Dual Battery conection question

[wildroot56]

2004 Wakesetter, mid-engine.

I'm trying to find out the proper way to run the connections to 2 batteries. I've got two disconnected batteries sitting side by side. There are 2 cables coming out of the floor that I traced back to the alternator, and there are another two that come out of the floor that need to be connected that I couldn't trace back. They run into the ski locker (same as the other two) and through a hole heading in the direction of the engine but unlike the ones that connect to the alternator, these don't come out into the engine compartment. There's like an 18" space between the ski locker and the engine compartment under the floor....the cables that go to the alternator run through this same space and out into the engine compartment where as the other two cables don't. They go into this space and go somewhere else that I can't figure out. I'm looking for a diagram of some kind that I can follow and connect these up correctly.

[nuttyskier2002]

2004 Wakesetter, mid-engine.

I'm trying to find out the proper way to run the connections to 2 batteries. I've got two disconnected batteries sitting side by side. There are 2 cables coming out of the floor that I traced back to the alternator, and there are another two that come out of the floor that need to be connected that I couldn't trace back. They run into the ski locker (same as the other two) and through a hole heading in the direction of the engine but unlike the ones that connect to the alternator, these don't come out into the engine compartment. There's like an 18" space between the ski locker and the engine compartment under the floor....the cables that go to the alternator run through this same space and out into the engine compartment where as the other two cables don't. They go into this space and go somewhere else that I can't figure out. I'm looking for a diagram of some kind that I can follow and connect these up correctly.

So there are 2 cables tracing back to the alternator. What size and what color are they? Did your boat come wired this way or has someone altered this? Is there a Perko switch anywhere? About the other 2 cables,... are they large diameter (approx 0 AWG)? Is one red and the other black? More details would help solve this mystery.

[wildroot56]

So there are 2 cables tracing back to the alternator. What size and what color are they? Did your boat come wired this way or has someone altered this? Is there a Perko switch anywhere? About the other 2 cables,... are they large diameter (approx 0 AWG)? Is one red and the other black? More details would help solve this mystery.

Where the batteries sit, there are two cables, one red one black that go down through the floor, across and into the ski locker, through an 18" space between the ski locker (I can't see what this space is because it's under the floor) and engine compartment, then through a hole into the engine compartment. These connect to the alternator. These two are wrapped together with electrical tape except on the ends where they have to split apart. These two are not connected to the battery, but I'm not charging the batteries without them being hooked up...right?

The second set of cables, one red, one black, perhaps a little thicker, drop into a hole about 12" forward of of where the 1st two cables go into the floor. They also go across into the ski locker, but instead of running into the engine compartment, they do not come out of that space thats between the ski locker and engine compartment. These are the two that have to be connected to the battery for the boat to start.

There is no perko switch, I'm assuming that an A-B switch of some kind? The boat had 300 pounds+ of Sub-woofers, 7 amps, and all sorts of other electrical switches installed for the stereo when I bought it that I removed. It was crazy...I didn't have a single inch of storage space on the boat. Under every cushion or seat he'd put in a sub-woofer. I'm just trying to find out what the original dual battery set-up is and how they were wired with these 4 cables. I pulled everything out, now I'm trying to hook the batteries back up the way they were without all this other stuff thats been removed.

I'm guessing there's an alternator ground and hot, and a starter hot and ground. The boat did come with dual batteries cause I can see the original battery straps still installed. I'm thinking those other two cables may go directly to the starter, one hot, one ground(I think about that till I got home so I didn't look) But both sets of cables are battery grade type of cables.

Edited July 19, 2009 by wildroot56