electrical setup

[marshman]

I'm running a group 29 for my 50lb thrust bow mount trolling
motor and a fish finder.. no problems with power..I keep a good charge for a whole day fishing and I run my trolling motor hard.. I fish marshes and tidal rivers.. lots of current..

doing my boat restoration now.. gonna add another fishfinder, nav lights, bilge pump, aux plug, and I'd like to add a stereo and speakers later on down the road..

question... would I be better adding another group 29 and parallel them for 12v, double capacity?? or would I be better running tm on 1, and use the other as a house battery for my accessories??

my thoughts-- in parallel I only have to hook up 1 charger.. separate systems, I'll have to hook up 2 chargers... (I'll get an onboard charger at some point and can get a 2 bank but for now I'll be using regular battery charger...)

opinions?? I know how to rig and do all the wiring I just don't understand voltage, and amp hours and stuff...

 

[Clint KY]

You didn't mention starting an outboard, so I will assume (always dangerous) that you are either all electric or have a pull start motor. Either way I would suggest two separate batteries. The one for the trolling motor should be a Deep-Cycle battery that is recommended for long duration high current loads like a trolling motor pulls. The other battery can be a "regular" marine battery. That will give optimal performance from both batteries. If you are not going to be adding any high current draw items, you could down-size the other battery to save money, space and weight. Of course this means you would need a charger that has a Deep-Cycle setting as the charging profiles are very different for the two types of batteries. This is the setup I have in my boat. The Deep-Cycle is only for the TM and the other is a large lawn mower battery and it starts my 25HP outboard, runs my Depth Finder and will be hooked up to my navigation lights if I ever get off my dead butt and finish installing and wiring them. When I come in I charge my TM battery first and then my other battery. I am not sure that the 2 circuit on-board chargers are settable but I can not imagine that they are not. I have checked the prices of them and I am not that inconvenienced by hooking up the batteries and monitoring the charging to spend that kind if money.

I hope that helps.

 

[marshman]

thanks.. you made some good points... my motor is pull start so, no issue there.. however I am thinking about converting to push button start.. and someday I'd like to upgrade to a 4 stroke 40 electric.. but that's pretty far off right now...

I'm gonna go ahead and do 2 separate batteries.. not sure why I even doubted..

onboard chargers are t really all that expensive now... I want the convenience of just plugging in when I get home..(save 2 steps) I fish 4-5 times a week and get home after dark most trips..