Hey folks!
I'm brand new to the boating thing. I was gifted a Sea Eagle SE9, a Minnkota 55lb trolling motor and a pair of 120Ah batteries. The boat was my parents, but they didn't use it as much as they thought they would. (Actually, they never used it.) Sweet!
My wife and I have taken it out on local rivers a few times now. Troll up-river and float back down. We've only ever used one battery but to fight the current, cranking it all the way to speed 5 is sometimes necessary just to move (I'm sure I'll get an outboard eventually but, this is all free). Using both batteries would probably be ideal for longer days on the water. Right now I'm trying to figure out the best way to hook it all up.
1. Is there any actual reason why the battery needs to be close? I'm new to boats but my limited understanding is that as long as the gauge of wire is sufficient for a 50 amp draw at full speed, there's no reason I couldn't mount the battery up front right? Or in the middle of the boat?
2. I'm assuming the best route for dual battery days is to run parallel, rather than swapping batteries. My thought process is that this halves the amp load on each battery and thus they'll run a bit cooler and endure a little less abuse. Is my assumption correct?
2b. In that case, is there any reason why the two batteries couldn't be mounted in separate spots on the boat?
The boat should be able to handle the weight no problem. It's rated for 1200 pounds. So, two people and two batteries is well within that. But the distribution of the weight is the concern. Two batteries, two trolling motors, and me in the back means most of the total weight of the boat is in the back.
So: tl;dr. If you were gonna run dual batteries on a Sea Eagle SE9, where would you mount them? What caveats should I watch for?
I'm brand new to the boating thing. I was gifted a Sea Eagle SE9, a Minnkota 55lb trolling motor and a pair of 120Ah batteries. The boat was my parents, but they didn't use it as much as they thought they would. (Actually, they never used it.) Sweet!
My wife and I have taken it out on local rivers a few times now. Troll up-river and float back down. We've only ever used one battery but to fight the current, cranking it all the way to speed 5 is sometimes necessary just to move (I'm sure I'll get an outboard eventually but, this is all free). Using both batteries would probably be ideal for longer days on the water. Right now I'm trying to figure out the best way to hook it all up.
1. Is there any actual reason why the battery needs to be close? I'm new to boats but my limited understanding is that as long as the gauge of wire is sufficient for a 50 amp draw at full speed, there's no reason I couldn't mount the battery up front right? Or in the middle of the boat?
2. I'm assuming the best route for dual battery days is to run parallel, rather than swapping batteries. My thought process is that this halves the amp load on each battery and thus they'll run a bit cooler and endure a little less abuse. Is my assumption correct?
2b. In that case, is there any reason why the two batteries couldn't be mounted in separate spots on the boat?
The boat should be able to handle the weight no problem. It's rated for 1200 pounds. So, two people and two batteries is well within that. But the distribution of the weight is the concern. Two batteries, two trolling motors, and me in the back means most of the total weight of the boat is in the back.
So: tl;dr. If you were gonna run dual batteries on a Sea Eagle SE9, where would you mount them? What caveats should I watch for?