2 battery system and alternator...

[JakeLikesCake84]

I am rewiring my '76 Sea Sprite that has a '76 115hp Evinrude. I am wanting to add a second battery to power accessories, radio, etc. My question is, there is always talk about an alternator, when it comes to the Add a Battery kit. Would a stator be considered an "alternator", or how does that work, considering the age of the motor, or does that matter?

 

[Scott Danforth]

welcome aboard

using the stator for light loads and to recharge a normally discharged battery is fine. what ruins them and rectifiers is when people try to charge a deeply discharged battery.

if I were you, I would leave the starting battery alone with lights, bilge, etc and add a second battery for your power hungry electronics and charge that at home with a battery charger

 

[dingbat]

An alternator and a stator are for this discussion one and the same.

The difference being the way each generates the voltage and the variability of output relative to engine rpm.

Stators typically don't output enough voltage to charge a battery below 1500-2000 rpm

 

[airshot]

I have dual batteries on my boat, the main starting battery is hooked up to the alternator on the engine and then I added a battery switch. The house battery is a deep cycle that runs all the electronics including the nav lights. With the deep cycle battery I only need to charge it once a month if it drops below 75-80%. This way I always have a fully charged battery to start my engine and the deep cycle has more than enough reserve to handle all the electronics on the boat. If one battery should go bad a simple flip of the switch and the other battery takes over.