Which battery?

[krampuppy]

Which battery should you hook up extras (like bilge pump, fishfinders, stereos etc). to? The cranking or the deep cycle (which my 12V trolling motor is hooked up to)?

 

[hankll]

Re: Which battery?

All my electrical stuff is hooked via the master switch on the dash which is wired to the deep cycle batteries. Not had any issues of low voltages for lighting, etc. and Trolling motor use while spending a day on the water.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Which battery?

A lot of personal choice here.
The way my boat is setup is everything needed to run the boat is hooked to the starting battery.
Starter, Bilge Blower, Bilge Pump, Navigation lights, Horn, Windsheild wiper, Trim tabs, Compass.

All the add on gear is on the deep cycle.
Loran C, GPS, Fish Finder, VHF, accessary plugs.

On my boat if the motor is running everything gets charged thru a battery isolator even if the second battery is not on board it would all work when the motor is running.

The gear on the starting battery is usually only on while running and the stuff on the Deep cycle can be on while drift fishing, anchored, or pulled up to the beach but it will not drain the starting battery while the engine is off.

This is not right way or the wrong way, it just my way.

 

[krampuppy]

Re: Which battery?

I just bought a used boat and the bilge, fishfinder, aerator, and accessory plug in are all hooked up to the the starting battery. It sounds like I should switch some over to the deep cycle battery.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Which battery?

You're fine, assuming your outboard can keep the cranking batt charged. Only the trolling motor is on my T/M battery. Except on the rare occasion when I bring the bait tank along and need to run it full time. Everthing else is on the cranking batt. Livewell pumps, bilge pump, horn, lights. If the fishfinder drew less current it'd be charging. But be aware, some GPS are power-hungry esp. if they have to keep hunting for satellites. Or if you have a hi-power radio or cd player.