charging batteries in a series

[Ridgerunnr]

i read thru the board here and i THINK i got it but its worth a post to be sure so i dont wreck something...

two trolelr batteries hooked in series ( + to -) then the neg n ps to the troller..now to charges them..I have a dual bank charger. I think its safe to hook them up as normal to the bateries ie; neg to neg/ pos to pos on each battery then plus it in correct???

[BobT]

Each bank of the charger should be connected to one battery so it will take two banks to charge two batteries.

[Ridgerunnr]

exactly what i was thinkin..thanks for the artwork!!!! was pretty sure but wanted to be positive. Stuff is too expensive to be taking a remote chance ...thnx

[Bigtom]

can you still hook a depth finder just to one of the batteries it a 24 volt system? Or do I need a seperate battery

[BobT]

One battery will deliver 12v. Yes, you can do that but you should be aware that the trolling motor will demand full power from both batteries. Connecting other loads to one battery could result in an imbalance between the two batteries reducing their total power output to the trolling motor. Now that I've said that, I should also point out that a depth finder is not a serious load on a battery so in most situations you are probably not going to load the one battery down enough to matter much anyway.

It's usually not a great idea to use the trolling motor battery for your electronics because the motor can introduce electrical noise that may affect your sonar unit. That's why most boats are wired using the outboard's starting battery to operate other peripheral devices and leave the trolling motor batteries for the trolling motor.

[Bigtom]

thanks I guess I will still run a seperate line back to the starter battery just to be safe.

[ogrejce]

I give the picture a "10" for being easy to follow. Thought it was also woth mentioning a lot of people recomended 6 gauge wire for the job.