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How do I add a second battery?


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Hows it going guys? I was wondering what the procedure is to add a second battery. I dont have a super crazy stereo, just a memphis audio mini belle amp that puts out about about 600-650 watts rms total with a 1 farad capacitor. Basically what i'd like to do is just add a second battery so that when the sub is hitting and the music is loud, the power draws from the batteries and not the charging system, and to have a little more power longer for when the boat is off.....I dont wanna do a switch to go back and forth from battery to battery, unless thats necessary. I was just hoping I could connect two batteries and leave them down there without doing anything else. Is this possible? If so, how do I connect the batteries?

Thanks for any help....

Edited by 96LX
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Hows it going guys? I was wondering what the procedure is to add a second battery. I dont have a super crazy stereo, just a memphis audio mini belle amp that puts out about about 600-650 watts rms total with a 1 farad capacitor. Basically what i'd like to do is just add a second battery so that when the sub is hitting and the music is loud, the power draws from the batteries and not the charging system.....I dont wanna do a swith to go back and forth from battery to battery, unless thats necessary. I was just hoping I could connect two batteries and leave them down there without doing anything else. Is this possible? If so, how do I connect the batteries?

Thanks for any help....

If you put add a battery without a selector switch you will have a false sense of security and will run the risk of being stranded ( I guess no more than forgetting to use the switch ). If you must you just add a battery by setting it next to the existing battery and running at least 4 guage cable from one positive terminal to the next positive terminal, then do the same with the negative sides. That puts the batteries in parallel doubling your reserve capacity. Don't accidentally hook a positive to a negative post, this will double the voltage to 24v and fry your onboard electronics.

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Hows it going guys? I was wondering what the procedure is to add a second battery. I dont have a super crazy stereo, just a memphis audio mini belle amp that puts out about about 600-650 watts rms total with a 1 farad capacitor. Basically what i'd like to do is just add a second battery so that when the sub is hitting and the music is loud, the power draws from the batteries and not the charging system, and to have a little more power longer for when the boat is off.....I dont wanna do a switch to go back and forth from battery to battery, unless thats necessary. I was just hoping I could connect two batteries and leave them down there without doing anything else. Is this possible? If so, how do I connect the batteries?

Thanks for any help....

You could add a dual battery isolator and run all of your accessories off the second battery, and start the engine off the first. The isolator prevents the problem of multi-battery drain. So no matter how drained your accessory battery becomes, it will never drain power from the battery you're depending on to start your engine. Battery one and two will charge under way. This is what I did and have had no problems. No need to switch back and forth.

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I do always carry a jump pack with me incase the battery does go dead....and I will turn the boat on every now and then when i'm sitting somewhere to charge up the battery. But I was mainly doing it so that when the sub hits and draws energy, it comes from the supplied stored energy instead of making the charging system have to work extra hard just to replenish that one battery that the amp is drawing on. An added perk will be a little longer play time when the boat is off. I wont change any of my habits of starting the boat every now and then...and carrying a jump pack. Just want a little extra power to have for the system so its at a steady voltage and not bouncing around when the musics playing (when driving and not driving).

Edited by 96LX
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I do always carry a jump pack with me incase the battery does go dead....and I will turn the boat on every now and then when i'm sitting somewhere to charge up the battery. But I was mainly doing it so that when the sub hits and draws energy, it comes from the supplied stored energy instead of making the charging system have to work extra hard just to replenish that one battery that the amp is drawing on. An added perk will be a little longer play time when the boat is off. I wont change any of my habits of starting the boat every now and then...and carrying a jump pack. Just want a little extra power to have for the system so its at a steady voltage and not bouncing around when the musics playing (when driving and not driving).

Cool just add another battery and take that cap out of your system you don't need it. It's also very important to recharge your batteries fully after every outing after running your stereo hard. Don't count on the alternator to charge them back up.

Edited by 06vlx
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Why should I take my capacitor out? Isnt that just like having another energy source for the amp to pull from? Isnt the alternator supposed to charge the batteries? I mean where I keep the boat I dont have an option to plug it in after i'm done using it.

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Cool just add another battery and take that cap out of your system you don't need it. It's also very important to recharge your batteries fully after every outing after running your stereo hard. Don't count on the alternator to charge them back up.

I don't get this one either. I thought the cap was specifically for the sub to draw from so it didn't drain the battery.

I have two batteries now. With a Perko switch between them. I'm pretty diligent about setting the switch to battery 1 when the boat is just sitting, whether it be parked or with the tunes up. And then when I'm running the engine & starting it very often, I have the Perko set to ALL. Battery 1 gets run down pretty frequently. And since the boat is stored at the dock, it may be stored with battery 1 pretty drained. So I'm wondering about getting one of those solar battery chargers. Harbor Freight has a cheap one. Will it do a damn thing for my battery?

