btteries

[lhousesoccer]

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Edited August 12, 2014 by vtbass

[SlowPoke]

Eliminate the third battery. If his starting battery is in good condition, it will perform all day without fail running lights and electronics.

Ditch the perko.

Connect the trolling motor to the front battery.

This will uncomplicate things greatly and he'll have far fewer connections to maintain.

[Billy Bob]

Eliminate the third battery. If his starting battery is in good condition, it will perform all day without fail running lights and electronics.

Ditch the perko.

Connect the trolling motor to the front battery.

This will uncomplicate things greatly and he'll have far fewer connections to maintain.

 

As said by SlowPoke........and then just connect a 2 bank on board battery charger......all will be good.......mine has been running like this for 27 years now.......on board charger for over 10 years now...makes life real easy......get boat home or at the dock....plug her in and forget it until you go fishing again...

[lhousesoccer]

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Edited August 12, 2014 by vtbass

[lhousesoccer]

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Edited August 12, 2014 by vtbass

[UglyBug]

Not sure about that brand, but it looks like it has all the necessary features for an on board charger. Will provide 8 amps to 2 batteries so that should be ok. I prefer 5 per bank myself but for the price I think it will work fine.

 

 

A follow-up question regarding onboard battery chargers. The one I have in my boat came with the boat, so I have no experience choosing or recommending one to a friend. I assume that as with anything, you get what you pay for, so there's probably quality differences in various makes and models. How many amps per bank would you want to charge deep cycle marine batteries?

 

The one my friend found online at BassPro is this one.

 

My link

 

$99 seems a little on the cheap side to me .... but then again, so is he

 

Any tips?

[whiskywizard]

The set-up described above will work OK, and it's simple, but there are some other ways that give you much more flexibility and safety, and maintain better control of terminal points.

 

A better set-up keeps the 2 batteries in the stern to allow him to maintain one dedicated starting battery and a separate battery for "house loads", like plotters, fishfinders, lights, downriggers, VHF, etc.

 

 

To do the wiring, start by calling the engine start battery #1. Call the second stern battery #2. Call the bow battery #3. Write these numbers on them.

 

Connect the positive post on battery 1 to the Perko switch's terminal labeled #1.

Connect the positive post on battery 2 to the Perko switch's terminal labeled #2.

Connect the Yamaha's positive cable to the Perko switch's terminal labeled COMMON

Connect ALL the boat's loads positive wires for fishfinder, plotter, lights, radio etc to the Perko switch's terminal labeled #2.

Connect ALL the boat's loads negative wires for fishfinder, plotter, lights, radio etc) to the common ground post.

Connect bilge pumps positive wires to the Perko switch's terminal labeled #1. Connect bilge pumps negative wires to common ground post.

 

For the 2 batteries at the stern, there should be only 1 terminal (1 conductor) connected to each post. Do not use the battery posts to tie together numerous wires. Do that on the back of the Perko switch.

 

LAST - Connect the negative posts from the 2 stern batteries (#1 & #2) to a common ground post, and connect the Yamaha's ground cable there too.

 

 

Install a minimum 2-bank charger.

Attach the charger's #1 positive lead to the Perko switch's terminal labeled #2.

Attach the charger's #2 positive lead to the positive post of the battery in the bow.

Connect the charger's #1 negative lead to the common ground post

Connect the charger's #2 negative lead to the negative post of baterry #3 in the bow.

 

Connect the trolling motor's positive and negative leads to the battery in the bow (#3). Fuse the positive lead.

 

 

Perko switch procedure - never turn the switch with the engine running.

When ready to leave the dock, select to 1 and start the engine. Run to the fishing area. This charges Battery #1.

When you're there, shut down, select switch to 2, and restart. Now when you're trolling or running through the day, and you're set to position 2, you are charging the battery 2 that has the loads on it. Battery 1 stays in reserve, fully charged for starting.

When you leave the boat, turn switch to OFF. Bilge pumps are connected to post 1, so they have power as long as battery 1 is charged.

If you ever had a battery failure, the BOTH position gives you 2 batteries in parallel for starting. Or when running, you are charging both the stern batteries.

 

 

 

Optional step for an even better installation: install an auto charge relay (ACR) between battery 2 & battery 3. There are many brands out there. The two I'm most familiar with are Yandina and Blue Seas. The Perko switch will let the Yamaha's alternator charge the house battery (#2) when the outboard is running and the ACR will charge the trolling motor battery (#3) when the house battery (#2) is fully charged.

 

 

 

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Edited July 10, 2012 by whiskywizard

[whiskywizard]

A follow-up question regarding onboard battery chargers. The one I have in my boat came with the boat, so I have no experience choosing or recommending one to a friend. I assume that as with anything, you get what you pay for, so there's probably quality differences in various makes and models. How many amps per bank would you want to charge deep cycle marine batteries?

 

The one my friend found online at BassPro is this one.

 

My link

 

$99 seems a little on the cheap side to me .... but then again, so is he

 

Any tips?

 

 

That charger is likely too small. But we need to know his battery capacity to be sure.

 

There are a few rules of thumb to follow to get the best life from your deep cycle batteries:

Never discharge them below 50%.

Recharge them as soon as you can.

Use a smart charger that controls charge rate. Bulk charge rate on the charger (in Amps) should be approximately 10% of the battery's capacity in Amp-hr.

 

So if your deep cycle battery has 80A-hr capacity, your charger should be about 8A. That one is only 4A per bank.

