Blue Sea Add A Battery Install

Thought I would share some pics of my add a battery install - it's a work in progress. I cut a hole behind the battery switch and ran the battery cables thru it for easier cable routing and a cleaner look (both batteries will go behind the panel that the battery switch and ACR are mounted on). I am using thermal circuit breakers all around instead of fuses (thanks for that tip Razz!). One thing I learned is that you can use 2/0 welding cable instead of 2/0 battery cable. It's a lot more flexible (uses much finer strands compared to battery cable) and easier to work with and is about the same price. I only needed a couple of feet to go from the battery to the battery switch.

BTW, all of the speaker wires hanging on the left is the stock wiring that I am replacing. Have not gotten around to cutting them yet.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...s/IMG_5733.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...s/IMG_5729.jpg

Welding cable is a great idea! looks good keep us posted.

what the heck is welding cable? Looks like thick power cables for car audio?

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Originally Posted by viking

what the heck is welding cable? Looks like thick power cables for car audio?

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Welding cable is the cable used to connect the welding rod holder to the welder. It has to be flexible so that it can be coiled up for storage. They accomplish this by using much finer copper strands (but the same overall thickness) as battery cable as well as a more flexible insulation material. I went to a small local shop that replaces batteries and works on alternators looking to buy battery cable and he suggested the welding cable. He says they use it all the time for battery cable. Cost was $6/ft for 2/0 which is a little cheaper than NAPA sells 2/0 battery cable for.

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Originally Posted by cab13367

Welding cable is the cable used to connect the welding rod holder to the welder. It has to be flexible so that it can be coiled up for storage. They accomplish this by using much finer copper strands (but the same overall thickness) as battery cable as well as a more flexible insulation material. I went to a small local shop that replaces batteries and works on alternators looking to buy battery cable and he suggested the welding cable. He says they use it all the time for battery cable. Cost was $6/ft for 2/0 which is a little cheaper than NAPA sells 2/0 battery cable for.

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Thanks Cab!

Great pics of your upgrade. I am new to the boards. I have 2000 Outback LS and adding a battery and looking to redo the whole battery setup. Can you help me with why the thermal circuit breakers are the way to go?

A fuse or circuit breaker as shown is generally used for the protection of the boat (rather than the amplifiers) in the event of an accident, boating or otherwise. For example, before a 4 or 2-gauge wire would burn through from a direct short it could potentially start a fire. So the amplifier(s) fuse or breaker should be located very close to the battery, battery switch or switching solenoid.
Most people will use a fuse in a sealed holder up to around 60 amps. But after that most will graduate up to circuit breakers. There is a cheap and quality version of anything but in a quality circuit breaker its sealed and ignition-proof when it trips and is less prone to corrosion than a fuse. We only use quality breakers and haven't had a single failure in over 10 years of having a dedicated marine division.

David
Earmark Marine

Al, what is the black item right under the battery switch?, then what is the next item down?

Thanks

A voltage sensing relay (automatic stereo battery combiner/separator) followed by what appears to be two unused breakers at the moment.

What kind of Thermal Curcuit breakers in these pics? Trying to find them online for my system...

Thanks

Sorry, the correct term is not welding calbles but "welding leads". :) Just had to get my 2 cents in....

Dumb question here; does the house battery side just power the amps or does it do some of the other aux items like heater, blower, lights etc?

typically one would have everything tied to one battery(house) as you mentioned and the other battery is reserved for starting.

As the electrical system has all stock systems tied to house battery from the factory I've always left it that way and moved the stereo to the second battery. Anything else i add goes to the stereo battery bank.

I have mine set up like Razz. One battery that runs the boat, one battery that runs the stereo.

with all my new exile equipment i am debating adding another battery. i have the stock 2 battery set up but i may add a 3rd, 2 batteries for accessories and 1 for cranking

Thats how mine is set up. I run 3 of the factory style batteries24 series. At least till they start going bad then ill upgrade to 27 series.

I'm running a 24 for starting and a 27 for stereo. Adding another 27 soon.

Sorry guys, been busy and have not been on the board much. Looks like I never finished out this thread. Here is a pic of the completed install. Not "show quality" like a lot of other installs on this forum, just basic and functional.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g.../IMG_07592.jpg

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Originally Posted by Stokkdog

Great pics of your upgrade. I am new to the boards. I have 2000 Outback LS and adding a battery and looking to redo the whole battery setup. Can you help me with why the thermal circuit breakers are the way to go?

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Two reasons: (1) If they trip, I can just flip the lever to reset. Don't have to worry about carrying extra fuses. (2) I have an onboard smart charger (ProMariner ProSport 20) that can direct more current to the battery that needs it (usually the stereo battery) but I also have an Automatic Charging Relay that will combine the batteries once it senses the charge, thus defeating the benefits of the smart charger. So when I plug in my smart charger, I open both the thermal breakers which isolates the ACR, which means it can't combine the two batteries when the smart charger is plugged in. Make sense?

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Originally Posted by moombadaze

Al, what is the black item right under the battery switch?, then what is the next item down?
Thanks

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That's the Blue Sea Automatic Charging Relay (ACR). When the boat is running, it automatically combines both batteries so that both are getting charged by the alternator. When adrift or anchored, it automatically isolates the batteries so I don't accidentally run the starter battery down. I set the battery switch to ON and forget it.

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Originally Posted by Stokkdog

What kind of Thermal Curcuit breakers in these pics? Trying to find them online for my system...

