Starter Battery vs House Battery

[Bobo87]

Thank you both! Again, more reason I love you guys and gals!

[Driller]

Excellent idea but hopping 2 will suffice my limited radio needs. Does anyone know the brand of switch Cobalt uses and where a good place to buy?

The one on my boat is the Bluesea pictured above, I'm assuming it is stock equipment, but no way of knowing.

[Driller]

Bobo, here's a link to the chat where we really got deep into this subject:

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=70&hilit=batteries

viewtopic.php?f=34&t=414&start=40&hilit=ACR

[Big Block Power]

I added another battery to a boat a long time ago and I just used a Ford starter relay. When the key was off you could drain that battery then as soon as the engine fired up it charged it. Nice and simple never had to turn a switch.

[AsLan7]

Bobo, here's a link to the chat where we really got deep into this subject:

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=70&hilit=batteries

viewtopic.php?f=34&t=414&start=40&hilit=ACR

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Great info Driller. Thanks.

[Bobo87]

Here is the reply I got from Pro Mariner about the dual bank charger for one battery.

Just put all the sets of leads on the one battery. This will keep the sense circuits happy and it will charge fine. When you get the second battery just take one set of leads off and wire them to the new battery.

[Big Block Power]

Good info there.thanks

[AsLan7]

yes, thanx for the update on that bobo87!

[Driller]

That's good to know Bobo. I thought the charger would have to sense another battery on the spare set of leads, but I never thought of hooking them to the same battery.

[nolaboater99]

Remember guys, if you are adding a second battery as a "House" Battery, that battery is usually a "Deep Cycle" battery and while it will start the motor it is not the best suited for that purpose. A house battery is usually used to power the stereo, lights, and other accessories when the motor is off and you are anchored, rafting or whatever.

A Deep Cycle battery will handle a lot of load over a long period of time but has a lower amp/hour rating and it discharges slowly. The Starting Battery is a higher amp/hour battery and used when starting and running the motor. It provides the large amount of amps needed for starting the motor but will discharge very quickly. Anyone that has tried to start a faulty motor by cranking it a long period has experienced this.

There are also "Combination" batteries available that do a bit of both.

If you want 2 batteries just for the "get home" factor and you don't run a lot of accessories, 2 starting batteries would be fine. I have this setup in my CM23. I put the battery switch on #1 this trip and #2 the next trip alternating every trip. I do have a built in charger. If you are going to a raft up for instance and you have the "House Battery/Starting Battery setup, you would start and run to the raft up on the Starting Battery, switch to the House Battery when you get there and back to the Start battery when time to leave. Once the motor is started you could switch to the House Battery for the run back and have the alternator charge that battery keeping the Starting battery fresh for the next trip.
Shawn

[Bobo87]

Great information NOLA. Got any recommendations for brands of marine batteries? Also, anyone have a recommendation for mounts for the second battery setup?

[Big Block Power]

I'm not racist but I get the black ones. The green ones are good too.
Really Johnson Controls makes most of the batteries. They even Make the battery for Wal-Mart.

[Bfun220]

I run 2 deep cycle batteries which are better suited for my needs. I also run a automatic charging relay so I dont have to worry which position my switch us in for charging my batteries once the motor is running.

[AsLan7]

Great information NOLA. Got any recommendations for brands of marine batteries? Also, anyone have a recommendation for mounts for the second battery setup?

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I run Trojan batteries.

Great thread discussion here.....

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=580&start=10

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Btw, excellent input nolaboater99. One other thing to add—when switching batteries with the engine running, folks need to use caution to not turn the battery switch to the off position as this will ruin the alternator.

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[Bobo87]

Good to know about the alternator, AsLan. I think I need some more information on the relay.