Battery Question for components

16Pilot

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Mar 18, 2004
Messages
205
First of all, would it be a good idea to have a battery specifically for my radio, depth finder, dc adapter etc.. and then another for starting?<br />Second what kind of a charger system wouid I need to link the two and keep everything properly charged and hooked up? Thanks, Chris
 

Boatist

Rear Admiral
Joined
Apr 22, 2002
Messages
4,552
Re: Battery Question for components

Pilot Chris<br />Lots of difference Idea here so I tell you how I set up my boat. I have two batteries. Battery 1 I use for starting and every thing needed to run the boat. That means navigition lights, bilge blower, Horn, Winshield wipers, bilge pump, trim tabs, and engine trim motors.<br /><br />Battery 2 has the rest, which is most of the stuff left on when you are not under way. That is VHF radio, Loran C, GPS, depth Finder, accessary plugs.<br /><br />I charge both batteries thru a battery isolator any time the engine is running. This means a bad battery can not run down a good battery. Also even if one battery looses connection the alternator will not burn it self up.<br /><br />I have a Battery switch that I can change to starting off of either battery. I leave the switch on number 1 all the time except to test starting off of battery 2 before our long ocean trip each year.<br /><br />I also have a Power connection on the bow and a charge wire that runs to the same battery isolator. This plug I use in two ways. During the off season I hook my battery charger up to it once a month to charge both batteries. I also have a 12 volt line to my trailer from my trucks alternator. I can use this line to charge both boat batteries while traveling down the road to launch or on the way home.<br /><br />It has been hooked up this way since 1980 when I first got the boat and have had no problems with it. Also have not had a battery that did not last 6 years, however I do not have any big battery eaters like a trolling motor or radar.
 

16Pilot

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Mar 18, 2004
Messages
205
Re: Battery Question for components

thanks alot boatist, what would I be looking for when I go to buy the isolator ans switch, will there be a certain name for that setup? like this for instance would I need a battery combiner?
 

18rabbit

Captain
Joined
Nov 14, 2003
Messages
3,202
Re: Battery Question for components

I am a big advocate of the same scenario Boatist mentions; except for the bat isolator but there should be something to protect each bat bank from each other … like a battery combiner, which I prefer instead of a battery isolator.
 

ThomWV

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Dec 19, 2003
Messages
701
Re: Battery Question for components

And on the alternative side of the fence I do not set them up like that at all. In a small boat I far prefer two independent and isolated (but without the use of an isolator) systems with only the battery connection as an interface. Because we operate in a way that absolutly requires that we have backup the wireing methods mentioned above, while common and great for some boats, simply would not be safe for us. An Isolator gone defective can leave you with no power at all. They also drain a miniscule amount of power anytime they are connected, if you are using the boat or not. That doesn't work for me at all.<br /><br />I connect each battery (using identical combined dual-purpose Deep-Cycle/Starting type batterys) to the battery swtich input terminals. The engin's negative side cable is attached to one of the batterys and then a jumper is run to the negative cable on the second battery (you will need this jumper no matter what system you go to). The engine draws its power from the output lug on the battery switch, a cable from that lug also goes forward and supplies power to our circuit breaker panel (or fuse block). <br /><br />With this system you choose which battery you want to use for the outing, be it No. 1 or No. 2 doesn't matter. We alternate. So one battery is always held in reserve, fully charged, and able to operate any device on the boat as well as start the engine. There is no isolator or combiner to go bad and drain the system. Either battery can power anything on the boat. <br /><br />We also have an on-board charger that is wired into a very simple AC power system. The AC is comprised of a single GFI and breaker protected circuit to an outlet in the cabin and the circuit to the charger. We leave the boat on the charger virtually any time the boat isn't in motion. <br /><br />I do not have to charge while driving down the road because I leave the house with my batterys at 100%. We power two GPS's, two VHF radios, an AM/FM/CD player, a 600 watt fish finder, a Radar, and an Auto Pilot as well as all the usual lights, wash down pump (1), bilge pumps (3), live well pumps (2), fresh water pump, cell phone amplifier, and DC outlets for other portable devices. I do not have the luxury of testing my batterys to the 6 year mark, I replace them at 3 year intervals without concern to how much life they may or may not have left in them. Fishing 35~50 miles off shore in a small boat is like that, you can't take chances.<br /><br />I think the above system is just as good for smaller boats on fresh water but there is this one thing. If I had a boat that I used on a lake all the time and spent a lot of time just drifting or tied up with music playing or a live well running for hours on end I'd probably wire them to their own battery, completely outside of all of the boat's other electrical system, and then I'd just carry a set of jumper cables in case I needed to make a connection.<br /><br /><br />Thom
 
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