Battery Setup

[Motor]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I believe wotan's solution of running everything off the starting battery and leaving the house battery for the sound system and custom lighting should meet my needs. The main reason for the second battery is to listen to music while anchored up with friend at the sandbar.

The starting battery tested out to be good so I am planning to keep it and adding deep cycle battery as the second battery. Assuming I understand it correctly, that the ACR closes when the boat is running and charges both batteries simultaneously. Please correct me if I am wrong. Will there be any problems with having a starting and deep cycle battery connected while charging?


gnarlydude: If I am not mistaken, the busbar in the diagram Plum Nauti provided (thanks) is located under the dash and acts as the power distribution point for the boats accessories. In wotan's suggestion, the busbar will be connected to the same bank on the perko switch as the engine and the sound system will use the blank the busbar is connected to in the diagram.

Thanks,
John

[Wylietunes]

gnarly,

You need to take blue sea's diagrams and any other's you come across on the net, as general. Theres a lot of ways the dual circuit plus switch and ACR can be wired, but the best way, needs to take into account, your particular system. Three things about that diagram I dont agree with. 1) ACR wired to the batteries 2) ground BUS between the batteries 3) those cable gauges dont apply to everyone, which could lead someone down a bad path.

My advice, talk with your Blue Sea dealer/installer and have them work out a custom diagram for your boat.

[SquamInboards]

The starting battery tested out to be good so I am planning to keep it and adding deep cycle battery as the second battery. Assuming I understand it correctly, that the ACR closes when the boat is running and charges both batteries simultaneously. Please correct me if I am wrong. Will there be any problems with having a starting and deep cycle battery connected while charging?

There should be no problem charging the two different battery types together. It's definitely a good idea to use a deep cycle for that 'house' battery, this is my setup and my batteries are on season #7. And yes, the ACR will 'close' above a certain voltage to combine the batteries for charging and 'open' the circuit below charging voltage.

[Wylietunes]

Will there be any problems with having a starting and deep cycle battery connected while charging?

Since both are wet cell lead acid, they are the same type and have very similar charge requirements. Even using a wet cell on one side and AGM on the other side of the ACR poses no issue. Alternators are very simple unsophisticated devises. Even ones controlled by the PCM via PWM are still simple inside. They just charge based on load. They dont really care if its a wet cell or AGM, deep or cranking. The issue comes when you wire the different types together in a bank.

[wotan2525]

1) ACR wired to the batteries 2) ground BUS between the batteries

Can you explain these two? Do you prefer the ACR wired to the accessory circuits for some reason? Do you prefer that the ground BUS be isolated?

My setup involved the ACR wired between the batteries just like the diagram and the grounds all bussed together (terminated at the engine block with a 2/0 cable.)

[Eric1687]

I used an isolator and it works good just runs the amps off the deep cycle battery and allows the battery to still be charged by the alternator

[Wylietunes]

Can you explain these two? Do you prefer the ACR wired to the accessory circuits for some reason? Do you prefer that the ground BUS be isolated?

My setup involved the ACR wired between the batteries just like the diagram and the grounds all bussed together (terminated at the engine block with a 2/0 cable.)

Wiring the ACR to the batteries requires long runs which should be circuit protected. This is 4 additional terminations as well as 1 more terminal on the battery. It also poses an issue if an onboard charger is part of the mix. Wiring the ACR to the boat side of the switch typically requires only short cables no circuit protection. My method does not change the wiring electrically, just physically, mainly the length of the ACR to battery cables.

Using a continuous large gauge ground linking cable between the two banks is preferred over connecting each battery to a BUS, then connecting the main engine ground to the BUS. The BUS adds more terminations. This further removes the battery grounds from each other. I would suggest connecting the amp/audio ground direct to battery. If there are a high number of grounds, then use the BUS for those other accessories and supply the BUS with an appropriate gauge cable. We have found that a common BUS for all the battery grounds and amp/audio grounds to be a contributing factor in unwanted noise.

[wotan2525]

Wiring the ACR to the batteries requires long runs which should be circuit protected. This is 4 additional terminations as well as 1 more terminal on the battery. It also poses an issue if an onboard charger is part of the mix. Wiring the ACR to the boat side of the switch typically requires only short cables no circuit protection. My method does not change the wiring electrically, just physically, mainly the length of the ACR to battery cables.

Using a continuous large gauge ground linking cable between the two banks is preferred over connecting each battery to a BUS, then connecting the main engine ground to the BUS. The BUS adds more terminations. This further removes the battery grounds from each other. I would suggest connecting the amp/audio ground direct to battery. If there are a high number of grounds, then use the BUS for those other accessories and supply the BUS with an appropriate gauge cable. We have found that a common BUS for all the battery grounds and amp/audio grounds to be a contributing factor in unwanted noise.

Thanks, that makes sense. I now realize that you had a potential problem with a BUS and not just chaining all the grounds together (which is what my old setup had.) I did not use any large-gauge bus bars, instead made connections at the battery.