Battery recommendations

[Ribs77]

You need to add an onboard charger. The charging system on your boat is not capable of properly charging your battery.

IF you’re going to stick with a single battery you need a dual purpose start / deep cycle battery.

IF you’re going to add a second battery, search the forums and there is a ton of information. I personally like the BEP marine switch that comes on the Yamaha boats, its compact and simple, start & house battery switches plus an emergency parallel switch and the dvsr is built into the cluster.

Question about this.

I don't have access to an outlet at my wet slip. An onboard charger needs to plug into external power, right? I have a NoCo charger/tender, but for the offseason when the boat's in a barn.

What should I be doing during the season when I'm in the wet slip?

Edit: I always carry a charged jump pack.

 

[biffdotorg]

Question about this.

I don't have access to an outlet at my wet slip. An onboard charger needs to plug into external power, right? I have a NoCo charger/tender, but for the offseason when the boat's in a barn.

What should I be doing during the season when I'm in the wet slip?

Edit: I always carry a charged jump pack.

Then all this discussion is a waste of your time. You don’t have a need for more power, that you have determined yet. And if you did, you would have no way of charging additional power. So more than one battery is not an option for you.

 

[Dami860]

What's your budget? As it really doesn't matter. Spend $100 on a deep cycle or $450 on a lithium. I think you are trying to find solutions for a problem that has yet to exist. Worry about it when you actually have a problem.

Anyone who says, "you need this" or "you need that" either ran into a problem and are assuming you will run into that problem as well, or they have way too much money that could have been spent on beer and gas.

Well I went out this weekend, played music, came home and plugged in the noco and the battery was already full

 

[Ribs77]

Then all this discussion is a waste of your time. You don’t have a need for more power, that you have determined yet. And if you did, you would have no way of charging additional power. So more than one battery is not an option for you.

My main concern is of course running out of power while on an outing. Theoretically the jump pack should allow me to get back safely and I also have tow coverage via my insurance. But I'd definitely prefer to never have to be towed.

 

[anmut]

My main concern is of course running out of power while on an outing. Theoretically the jump pack should allow me to get back safely and I also have tow coverage via my insurance. But I'd definitely prefer to never have to be towed.

The charging system in these boats is pretty low-power. No alternator, everything is coming off the stator. So if you're doing short runs where engine isn't running, AND you're running them down while you're at the sandbar for hours at a time, it would be a nice peace of mind to to have them topped off when you go out.

The jump pack is fine, but that's really a last resort "we're packing up" situation. If you'd like power all day, and if no shore power is available, I'd consider putting on a solar trickle charge system and/or additional batteries.

If neither of those are economical, you might consider a battery powered speaker, so your boat could turn off but you could still crank some tunes. That would negate concern for a low battery ruining the sandbar bash and probably give you less charge-level anxiety throughout the day. Sonos and JBL both make really decent speakers.

 

[Ribs77]

The charging system in these boats is pretty low-power. No alternator, everything is coming off the stator. So if you're doing short runs where engine isn't running, AND you're running them down while you're at the sandbar for hours at a time, it would be a nice peace of mind to to have them topped off when you go out.

The jump pack is fine, but that's really a last resort "we're packing up" situation. If you'd like power all day, and if no shore power is available, I'd consider putting on a solar trickle charge system and/or additional batteries.

If neither of those are economical, you might consider a battery powered speaker, so your boat could turn off but you could still crank some tunes. That would negate concern for a low battery ruining the sandbar bash and probably give you less charge-level anxiety throughout the day. Sonos and JBL both make really decent speakers.

My usage is a bit different than that. I'm in a lake so no sandbar. We're mostly tubing and surfing, so a good bit of stop-and-starting. Also using the engine battery to run pumps for the ballast and tubes. Only rarely do I go out and listen to music for a significant amount of time, and on those times we usually get a bit of a run in so I hope the battery is getting some juice at that time.

I've considered a solar panel that can hook up to a battery pack/noco charger but haven't narrowed in on one yet. Got any recommendations?

The NoCo I have is this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W6B987F?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

 

[anmut]

My usage is a bit different than that. I'm in a lake so no sandbar. We're mostly tubing and surfing, so a good bit of stop-and-starting. Also using the engine battery to run pumps for the ballast and tubes. Only rarely do I go out and listen to music for a significant amount of time, and on those times we usually get a bit of a run in so I hope the battery is getting some juice at that time.

I've considered a solar panel that can hook up to a battery pack/noco charger but haven't narrowed in on one yet. Got any recommendations?

The NoCo I have is this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W6B987F?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

No suggestions on the solar panel, my boat stays plugged into a NOCO at my house.

I'd say that if your motors are on nearly all of the time, you're probably staying fairly topped off. Pumps for batteries and tubes - those aren't going to drain your system that much.