Thanks

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They are made by absolute. I got them here, except the new ones have a built in digital amp gauge.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...e-DICB100.html

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Originally Posted by Sea N' Things

Sorry, the correct term is not welding calbles but "welding leads". :) Just had to get my 2 cents in....

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Right! Leads is the right term, not cables. Thanks for setting me straight.

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Originally Posted by aaroncat

Dumb question here; does the house battery side just power the amps or does it do some of the other aux items like heater, blower, lights etc?

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I have the helm bus (which feeds the heater, blower, lights, etc.) and starter connected to the house battery and the head unit and amps connected to the stereo battery.

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Originally Posted by rdlangston13

with all my new exile equipment i am debating adding another battery. i have the stock 2 battery set up but i may add a 3rd, 2 batteries for accessories and 1 for cranking

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Since I added a third amp this winter, I am going to be adding a second stereo battery this spring just to make sure I don't run out of juice on those 3 and 4 day weekends with no access to 120V power in between days on the water.

Great stuff. Any chance you would share an electrical schemeatic? Tryig to make sure I do not screw my system redo up.....

how much did you find that blue sea ACR for and what is the exact model of it?

7650 -

http://bluesea.com/application/1/pro...e/overview/329

I found it for just over $100 (w/shipping) but can't remember the place? Bought it online about 2 years ago.

There's no doubt that the Blue Sea kit is a quality product. We really like putting together the SurePower 1314 voltage sensing solenoid and the Blue Sea dual circuit 'plus' switch. The package is only slightly more and has some distinct advantages. Also, we use a different wiring schematic that has a few benefits including isolated dual bank shore charging without taking any additional measures.

David
Earmark Marine

Here's the Blue Sea 7650 for under $100

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Originally Posted by Stokkdog

Great stuff. Any chance you would share an electrical schemeatic? Tryig to make sure I do not screw my system redo up.....

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Here's how my ACR and battery switch is wired up except I now have 3 amps instead of 2. I started with the schematic from Blue Sea's website then modified it to fit my particular application. It's working for me but don't hold me responsible if it doesn't for you :)

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...largedRev3.jpg

Hey there,
Great stuff. I just bought a '08 LSV and I'm looking at installing the Blue Sea Add-A-Battery kit. Did you cut the existing 2/0 cables coming from the motor and install a 5/16" connector or totally run new cable using the welding leads? Also, when you mention the dist blocks were you using bus blocks for this?

I know this is an older thread, but hopefully you see it. Thanks again for all the good information and very nice work.

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Originally Posted by jsmith227

Hey there,
Great stuff. I just bought a '08 LSV and I'm looking at installing the Blue Sea Add-A-Battery kit. Did you cut the existing 2/0 cables coming from the motor and install a 5/16" connector or totally run new cable using the welding leads? Also, when you mention the dist blocks were you using bus blocks for this?

I know this is an older thread, but hopefully you see it. Thanks again for all the good information and very nice work.

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Sorry, just saw this. I used the existing 2/0 cable and just cut the battery terminal lugs off and crimped on the appropriate size ring terminals. As far as the "dist block" reference in the diagram, I was referring to the existing bus bar under the dash.

Hope that helps.

I just upgraded and finished my whole boat to 2-gauge wiring. That sh*t is expensive. Tried to find it locally and even went to the welding shops and no one had it. So I did what I dont like to do and thats go to a boat shop! LOL. West Marine actully had 2/0 for $5 foot red & blk. Not to bad but I needed it right then to keep my project going. The hard part of the install was it took me 2-days and all of this hard work and then after you hide it all..you cant show anybody your hard work. lol. Heres a few I took.

Attachment 14891Attachment 14892

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Originally Posted by Jet

The hard part of the install was it took me 2-days and all of this hard work and then after you hide it all..you cant show anybody your hard work.

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Too Funny - I can relate. Moved my batteries last year and have prob $300+ of wiring that you'll hopefully never see. Hmmm...

Yes I agree with no credit for the hard work, but all of us who have done it can appreciate the hard work and effort you put into it. Nice Job!:cool:

Thanks TRL. One thing that was weired about my 2/0 gauge was that on the inside it wasnt copper it was shiny strands of wire?? It was marked Marine/water proof. Anybody know why??

I think marine wire is tin coated.

Ah..I guess for added protection. Thanks man.

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Originally Posted by cab13367

Thought I would share some pics of my add a battery install - it's a work in progress. I cut a hole behind the battery switch and ran the battery cables thru it for easier cable routing and a cleaner look (both batteries will go behind the panel that the battery switch and ACR are mounted on). I am using thermal circuit breakers all around instead of fuses (thanks for that tip Razz!). One thing I learned is that you can use 2/0 welding cable instead of 2/0 battery cable. It's a lot more flexible (uses much finer strands compared to battery cable) and easier to work with and is about the same price. I only needed a couple of feet to go from the battery to the battery switch.

BTW, all of the speaker wires hanging on the left is the stock wiring that I am replacing. Have not gotten around to cutting them yet.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...s/IMG_5733.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...s/IMG_5729.jpg

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Hi Cab,

What size hole did you drill for that?

Cheers,

Wade

Anyone know exactly what is behind the column to the left of the amps in the 1st pic? I have a tube (vent tube I think) attached to this hole and wanted to mount my amp to a board and mount the board to this column using screws. Any thoughts or advice? Might be structural too and don't want to drill any holes. Maybe I am overthinking it.

Or another question, how are the amps in the pic mounted exactly? Seems like that is the outer shell of the boat. Thanks!