Bob & Mag

Thanks again everyone!

Our boat is too little for a house battery LOL, it would not even be a "cottage" battery. We have two starting batteries and run all off one.
I usually run on batt.#1 and the next trip batt.#2.
Switching back and forth seems to do the trick as we've never had to charge them up and after a day of fishing/playing the battery we're on always starts the motor up. We had dual batteries put in as a precaution, as we had it that was on our other boats, though with this little motor, it comes with a pull cord.
Cheap insurance.
Another question is what do you set your gps voltage alarm at?
I've got ours set to go off is voltage drops to 11.0 vdc.
Curious if I'm just being anal or if you guys set these things up also.
Thanks again!

__________________
Smoke free 8+ Months!

GP-TJ

I have the same set up with a 1 - 2 - both - off perko switch. Both of my batteries are dual cycle. They have thicker plates than starting batteries and can be drawn down but not a "deep cycley" as a true deep cycle. My boat is only 20ft and only run everything off one battery. I also switch from battery to battery each time out. I always turn off at the end of the day. I don't have a charger.

In order to have a dedicated battery for the house loads, you have to have a way to charge it up. You would need an isolator or combiner. The charging line from the alternator goes to this and connects the batteries when charging. When the motor is off, they are isolated. There is some wiring involved as well as another device. You also want the ability to combine to start the motor if that battery is dead.

I don't know what my gps low voltage alarm is set at but I do get an alarm when I restart due to the starter draw. My gps restarts and my fishfinder just alarms. This year I am running a direct feed from my battery to my electronics fuse panel. My power now goes from the batteries in front of the console to the stern where there are a pos and neg terminal. From there it jumps to a 50a breaker and feeds the console. I am thinking that a direct feed from the battery will smooth out the jolt when starting. The wire is probably sized for a 10% voltage drop not 3% like I need for electronics. I will keep all the pumps and lights on the main feed from the stern.

GP

ChuckA From "Land of the Lost"

Thanks Bob and GP-TJ, for the battery types .I was wondering how I was going to charge the second battery.Now it all makes sense on the pupose of the switch.