Add a battery kit

[Bill D]

Building your own cables will be good. I agree, it gets very expensive and you have to measure very well before you have them made. Just make sure your crimps are good and tight. Loose connections are no good. You'll need the lugs that are sized for the wire gauge you're using and also with the right size hole for the post on your switch and bus bar. It will likely be a #10 or 1/4". It should say on the packaging.

For cable size, it depends on 2 things; how far the run will be from the battery to your amps, and how big your amps are. The farther the run, the bigger your wire will need to be to prevent a significant voltage drop. Likewise, the more powerful the amps, the bigger your wire needs to be. For the runs you have listed above ( >5'), I think that the 2AWG sounds like it will be fine.

To answer your other questions from above, 6AWG would be fine for the leads from the ACR, but it may be easier to just buy the extra couple feet of 2AWG you're already getting. 10A is plenty for the fuse on the 16AWG for the ACR.

 

[mraz72]

sounds good, so for wiring the second battery, I can use all 2 awg instead of the 2 and then 6? If I need to run a cable long distance, say over 20 feet, go for larger cable and hook it into the current system?

 

[Bill D]

Yeah, you are always safe to go bigger wire.

Here is a chart that shows recommended wire gauge for distances. I always go by the 3% column. Keep in mind, these measurements are for "circuit length", which is the total round-trip distance. For example, if you are running a cable to the helm and it is 20 feet to get there, the circuit is actually 40 feet.
http://assets.bluesea.com/files/resources/newsletter/images/DC_wire_selection_chartlg.jpg

 

[2nazt]

I was just going to post that link also.

 

[Trevor Shipman]

That one will work. It's 0/2/4AWG. To install it "in-line" you just bring the cable from the battery to one side, then the cable going out off the other side. FWIW, I used a circuit breaker in place of a fuse so I can completely isolate my amp feed.

Like this; https://www.amazon.com/Stinger-SCBM...r=8-2&keywords=150+amp+marine+circuit+breaker

What exactly does it mean to isolate the amp feed? What’s the benefit?