? about batteries and on board chargers.

[McLoki]

2 questions. I just purchased a tracker V175 (deep-V) and it is my first new boat in about 15 years. (last boat was single battery - tiller steer)

Anyway - the new boat came with a deep cycle battery (mounted near the front of the boat for the trolling motor) and a starting battery (mounted in the rear of the boat and running everything else.)

Question 1:
Is that setup normal? it seems odd to have a starting battery also running lights, bilge, front and rear live well pumps, depth finder, radio (and starting the motor) and having the deep cycle battery in the front just running the trolling motor. Is that how most companies set up the electronics?

Question 2:
I added a dual bank minn Kota 210D on board charger (2 banks - 5 amps per bank). I mounted it under the console and hooked one bank to the front battery - and the other bank to the fuse panel where the terminals from the rear battery are connected. Does this sound ok? (the wires off the charger are about 16 guage, the wires going from the fuze panel to the back battery is about 12 guage) It seems to be charging ok (went through the different phases for a full charge as expected) but wanted to ensure that I do not have to tear apart my boat to try and run a cable directly from the charger to the back battery.

Thank you for any help you can give.

Michael

[perchjerker]

Question #1 yes. You want the motor to charge the house battery. So thats why everything is hooked to it. The motor should keep it charged while in use. If the trolling motor battery was to get used up then there would be nothing to power the rest of the boat with while in use

Question #2 might be ok but if it were my boat I would go directly to the battery.

[moose-hunter]

Originally Posted by McLoki

2 questions. I just purchased a tracker V175 (deep-V) and it is my first new boat in about 15 years. (last boat was single battery - tiller steer)

Anyway - the new boat came with a deep cycle battery (mounted near the front of the boat for the trolling motor) and a starting battery (mounted in the rear of the boat and running everything else.)

Question 1:
Is that setup normal? it seems odd to have a starting battery also running lights, bilge, front and rear live well pumps, depth finder, radio (and starting the motor) and having the deep cycle battery in the front just running the trolling motor. Is that how most companies set up the electronics?

Yep. All my new boats came this way. Some with more batteries, but all the vessel's systems were run off the starting battery.

Question 2:
I added a dual bank minn Kota 210D on board charger (2 banks - 5 amps per bank). I mounted it under the console and hooked one bank to the front battery - and the other bank to the fuse panel where the terminals from the rear battery are connected. Does this sound ok? (the wires off the charger are about 16 guage, the wires going from the fuze panel to the back battery is about 12 guage) It seems to be charging ok (went through the different phases for a full charge as expected) but wanted to ensure that I do not have to tear apart my boat to try and run a cable directly from the charger to the back battery.

Run the cables back to the battery. I've never heard of anyone using your method and honestly it sounds like a fire waiting to happen. Typically you don't have to tear the boat apart to run cables. Just trace the existing front cables back to the engine. Follow the same route with the charger cables. Easy. Just a bit time consuming.

Thank you for any help you can give.

Michael

Hi Michael... My responses are written above in RED.

[Hot Runr Guy]

on the subject of batteries, Mercury has minimum recommendations for starting batteries used on Optimax motors (page #66 here)

http://www.mercurymarine.com/media/m...ce-OptiMax.pdf

it would be interesting to see if the battery Tracker installed meets the minimum specs.
HRG

[McLoki]

Originally Posted by Hot Runr Guy

on the subject of batteries, Mercury has minimum recommendations for starting batteries used on Optimax motors (page #66 here)

http://www.mercurymarine.com/media/m...ce-OptiMax.pdf

it would be interesting to see if the battery Tracker installed meets the minimum specs.
HRG

I will check when I get home and let everyone know what is currently installed.

Everyone else - thank you for your replies. Is there anyone who thinks my current setup for charging the rear battery would be ok? My thought process was - its only 5 amps, the gauge running back to the battery is MUCH larger than the guage wire running to the charger and the two wires are basically hooked together. There just also happens to be a fuze panel at that junction as well.

Anyway - Based on the responses I have gotten so far - I will start looking at what it will take to run the wires back to the battery and once that is figured out - look at what it will take to run the wires back there.

Thanks again everyone.

Michael

[McLoki]

This is a (very) rough drawing of what I did to connect the charger....

[Hot Runr Guy]

Originally Posted by McLoki

This is a (very) rough drawing of what I did to connect the charger....

McLoki,
The connection scheme you show will certainly work, since the lead wires running to/from the battery are as heavy as they are. A lot of us just like direct-wired connections, to minimize the chance of vibration and moisture causing a problem. As long as you've got good & solid connections from the charger to the "supply" wiring, you'll be fine.

HRG

[McLoki]

Originally Posted by Hot Runr Guy

on the subject of batteries, Mercury has minimum recommendations for starting batteries used on Optimax motors (page #66 here)

http://www.mercurymarine.com/media/m...ce-OptiMax.pdf

it would be interesting to see if the battery Tracker installed meets the minimum specs.
HRG

As promised, I checked the battery and while I do not know whether to praise tracker or my dealer (while I do have a Tracker boat, I purchased it from an actual boat dealer, not from Bass Pro) it meets the minimum requirement for an optimax.

From the manual you posted above, the minimum is 800CCA or 1000MCA and what is installed in my boat is an interstate marine cranking battery with 1000MCA. I am uploading an image of the front of the battery as well as a picture of the fuse panel. (taken with my phone so forgive the quality)

Here is the battery:
http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...t/IMAG0090.jpg

and here is the fuse panel. The large red wire at the bottom heading to the right is going to the battery. the small red wire to the left if going to the charger. (you can see the same with a black wire going to the right and left at the top of the panel.) both wires (charger and battery) are a metal hoop that is placed over a bolt and tightened down with a wrench. (they are good and tight with excellent contact)
http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...t/IMAG0094.jpg

[Slabomania]

There is nothing wrong with your connection for the rear battery. It makes more sense than running additional wiring.

[1860Angler]

The way you have it setup will work just fine, I would leave it just the way it is.