Thinking of adding a spare battery and a back up bilge pump to my fsh.

[Kevin Carlin]

Even know I only have 14 hrs on this boat, I'd rather be safe then sorry. I need to call up my boat guy.
Anyone have any idea what it's would cost including installation?

 

[robert843]

Bilge pumps are cheap and shouldn't be too bad so probably $100-$200 depending on install and pump. The battery and a kill/toggle switch should run you $200 to $300 installed depending on which battery you get.

 

[Bruce]

This is how I installed a second bilge pump. https://jetboaters.net/threads/installing-second-bilge-pump-in-yamaha-sx230.1889

Both of these are easy DIY projects. Paying someone to do it will likely cost more than the components.

Are you going to install an onboard charger for the batteries. This would be a good time to add it.

 

[robert843]

@Bruce I have my automatic bilge pump already and will add it in the next month I know that is a pretty simple process. I also have my second battery but I to was going to let the shop install it and the kill switch when I drop the boat off in the next week or so. I have installed a second battery and kill/toggle switch on my I/O boat the only reason I wasn't going to do it to this boat is I think I read somewhere that the electrical charging system wasn't the same obviously as on my I/O and there where some different steps and parts needed is this correct and if so is there a thread explaining the difference and what is needed?

 

[tdonoughue]

Hmmm... I haven't had an IO, but I have added the second battery to my Yamaha. Actually, I took delivery with the second battery and a manual switch installed; I upgraded it to an ACR. I don't think there is anything particularly special there. The difference in the charging system is that ours is a magnito, which provides less juice and juice proportional to the speed of the engine. In some other engines they actually use an alternator, like a car. Much more juice and at constant levels regardless of engine speed. But, the alternators are more expensive and complex.

Long answer short, the connection to the battery should be the same. All you are doing is taking the + wires on the battery and putting them on the switch, then running from the switch to each of the batteries. The - side just goes to both batteries.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Is there room for a second battery in the rear of a FSH? I know there's room for 2 trolling batteries in the bow, so if you installed a battery up there you'll need to run your wires a good distance back to the battery switch. If you add a second battery you should definitely add an onboard charger/maintainer and keep it plugged in while not using the boat because these motors do not produce enough amps to fully recharge the batteries after extended use. I.e. Stereo playing

 

[Bruce]

@robert843, there are so many ways that you can install a second battery, switch, ACR (automatic charging relay) and LVD low voltage disconnect. Many have strong beliefs about how to do so. My opinion is that you should do what suits you best.

Most will use one battery for starting only and a second for house loads (everything else). Every Yamaha that I have looked at is wired for this from the factory. A twin engines boat will have three pairs of red and black battery cables. The two matching heavier pairs are for the engines. The lighter pair is for the house loads.

Our charging system relies on stators that are much less powerful that the alternators found in most boats. I believe the combined output is around 30 amps. The purpose of an ACR is to fully charge the starting battery then switch the charging over to the house battery.

My non-typical dual battery setup is documented in this thread https://jetboaters.net/threads/my-unusual-alternate-dual-battery-setup.5632/#post-96897

If I was going for a more typical installation I would install a Blue Seas Add A Battery Kit to a mange the two batteries. https://www.bluesea.com/products/7650/Add-A-Battery_Kit_-_120A

 

[tdonoughue]

I should note: @Bruce provides a much more complete answer than mine. My only point was that the differences in the charging system do not affect your options or wiring of the 2nd battery. The wiring I described is only for a primitive second battery switch setup. Myself, now I have the Add A Battery Bruce mentions (wired for a house and engine battery, etc.)...

 

[robert843]

Ok so it sounds like it maybe the same. Basically I just installed a switch the says battery 1, battery 2, off, both and the main cable ran to it. In that process what happens is everything is either running on one or both batteries. I have a starting and more of deep cycle battery on that boat if we are sitting for an extended period I would switch to run only the deep cycle and on starting I would run either the starting battery or both. Usually both and just leave it there so it would charge both batteries while running but I do have an alternator on that boat. My jet boat does have the three cables going to the positive lead as since I do not have a kill switch I disconnect them every time I pull the boat out know so there is no drain on the battery. So your saying buy the kit with the ACR so it can manage which battery to charge connect the ignition power cable to the starting battery and all other house lines to more of a deep cycle battery and let the ACR do its thing is this what I'm understanding?

 

[Matt Phillips]

On my 232, I have two batteries set up -- this was stock. The change I made was I upgraded to Optima's last year. The Start battery is a deep-cycle group 27 and the house battery is a deep cycle group 31. My understanding of the system (I may be wrong here) is that it recharges the start battery before charging the house battery. I decided on a larger house battery as there's alway been plenty of juice in the start battery.

Since I keep my boat in the lake all summer, I also have a constant drain on the house battery (because the bilge pump must be left on). When leaving the boat I also like to turn the battery switches off (so I know all electrical is off). To enable the bilge pump, I added an alternate fused switch that's routed directly to the house battery and also installed a solar charger that I hang off my tower. Over the course of four summers with this set-up, I've found that the start battery is always full and the house battery is as well. If you're curious about this set-up, look up my other posts as I've posted that info here.

One thing to note is that when I don't have the solar charger to 'top off' the house battery, the bulge pump will drain it -- even with consistent usage. I learned this the hard way 1.5 years ago when on a trip to Shasta for five days. The old batteries carried that trip fine however, during the next weekend trip on the second day I had a dead house battery. Now when the boat is sitting on the trailer for a week or two between trips, I plug in the solar charger to keep the house batter in shape.

 

[Bruce]

So your saying buy the kit with the ACR so it can manage which battery to charge connect the ignition power cable to the starting battery and all other house lines to more of a deep cycle battery and let the ACR do its thing is this what I'm understanding?

That is the standard way of adding a second battery to our boats. Each engine has its own battery connection both of those go to the starter connection. The house loads go to the house connection. The switch is for on, off or combined. The combined setting is for emergency starts if the starter battery is run down. The ACR charges the starter battery first then begins charging the house battery when the starter battery is full.