New to the forum 1st time boat owner!

Hi all, I just bought my first boat. It's a 1994 l160 lowe bass boat with a 50hp oij injected johnson. I don't know anything about boats so I thought I would come on here and ask a few questions. first of all the boat only has one battery it's a meijer brand 27dp deep cycle. What kind of battery should I get for starting? Should I replace the deep cycle?

Re: New to the forum 1st time boat owner!

Is this battery used to start the outboard only or is there anything like a trolling motor hooked up to it also?
Do you have alot of accessories or just the outboard?
Replace it...is the battery good?

A deep cycle can be used to start your outboard,if theres enough cranking amps and there probably is with that battery.If you have alot of accessories(TM,fish finder,radio,bilge pump, etc)you are probably going to want acouple batteries,depends alot on what your going to do with the boat.A trolling motor is normally your biggest amp draw so size of that has alot to do with battery selection.

Re: New to the forum 1st time boat owner!

Yeah I should have mentioned it has a fish finder,trolling motor, bilge pump and a live well.

Re: New to the forum 1st time boat owner!

I'd say 2 batteries would be good but that depends on the size of your trolling motor.(12V=1 battery;24V=2 batteries)
1 for your trolling motor(if 12V)(deep cycle)
1 for starting and your accessories(deep cycle or cranking)
Get your battery tested it may be good and your going to need a charger.
Keep them batteries charged,especially the deep cycle for the TM, if used.
The other battery may get charged up a bit by your outboard(maybe ?)and the finder,bilge,etc don't draw much power.
To be safe,it would be good to charge each battery after use.

Re: New to the forum 1st time boat owner!

The motor will NOT fully charge the trolling motor battery because it simply doesn't have enough output. You need a portable or on-board smart charger for the trolling motor battery. YOu plug it into AC power at the dock to charge the troller battery.

Re: New to the forum 1st time boat owner!

Cave62, I'm a newbie to boat ownership too with a newly acquired 2000 Lowe 170, 70hp Johnson. It had just one battery for everything including the 12v Evinrude trolling motor. I just added a second battery (Optima) and an on-board charger (Guest 2 bank). Photos attached, if successful.

For the charger, I attached it to the aluminum wall (was told area behind it is basically for flotation and is either empty or full of foam)with stainless self tapping screws and it seems to hold just fine. I've ordered a quick connect mount for the charger's plug that I'll install somewhere nearby to make connecting to an extension cord at the dock or home easier.

'Hope this helps. Great forum for good info; thanks to all you old boaters for sharing.