AR192 Stereo upgrade - Battery setup Question

[Chris M]

NEED ADVISE: I have a 2014 AR192 and I purchased Wetsound Rev 10 speakers and a Wetsounds amp. They are 300 Watts RMS and I will be installing an additional 1 or 2 batteries. Has anyone added a system to their boat and how did you set up the batteries? (I purchased a multi-battery isolator). What make of batteries did you purchase? Is the Charging system on the boat going to be able to recharge all the batteries? (The details from Yamaha says the output peal voltage of the charging system is 13V - doesn't seem to be enough for Optima Blue Top batteries)

 

[GTBRMC]

@Chris M Welcome aboard!

There are many threads and discussion touching on all of your questions. To get a jump start while waiting for people to chime in with their knowledge, try the search feature (upper right of screen) on keywords at least four characters long. Also, there are a few items in the FAQ https://jetboaters.net/faq/ that could be useful to you.

Generally speaking, most agree that heavier stereo upgrades require at least one additional battery. Additional battery(s) that are heavily used (hours at a time cranking the tunes at the sandbar with the boat off, for example) will typically require some type of additional battery recharging (there are a number of onboard battery charger/conditioner options and lots of opinions shared).

Poke around a bit - I am confident that you will find the answers and guidance you are looking for.

 

[LTM1964]

An onboard charger will give you peace of mind. ProMariner has chargers that separately charge and maintain up to three battery banks so your batteries will be topped-off but not overcharged every time you launch. I am just using the stock stereo now but I installed a dual battery switch, dual bank charger, and deep cycle battery. I run the boat on the starting battery and switch over to the deep cycle when sitting with the stereo on or leaving the bilge switch on if the boat is in the water overnight. It is over-kill but I never worry about not being able to start because of a dead battery. Just for testing purposes, I ran the stereo all afternoon, then started the boat with the deep cycle battery. I installed the other battery and charger in the compartment with the starting battery. When I swapped the original battery switch for the dual switch, I moved the switch to the engine compartment as the hinged opening is more convenient than removing the cushion to access the battery compartment.

 

[David Analog]

The main focus should be on amperage. The boat's charging system does not have adequate amperage to run the boat operations while underway, run a large stereo, and recharge a depleted battery bank. So if you plan on playing the stereo at rest at any real volume and for any real length of time, you will be dependent on AC shore charging to properly recharge and condition your batteries.
If you are running Optima Blue Top in a smaller group 34 size then you might consider having two paralleled on the dedicated stereo bank so that you have 110 amp/hours. You want to avoid depleting the battery bank below 11.8 volts (at the lowest). A single group 31 Deka AGM will give you essentially the same A/H capacity as two Optima group 34s. You can still start the boat with far less voltage than is healthy for the batteries and healthy for the boat electronics so that should not be the indicator you go by.
If using an isolator, avoid a diode-type isolator....because there is a small inherent voltage loss and drop. Instead, use a voltage sensing solenoid (ACR/VSR) to manage the charging relationships and keep your starting battery in isolation and fully charged at all times.