Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Dual battery hookup


evanlaczi

Recommended Posts

So today was the first time I had a dead battery and was not fun jumping the boat at marina. I have a 98 response with one battery under dash. My question is what do I have to do to setup a dual battery. Which battery to get what other things switch cables etc. thanks.

Evan.

Link to comment

buy a new boat with the twin battery set up! ha ha

Most any parts (NAPA, or bakes on line site) with have the wiring harness and switch needed. Then add a battery.

Do a search as the same topic has been discussed and beaten to death....but there are schematics showing how to hook both batteries up to your newly purchased switch.

Good luck!

Link to comment

The battery type and size will be driven by how you intend to use the 2nd bank. The wiring and schematic will depend on whether you go with a traditional 1/2/BOTH/OFF switch or an ASR/VSR switch setup. In general, you will need ample size cable to reach from the battery to the switch and from battery to battery. To make it simple, look to locate the switch where the existing main battery cable will reach, as it will come off the original battery and now go to the switch. Other wise, you are replacing the the main cable with a longer.

Link to comment

So today was the first time I had a dead battery and was not fun jumping the boat at marina. I have a 98 response with one battery under dash. My question is what do I have to do to setup a dual battery. Which battery to get what other things switch cables etc. thanks.

Evan.

Dead battery at the marina => not so bad

Dead battery middle of the lake => very bad

Link to comment

Get an ACR setup, such as the Blue Sea Add-A-Battery kit. It makes a lot more sense than the traditional switch-only setup and isn't that expensive.

Or go the cheap/easy route and simply put a new battery in and keep a Lithium-Ion jump pack with you. $60 bucks, small, easy to use and you won't be stranded anywhere.

  • Like 3
Link to comment

Here's an old thread with a couple dual battery schematics, including what I did on my '98. Very happy with it this season. I enjoy playing music for hours at our hang out with the boat off and having a dedicated battery just for starting the boat.

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/52831-blue-seas-add-a-battery-help/

Link to comment

I have dual batteries with the 1/2/both/off switch. How much time listening to the stereo with the engine off should warrant switching to the stereo only battery?

Say the stereo is on battery 2. When you park, do you switch to battery 2 with engine off ----> when you're ready to start the engine, switch to battery 1 -----> switch to both while engine is running?

Link to comment

I have dual batteries with the 1/2/both/off switch. How much time listening to the stereo with the engine off should warrant switching to the stereo only battery?

Say the stereo is on battery 2. When you park, do you switch to battery 2 with engine off ----> when you're ready to start the engine, switch to battery 1 -----> switch to both while engine is running?

Lets presume your setup is wired in the most ideal manor, all loads, as in the "stereo", would be wired to the common post of the switch. If just changing riders or filling ballast, i see no need to switch. if dropping anchor, you want to make sure the switch is on 1 or 2, not BOTH. This keeps one bank in reserve for cranking. If your boat has a dedicated house bank, then you would want to switch to that house bank upon dropping anchor.

Link to comment

I have dual batteries with the 1/2/both/off switch. How much time listening to the stereo with the engine off should warrant switching to the stereo only battery?

Say the stereo is on battery 2. When you park, do you switch to battery 2 with engine off ----> when you're ready to start the engine, switch to battery 1 -----> switch to both while engine is running?

This is how I ran my 99 response for years. I ran two optima's in the factory location. With a perco switch right below them. All the audio was ran on bank #2 and the rest of the boat was on #1. I ran the stereo battery dead a few times but always had the other one ready when it was time to head home. I would switch to both on the way back to the launch. That would keep them charge most of the time. If I was out all day or #2 went dead I would just put it on a charger.

I have an acr on my new to me Malibu and I still don't quite understand how it works. The perco switch seems like a easier setup. But I haven't had a chance to research how the acr works.

Link to comment
I have an acr on my new to me Malibu and I still don't quite understand how it works. The perco switch seems like a easier setup. But I haven't had a chance to research how the acr works.

Launching boat = switch in the ON position

Putting boat away = switch in the OFF position

Need emergency start = switch to COMBINE

Far simpler then a traditional switch as its somewhat automatic. ACR allows both banks to receive a charge when engine running, yet isolated from each others loads when engine is off.

  • Like 3
Link to comment

I have dual batteries with the 1/2/both/off switch. How much time listening to the stereo with the engine off should warrant switching to the stereo only battery?

Say the stereo is on battery 2. When you park, do you switch to battery 2 with engine off ----> when you're ready to start the engine, switch to battery 1 -----> switch to both while engine is running?

With an ACR, none of that crap. Just leave the switch to On and the ACR does all the rest.

Only thing I do with mine is when I park her in the garage and plug the onboard charger in, I unhook the ground wire from the ACR, so the charger doesn't combine the banks (dual battery charger). I could even get past unhooking the ground wire with a little extra wiring and a relay but its so easy I never bothered (literally a push connector).

Link to comment

With an ACR, none of that crap. Just leave the switch to On and the ACR does all the rest.

Only thing I do with mine is when I park her in the garage and plug the onboard charger in, I unhook the ground wire from the ACR, so the charger doesn't combine the banks (dual battery charger). I could even get past unhooking the ground wire with a little extra wiring and a relay but its so easy I never bothered (literally a push connector).

Or you could just turn the switch to off.

Link to comment

Or you could just turn the switch to off.

I lose my clock and head unit settings if I do that, as I wired everything to the switch. Since the boat is garaged and always on the charger, I didn't see a good reason to wire the memory wires directly to the battery.
Link to comment

I lose my clock and head unit settings if I do that, as I wired everything to the switch. Since the boat is garaged and always on the charger, I didn't see a good reason to wire the memory wires directly to the battery.

If you never turn the switch off you've effectively wired the HU to the battery anyhow. Just wire the HU to a battery post on the switch. That's how the bilge should be wired too.

Link to comment

Yes, I 100% agree with shawndoggy and that's how I have mine setup. Use an ACR to simplify your need to remember to be in 1/2/ or off and you just have to turn it on when you want to use the boat and off when not in use or charging via a charger so that they do not combine while charging. Take the time to run the head unit wire (yellow?) right to the battery, and make sure your bilge pump is as well. Now you'll never lose clock memory and can simply turn the ACR to 'off' when you get home.

The ACR simply combines the batteries when a charging source is detected (alternator or charger, it doesn't know). The batteries are separated when the engine is off, so the stereo can drain battery #2 without touching battery #1 for example. When the engine is running, they are combined and the alternator will charge up both batteries. The reason I turn the ACR off when at home is because the charger I have is a dual bank 'smart charger' so you want it to properly do it's magic on charging each battery independently.

Link to comment

Launching boat = switch in the ON position

Putting boat away = switch in the OFF position

Need emergency start = switch to COMBINE

Far simpler then a traditional switch as its somewhat automatic. ACR allows both banks to receive a charge when engine running, yet isolated from each others loads when engine is off.

Simple enough. I assumed it switched to the second bank after the first ran low. Which wouldn't be good if playing the tunes all day.

Link to comment

Just note that the switch in that linked thread, is vastly different then the switch the OP currently has, making the diagram irrelevant. The OP would need to get the proper switch along with the ACR, or do a one-off unconventional wire diagram.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...