I need. The motor is a 1988 Suzuki 115 carbed

 

[UncleWillie]

If the second battery is intended to be a "House" battery.
#10 wire with a 30 amp Self-Reseting Breaker at the Battery Switch would be fine.
Add an ACR and the whole system becomes automatic.

Assuming the 115 Suzuki is an outboard without a lot of excess charging capacity....
Not wiring it and charging it by shore power would also be an option.

What size is the alternator on the engine? What is the intended use of the battery? House Power? Backup Starting?

 

[sam am I]

U.W.,

But what if ?............He wants/uses this second yet to be bought/installed batt as his HB BUT, he thinks/wires it as a second emergency "start" batt?

Just making sure he's clear, I see you indicated just "House", totally clear to me, np. But "#10 wire with a 30 amp Self-Reseting Breaker at the Battery Switch would be fine. Add an ACR and the whole system becomes automatic." he won't be able to start through it if he thinks/wires it via a O1A2 for example switch as a backup emergency start batt.

 

[ahmincha]

Thanks for the reply My boat is a 19 center console it will have a bilge pump live well nav lights radio and a winch anchor minn kota pontoon style also I will have a 9.9 mercury electric start kicker motor. Yes my motor is a outboard and I am not sure what amp it charges or how many amps it takes to start it
I guess I was thinking that spare battery be a backup emergency type hook up

 

[jc55]

Almincha, I have a DT200 suzuki and a 9.9 kicker as well, on a starting battery and a "house battery". I used #4 and have quite a few lights and "stuff". Everything runs off of the battery switch except for the 9.9. The 9.9 is connected directly to the starting battery. Kickers can be used as quiet little "generators" in a pinch(emergency pull start), so if I want to charge the house battery I switch the battery switch to "Both". There's quite a few ways to configure and #2 should really be more than enough.
(I also have a disconnected emergency positive cable running to 2 more batteries up front, on solar charge, for an emergency - all gounds common)

 

[ahmincha]

Nice to here from you jc I have to get this project finished so I can come down by you for a day. I ran 1o better safe then sorry. Have not seen you on rebuild forms for awhile guess thats good for you

 

[jc55]

Hey if you come down, I'll show you around, because I need a Lake Erie guide! Got a boat seaworthy, sold one and will be back to the resto thread here to finish up. Looks like you're coming along.

 

[NYBo]

Remember that the 11' is each way for a total cable length of 22'.

 

[ahmincha]

NYBo I do not follow 11' each way batteries and switch under console connections to motor at stern

 

[NYBo]

I assume you were indicating each cable is 11', making the entire circuit 22'. You have to be careful when reading charts for determining cable size for a given load and a given length. The length in the chart is often the total for both the positive and negative legs so if you used the 11' figure, the chart would give you a smaller cable size than you really need. Off the top of my head, I don't know if 2 AWG is large enough for that length.

 

[ahmincha]

Ok I see I ran 11' of 1/0 red pos and 11' of 1/0 black neg I upped the wire size to 1/0