2 batteries

[chutch]

It seems like a lot of people are running two batteries. One for the stereo and one for starting the boat. I have bought a new starting battery and plan on using the current battery for the radio.

Question 1: Do you wire them in parallel or series? Seems to me it would be in parrallel to get more amp hours out but not for sure.

Question 2: I also bought one of the switches that allows you to use battery 1 or battery 2 or both batteries. It seems like a good idea but there is really no good place to mount it for easy access. Do I need this? If I do have this and lets say I have the starting battery at position 1 and the radio battery on position 2. I want to start the boat so I have the switch on position 1. Does that mean I can't have the radio on? Or does that just mean the radio battery wont get charged? And vise versa. If I have the switch on position 2 I won't be able to start the boat or the starting battery just won't get charged? I can leave the switch in the position where both are being accessed and everything works but then what is that really doing for me? I assume both batteries would get drained if I am listening to the radio but then they would both get charged too. But that is no different than if I just wired them up in Parallel.

Any suggestions?

[Brianinpdx]

Clutch -

You'll probably get a lot of fancy opinions on this subject but I'll give you a few direct simple answers.

Battery 1 = starting battery
Battery 2 = stereo battery
Battery 3 (if applicable) = Combined with stereo battery bank

Wire all batteries to the perko switch (or alike) you bought. They have very simple instructions for wiring.

the strategy is to keep the battery 2 + 3 separate from battery 1 because you dont want to run them all down and not be able to start. Suggest you look at group 27 batteries for all of this. As to which brand.. I wont even go there because there are so many opinions. You'd all probably laugh if I told you my preference.

Most people get confused by all the battery systems. It's not that hard. It can just get a bit intimidating. PM me if you need more help. It's all good!

- Brian
Exile Audio

PS: sorry I have not been around much these last few weeks. It's been crazy busy at Exile... whoa!

[kaneboats]

Good for you, Brian.