I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

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sebber83

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Oct 27, 2009
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Hey Folks,
First off, I drive a 1995 Doral BR185.

I am working on a booming sound system therefore I would like to *** a deep cycle battery to power it while keeping the starting battery for obvious reasons.

Would anyone have a link or info or even a complete walkthrough on what I have to do to run the second battery and make sure bother batteries get charged and also when to switch to 1 or 2 on the switch? My alternator is completely rebuilt and beefed up from last season, so that is taken care of.

Thanks in advance, I've been told u forum regulars are guru's at this time of work!
 
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sebber83

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

awesome, thanks much!!!
 
skargo

skargo

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

No problem sebber83. I was confused about a 2 battery setup on my boat at first. I thought you would wire essentials up to one battery, and "luxuries" up to the other, but that's not the case at all, at least with my boat. There is a lot of discussion on this site, and it sounds confusing, but once you are sitting in the boat, with the components in hand, it's relatively simple.

I have a Guest Battery switch with "1" "2" "both" and "off" on it. On the back, their is a "com" connection, which basically everything is wired too. Engine harness, and the harness I added to it for a fuseblock I installed.

The only thing not wired through the switch is the bilge pump for obvious reasons.

You mileage may vary depending on what you run of course.
 
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swordfish25

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

When you put the second battery in you can buy a battery isoulator at the marine store and put that between the two batteries. Doing this will let you run your radio off one battery [ the secend] and run it dead without draining the first down. It will still charge when the engine is running. Be sure to hook the radio to the secend battery, not the first. Some people call this the house battery. They run things off it, and never kill the starting battery. Good Luck:)
 
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sebber83

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

Perfect , Thanks much for the tips, I will have to wait for spring to set everything up but I want to be ready. Any particular brand of switch and isolator to recommend?
 
skargo

skargo

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

sebber83 said:
Perfect , Thanks much for the tips, I will have to wait for spring to set everything up but I want to be ready. Any particular brand of switch and isolator to recommend?
Click to expand...

If you use a switch properly, there's no need for an isolator.
I like my Guest switch, not sure about the other brands as I've never used them.
 
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Seon

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

A picture is worth a thousand words ;)

StandardBatterySwitchWiring.jpg
 
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sebber83

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

Lol, Awesome Seon, that makes it very very very simple looking, tks again!!!!
 
skargo

skargo

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

Notice on that pic the engine is to the com post? You also run your accessories to the com post. Then you control which battery powers everything by the switch.
 
Silvertip

Silvertip

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

Nice diagram. Just curious what program you used to create it!
 
wired1236

wired1236

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

I baught and use a voltage sensing relay from BEP with two batteries. IT WORKS GREAT and you don't have to worry about flipping any switches. I built mine exaclty like they tell you with a VSR and 3 isolating switches so you can isolate the batteries if you want but usually you just leave them alone and let the VSR do it's thing. Read up on it. It's great.

http://www.bepmarine.com/Voltage-Sensitive-Relays-166.html

http://www.bepmarine.com/store/web/.../Battery Charging/VSRs/Docs/710-125A_Inst.pdf
 
prelude219

prelude219

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

I have that same setup with BEP VSR. It charges both batterys and you never have to flip a switch. I wouldn't use anything but that setup in my opinion.
 
Silvertip

Silvertip

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

But you can't start the engine from battery #2 if battery #1 takes a dump. A switch is by far the least expensive and most versatile setup. Start on 1, start on 2, start on both, charge 1, charge 2 charge both, or kill everything. Can't get any simpler and versatile than that.
 
skargo

skargo

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Re: I/O Battery Help (going from 1 to 2)

Silvertip said:
But you can't start the engine from battery #2 if battery #1 takes a dump. A switch is by far the least expensive and most versatile setup. Start on 1, start on 2, start on both, charge 1, charge 2 charge both, or kill everything. Can't get any simpler and versatile than that.
Click to expand...

Agreed 100%
 
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