dual battery question (2007 yamaha sx230ho)

[Krzysiek]

I purchased the boat with dual batteries.

Will I be able to start the engine If I play radio or use GPS/fishfinder all day?

All electronics (except GPS) are connected to starboard engine battery and GPS to port engine battery.

Is it OK to connect electronics and one engine to the same battery? or 2 engines to one battery and all electronics and GPS to another?

When engines work, are batteries being recharged?

Switch looks broken???!!!

Thanks

 

[Julian]

Yes....you can run both engines off one battery and have a house battery for stereo etc. That is exactly how I had my boat wired. Add and ACR and it will charge both batteries off the engine stators.

 

[Bruce]

Your battery setup is quite confused.

The traditional setup is to have both engines on one battery and the house loads on the other.

This is my unusual dual battery setup.

How old are your batteries? In a traditional setup you can use a starter battery for the engines and deep cycle for the house loads.

 

[kthrash]

what they said, wire both engines to one battery and all your house stuff to the other, that way if you run the house down you can still crank your boat..

better yet replace that old switch with a new Blue Sea Add a Battery Kit with the new built in Charger.

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Systems-Automatic-Charging/dp/B01B1VRLQ2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463770841&sr=8-1&keywords=blue+sea+7655

 

[Murf'n'surf]

And get some battery boxes to cover up those terminals so you don't arch.

 

[kthrash]

And get some battery boxes to cover up those terminals so you don't arch.

Those are Factory Tie Downs, I have 3 of them in mine, no need for boxes, unless you plan on laying something metal across the terminals..

 

[kthrash]

What does that "switch" do? looks like you have two positive cables going to it, one from each battery?

 

[Julian]

And get some battery boxes to cover up those terminals so you don't arch.

You'll fail a coastguard inspection if you don't cover the terminals (ask me how I know! LOL). Funny part is...wrapping them in electrical tape was sufficient to pass (but not as convenient as a battery box or rubber terminal covers)

 

[kthrash]

You'll fail a coastguard inspection if you don't cover the terminals (ask me how I know! LOL). Funny part is...wrapping them in electrical tape was sufficient to pass (but not as convenient as a battery box or rubber terminal covers)

They didnt say anything about it the last inspection I got... but you are right at least put the red rubber boot on it.

 

[kthrash]

In looking at your pics you need to:

Remove the wires from the "switch" unless you know what it is/does..
Wire both engines to one battery with pos and negative
Use the extra negative cable to tie the negative posts together on both batteries
Wire all the house electronics, radio, gps etc.. to the other battery with respective pos and negative

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Those are Factory Tie Downs, I have 3 of them in mine, no need for boxes, unless you plan on laying something metal across the terminals..

Or wet.....

 

[Bill D]

Do you have to have them in a battery box or would the little boots be acceptable?

 

[Krzysiek]

Thanks a lot for useful information.

Why do I need to tie the negative posts together on both batteries?

How old are your batteries?

I do not know how old are the batteries. I purchased the boat last November.

What does that "switch" do? looks like you have two positive cables going to it, one from each battery?

It does not do anything. Two positive cables going to it. It looks broken to me or some parts are missing.

For now I will do this:

In looking at your pics you need to:

Remove the wires from the "switch" unless you know what it is/does..
Wire both engines to one battery with pos and negative
Use the extra negative cable to tie the negative posts together on both batteries
Wire all the house electronics, radio, gps etc.. to the other battery with respective pos and negative

and then I will get a new switch.

 

[txav8r]

Yeah, that setup doesn't look very good. First thing I see, and I can't see it completely, is your switch. I see a positive lead from your port battery to the switch and then to starboard battery. The way it is wired, it won't kill the loads on the batteries, it just combines the batteries. And I don't see a big problem with doing that, but like others have said, there is no reason to have one engine on one battery and the other engine on a second battery. Your engine is designed after the R-1 motorcycle engine, in a bike, it had a small AGM 12V battery in it. These motors will turn over without big cranking amps on a single battery. Having a second battery is a good idea in my opinion, but your switch is suspect to me, as is the wiring configuration. At a minimum, I would remove that switch and get a better one. And dress up the wiring, with all engines and ACC items on the switch, and either battery powering the switch by selection. Unless you have a bigger than stock stereo, in that case, I would recommend that you power the stereo and HU off of a separate battery. I have plenty of diagrams to help you do this in a way that is safe, and makes sense even to a layman.

 

[txav8r]

The reason we tie all battery grounds together, is there is no frame on a boat, like a car, so all ground runs to the battery. If you have two batteries, they need to be joined (the grounds).

 

[txav8r]

This is a simple on/off/combine switch. There are 100 ways to set up a dual battery system, this is only one of them and just about the second simplest. The first simplest is to just parallel both batteries if they are the same age/size and let them be a single battery bank. I would recommend to anyone, a dual battery setup.

 

[Krzysiek]

Thanks!

 

[Krzysiek]

Another stupid questions! This is new to me.
Do I have to recharge batteries after each use with battery tender? Or they are recharged when engines are running.

 

[kthrash]

they will recharge while running, but in a multi battery setup they don't typically get fully charged, especially if you sit around playing tunes all day. I charge my batteries up every night prior to going out..

 

[Krzysiek]

Thanks. I learn something new every day!