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I have two batteries hooked together, as explained above, in parallel. This can give a false sense of security. If one battery goes bad the good battery will drain down to the bad battery's level. I am not worried about this yet because I bought both batteries new last month. I am probably going to go with an isolator and hook my stereo and amp up to one battery and leave the boat starter hooked up to the other battery. Like mentioned above, with an isolator both batteries are connected when the charging system is running. When you shut the boat down the isolator splits the batteries so that they are isolated from one another.

One thought for your application, if space provides, would be to hook up three batteries in parallel. Put you music on two of them and have an isolator between those two and your starter battery. I don't know if it's possible but it might be worth checking out.

Edited by Johnny_Ringo
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I might just go ahead and buy two brand new batteries and an isolator switch. What batteries are you guys running? Where do you get an isolator switch, and are they hard to install?

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stinger also has some cheap good isolators. i got mine for like $40 bucks and it works really good and comes with instructions on how to install.

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I just bought two interstate deap cycle marine batteries. They were around $70 a piece. I know others buy much more expensive marine batteries like optima but I don't know if they are worth the extra money.

Edited by Johnny_Ringo
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Why should I take my capacitor out? Isnt that just like having another energy source for the amp to pull from? Isnt the alternator supposed to charge the batteries? I mean where I keep the boat I dont have an option to plug it in after i'm done using it.

A capacitor on a boat doesn't do you any good. Unlike a car you have a dedicated battery for your stereo for the amps to drain from. You could actually be limiting your amp if the cap is not sized right, also the caps can go bad, get damaged if not charged right, etc.. Nobody puts caps on boats in the stereo world.

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Im not quite following, why is a cap good to have in a car then? Isnt it the same concept? Its storing energy so that when the amp draws power it is pulled from the cap and not the battery. Thus putting less strain on the electrical system? What battery or batteries are you guys running?

Edited by 96LX
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After reading this thread I called a buddy of mine who managed a Magnolia HiFi till a few months ago (Seattle area). He said they install caps on boats all the time, even when there are two batteries installed. Something about how they supply guaranteed clean power to the sub when it needs it.

The boat I currently own has a system in it that was built by Stereo King in Clackamas, OR (Portland area). It has a cap in it too. And the guy I asked about it, gave me about the same story.

I get the impression its the sort of thing that some installers do & other don't....... no specific, across the board answer for all situations.

The current boat has 2 batteries, an Optima blue top & a Excel Marine in it.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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I think for now i'm gonna leave the cap in there and just get myself a brand new deep cycle battery. The stereo is only about 650watts RMS. No nearly anything crazy like some guys are running. Later on I may get myself a second battery to install in parallel, but for now I think I should be fine with a good brand new battery and the cap.

What size / energy level batteries does everyone have? As far as amps/hr

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After reading this thread I called a buddy of mine who managed a Magnolia HiFi till a few months ago (Seattle area). He said they install caps on boats all the time, even when there are two batteries installed. Something about how they supply guaranteed clean power to the sub when it needs it.

The boat I currently own has a system in it that was built by Stereo King in Clackamas, OR (Portland area). It has a cap in it too. And the guy I asked about it, gave me about the same story.

I get the impression its the sort of thing that some installers do & other don't....... no specific, across the board answer for all situations.

The current boat has 2 batteries, an Optima blue top & a Excel Marine in it.

My boat had a stereo king setup in it to from the dealer when I bought it and guess what no cap. I've have never seen a Marine stereo shop install a cap on a boat. They are used it cars all the time to keep the lights from dimming and robbing power from the electrical system. In boats with systems there are multiple batteries supplying the power to the stereo so a cap isn't needed and really a waste of money and just another link to fail in the system. Keep the cap, do what you want. It's not doing you any good it still takes power from your 1 battery to feed the cap. I don't think a boat should hit the water with less than 2 batteries period. With a dedicated stereo battery or batteries you basically have a giant capacitor right there.

Edited by 06vlx
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For anyone thats interested, I decided to go with a pretty good size battery. Since i'm only running a smaller amp I am going to see how this battery along with my cap will be.

http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPages/NOLM...ry+-+Deep+Cycle

Item#: BAT8231

Attributes:

Months Warranty:30 Month

# of Volts:12 Volts

Wet or Dry:Wet

Application:RV

BCI Group #:31

Post Type:Top Mount

C.A.at 32 Degrees F.:900 CA

Load Test Amps:363 Amps

Reserve Capacity:205 Minutes

Length:13"

Width:6 13/16"

Height:9 3/8"

Weight:53 lbs

I think 205minutes of reserve power and 900 CA @ 32 degrees is one hell of a battery.

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