battery wireing

[Guest]

hey does anyone know if you can wire 2 12 volt batteries together for your starting/depth finder/bilge pump battery? im not talking about a 24 volt system like you would use for a trolling motor. Any ideas?? thanks

[LMITOUT]

Yes, you can wire as many batteries together you want, but they must be wired in parallel to stay at 12V (positive to positive and negative to negative).

I would suggest not using your starting battery as your power source for other electronics if at all possible. Use one for the motor and the other for your assorted electronics/lights.

Good Luck.

[musky hunter]

Here's my idea: get a second battery and wire it just for the electronics. Removing the constant drain from the depth finder off the starting battery will be a big help and the live well, nav lights, etc. will probably function just fine. And you would have the security of a second battery on board that, in an emergency, could be hooked up as a starting battery. If starting problems persist, then you should look for other causes, such as low battery fluid, charging system problems, or a worn out starting battery. While you can double up on the batteries as described, I think you'd be better served with a deep cycle battery running the electronics.

[AJ]

And for a 24V system you bridge the batteries with a single wire, one on + and the other on -, correct? Then, how do you attach the trolling motor to the batteries?

[LMITOUT]

If it is a 24V motor, then you want to use the positive of the first battery and the negative of the second battery for your motor power feeds. Yes, you would use a single wire (connect the neg of batt #1 to the pos of batt. #2) to establish a 24V system.

[This message has been edited by LMITOUT (edited 05-06-2002).]

[Guest]

if you have two batteries wired in-line (12volt) do you have to charge them seperatly or can you leave the batteries connected and just hook the charger to one of them?