[grimsbylander]

You didn't say how big the boat is but with a 90hp, it's a good size. I'd strongly recommend taking advantage of the fact there are three batteries onboard and go to a 24V trolling motor.

[Sinker]

You didn't say how big the boat is but with a 90hp, it's a good size. I'd strongly recommend taking advantage of the fact there are three batteries onboard and go to a 24V trolling motor.

 

Or at least wire two together in 12V for the trolling motor.

 

S.

[whiskywizard]

You didn't say how big the boat is but with a 90hp, it's a good size. I'd strongly recommend taking advantage of the fact there are three batteries onboard and go to a 24V trolling motor.

 

 

Yeah - 24V motor would be best.

The OP said the boat came with a trolling motor, so since the trolling motor and battery are already there, I was keeping my advice limited to that equipment. If he decides to convert to 24V motor, there are some good ways to wire for a 24V motor AND get extra battery redundancy for starting.

[lhousesoccer]

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Edited August 12, 2014 by vtbass

[lhousesoccer]

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Edited August 12, 2014 by vtbass

[BillM]

I run two 12v batteries on my PowerDrive.. Run them in parallel keeps 12v but doubles the amperage (They'll last long) You need to connect them - to - and + to +...

 

If he wants to charge them with a on-board charger he's got two options.

 

Use one bank of the charger connected to + on battery 1 and - on battery 2 with the batteries still in parallel. (This will charge them both)

 

Or use one bank per battery, disconnected them from each other before charging

 

(I gotta thank Roy for the above info)

[Raf]

 

If he wants to charge them with a on-board charger he's got two options.

 

Use one bank of the charger connected to + on battery 1 and - on battery 2 with the batteries still in parallel. (This will charge them both)

 

 

Does this effectively double the charging time? Not that it's an issue just curious. I have a 12 volt too, and two batteries. When one dies I take it out and replace with the other but I am thinking just keeping them both in there in parallel. Plus the other battery would serve as additional ballast at the front for when I'm solo. I'm assuming I only need a single bank charger to charge them both in this configuration? Finally, do the two batteries have to be identical?

Edited August 2, 2012 by Raf

[BillM]

Does this effectively double the charging time? Not that it's an issue just curious. I have a 12 volt too, and two batteries. When one dies I take it out and replace with the other but I am thinking just keeping them both in there in parallel. Plus the other battery would serve as additional ballast at the front for when I'm solo. I'm assuming I only need a single bank charger to charge them both in this configuration? Finally, do the two batteries have to be identical?

 

I was told that the Guest charger I installed should be able to deliver close to it's max output (10a) to that single bank if need be. So I would assume the charging time would be the same regardless if you are using 1 bank @ 10amp compared to both banks at the same time @ 5amps each.

 

Single bank will work with two batteries in parallel, yes. But if you go to a 24V system in the future, you'll require a 2 bank.. I've noticed most of the 1 banks aren't very powerful... Spring for the 2 bank and get more amperage, you'll be better off.

 

I've got one massive deep cycle marine battery and another smaller (not so massive) deep cycle connected together on my Powerdrive. No issues with them working together.

[Raf]

I was told that the Guest charger I installed should be able to deliver close to it's max output (10a) to that single bank if need be. So I would assume the charging time would be the same regardless if you are using 1 bank @ 10amp compared to both banks at the same time @ 5amps each.

 

Single bank will work with two batteries in parallel, yes. But if you go to a 24V system in the future, you'll require a 2 bank.. I've noticed most of the 1 banks aren't very powerful... Spring for the 2 bank and get more amperage, you'll be better off.

 

I've got one massive deep cycle marine battery and another smaller (not so massive) deep cycle connected together on my Powerdrive. No issues with them working together.

 

If I go 24v it wont be on this boat. But you are right, the single bank chargers appear to be 6 amp max chargers & the 2 bank units are not that much more money.

 

My concern was charging different 'size' batteries at once while they are hooked up in parallel and whether them being of different Amp Hours would cause an issue. I just had a look at mine and one's 120 (Costco), the other is 115 (Nautilus) so not much difference.

[BillM]

The charger thinks it's one big battery when they're hooked up in parallel.

Edited August 2, 2012 by BillM

[whiskywizard]

Modern smart chargers, that have two or 3 bank capability, have 2 (or 3) cables; 1 for each battery. You connect them to each battery, even when you have 2 batteries in parallel, and the charger is smart enough to charge each one separately using the correct voltage and current as the charge state changes.

[Canuck]

If you parallel wire two batteries together as one "bank", they should be the same age, capacity and brand. If you don't do that, your charger will charge the whole bank up to get to the right voltage, overcharging the better battery while it tries to bring the older one up to charge. This will ruin your better battery in a relatively short period. I learned that the hard way when I had two old batteries installed as a bank, and one failed, so I replaced it alone. Then after a few months, the new one was toast, because the auto charger kept trying to charge the bank uo to full voltage. The old battery was nearly dead (I should have replaced it too) so it overcharged the good one trying to charge the old one up.

 

Someone else recommended the 10% rule for charger sizing and multi stage chargers. That is really important for deep cycle batteries. They need a three stage charger to maximize life and get a full charge and need a high amperage bulk stage matched at 10% of capacity.

 

If you get cheap with the charger, you will pay for the "savings" many many times over with replacement batteries that won'tt last. This is especially with deep cycles.