Do I need a battery jack?

[Triple_D]

OK, I have 4 items currently hooked up to my starting battery (motor, radio, bilge pump, and battery gauge), each is hooked up by a dedicated ring terminal currently to the battery terminal posts, and now I am going to add my HB 997. In the futute I also plan to add an onboard battery charger.

I have heard that it is not good to to connect that many items onto a battery terminal post, it can cause loose connections, etc.

Do I need a battery jack to bring the 4 seperate ring terminals currently connected and bring it down to only one or two terminal connections with the battery jack? The battery jack would replace 4 ring terminals connected to the posts by adding them onto the jacks, (there is one + and one -, each jack has room for 4 connections).

Does anyone use these battery jacks or will I be OK with 5 ring terminal connections to the terminal posts on the starting battery if I don't use a jack?

Thanks for any help/advice.

[mamohr686]

Your fine for now with your curent system. I would replace the wingnuts on your battery with stainless lock-nuts. Get the connections good and tight, and remove any corrosion at least yearly. If your connections get loose, it can cause dammage to your rectifier/strator (outboard charging sytem). Once you add the hummingbird, I would add another deep cycle battery at the same time. You depthfinder would put a good drain on your cranking battery, and you will also eliminate any interference/low voltage issues by not using your cranking battery.

Another option would be upgrading your cranking battery to a combo cranking/deep-cycle battery like the interstate 27M-XHD that has an unreal 1000mca and tons of reserve power to run your accessories all day long.

[morepower02]

Here is picture of the Mercurykit we use:

Battery Terminal Conductor Plate Kit - Complete kit with (2) plates (5/16 and 3/8), covers, fasteners and locking nut to attach plate to battery terminal

[LoonASea]

Jonny Ray makes a nice terminal connector for marine batteries ...I made my own with a terminal block and jumpers

LAS

[marine_man]

I presume you have an inline fuse on all those connections, correct?

marine_man

[Triple_D]

Marine Man,

Yes, I currently have a glass type fuse, it's either a 5 or 10 amp, can't remember, and HB recommends adding another 3 amp blade type fuse for the positive on the locator which I will also add.

I saw the Johnny Ray jack online and this is what brought me to ask the question.

So I guess my question is should I go ahead and add the jack or not, seems to be varying advice on the matter. I should add that I just upgraded my starting battery to a Cabela's AGM size 24 which is much bigger in terms of RCA/MCA than my old cranking only battery.

I'd like to get rid of the old one but would I be better off keeping both batteries back there and wiring some of the stuff to the new battery and some to the old one or am I OK with just hooking everything to the the new AGM? Would be nice to not to have to worry about having to charge the extra battery since I don't have an onboard charger yet. I currently have a 12 V trolling motor but also am saving up for a new 24 V Terrova to add next summer if that changes the dynamics too.

[h8go4s]

mamohr said: "Once you add the hummingbird, I would add another deep cycle battery at the same time. You depthfinder would put a good drain on your cranking battery"

I don't know about the 997, but the specs for the 998c SI are:

Power Draw: Lights off: 780mA

That's from the HB HSOforum. I don't see any need to add another battery just because you're adding a depthfinder to the mix, unless your boat's name is Old Leaky and you're running the bilge pump constantly.

Ron.

[marine_man]

If you don't disconnect your batteries much, I'd just hook them up to the battery and skip the battery jack for now. The main concern with that many connections is corrosion. If you do as mamohr recommended above and swap the wing nuts out and take care of the connection you should be in good shape to add it. If you ever consider improving you're wiring I'd start with a fuse block with one set of feeder wires running to the battery, and connect your accessories from there.

I don't think you'll need another battery with your new locator... you should be good to go.

marine_man

[mamohr686]

mamohr said: "Once you add the hummingbird, I would add another deep cycle battery at the same time. You depthfinder would put a good drain on your cranking battery"

I don't know about the 997, but the specs for the 998c SI are:

Power Draw: Lights off: 780mA

That's from the HB HSOforum. I don't see any need to add another battery just because you're adding a depthfinder to the mix, unless your boat's name is Old Leaky and you're running the bilge pump constantly.

Ron.

The specs your quoting do not include the drain from the gps unit. I've been in a situation where i was fishing for a long time, with both depthfinders and my aerator timer running on max and killed my cranking battery. I ended up using jumper cables to get going again.

I would try out your set-up as it is with the new depthfinder. If you don't have any interference, and you don't sit in one spot for more than 4 hours without starting your outboard motor you will be fine.

[Triple_D]

Thanks for the advice guys, I think I will skip the battery jack for now and see how it goes, if I have problems I can always add one later.

My understanding from reading the Humminbird forum was that the locator does not use as much battery life as the older units do and I should be OK on that. I don't tend to sit in a spot as long as you mamohr686, I haven't found your honeyhole yet anyway, lol!