12 volt power for outfitting a boat

[ruttinbuck]

Bought myself a new to me 19' jetboat.
Looking at adding 2 electric downriggers along with an on board stereo.
Question is "is the lone marine grade starter cranking battery enough to run the down riggers and the stereo for 4-6 hours,then still start the sportjet?
Or should I just add an extra deep cycle accesory battery behind an isolator?"
thx RB

[dougan]

I put an extra deep cycle in mine. I figure it beets the hell out of a paddle!!!!!!!!!!

[Night Hawk 3]

In my opinion boats should have at least two batteries... they should be hooked up to a multi-position switch so you can select between them. Diode based isolators have a voltage drop associated with them. A solenoid system can work very well.

It's a long way to paddle home or run with the kicker if your main power goes down.

AGM batteries are worth considering, they tolerate vibration well and tend to deep cycle well.

NH3

[lip_ripper00]

Bought myself a new to me 19' jetboat.
Looking at adding 2 electric downriggers along with an on board stereo.
Question is "is the lone marine grade starter cranking battery enough to run the down riggers and the stereo for 4-6 hours,then still start the sportjet?
Or should I just add an extra deep cycle accesory battery behind an isolator?"
thx RB


Yes it will, Two options.
One put a battery switch in so you can run two batteries the battery switch will have three positions: battery#1, battery #2, or all. I will assume you are using a kicker? When you get to where you are fishing switch from "all" to battery #1 and run downriggers etc, if and when it dies you will still have battery#2 for starting the main motor. Option two If you are using a kicker have it checked to see if it has a charging system most newer smaller OB have it, wire it in to the electeical system. Have somone that knows what they are doing because if done incorrectly you will fry one or the other charging system. Hope this helps

[abbyfireguy]

I would always have two batteries in my boat regardless. I hate paddling!!
I put two electrics on my jetboat last year and also have a 4 stroke kicker that is wired into the battery switch to charge the batteries when trolling.
I also have a small solar panel that trickle charges when plugged into the lighter if parked for any length of time.
Everything works great and I still have lots of juice to run the tunes!!

[NaStY]

Yes it will, Two options.
One put a battery switch in so you can run two batteries the battery switch will have three positions: battery#1, battery #2, or all. I will assume you are using a kicker? When you get to where you are fishing switch from "all" to battery #1 and run downriggers etc, if and when it dies you will still have battery#2 for starting the main motor. Option two If you are using a kicker have it checked to see if it has a charging system most newer smaller OB have it, wire it in to the electeical system. Have somone that knows what they are doing because if done incorrectly you will fry one or the other charging system. Hope this helps


I would always have two batteries in my boat regardless. I hate paddling!!
I put two electrics on my jetboat last year and also have a 4 stroke kicker that is wired into the battery switch to charge the batteries when trolling.
I also have a small solar panel that trickle charges when plugged into the lighter if parked for any length of time.
Everything works great and I still have lots of juice to run the tunes!!


Yup what both of them said. Ive been a 12volt guy for many years and wouldn't even consider running a boat without 2 batteries...

[ruttinbuck]

The 3 position switch idea with my kicker charging sounds like it would do the trick.My kicker is a 2002 15HP 4 stroke so I bet it could be wired up to do the job.
Never thought about using it to keep one battery at full charge at all times thx boys RB.

[lip_ripper00]

The 3 position switch idea with my kicker charging sounds like it would do the trick.My kicker is a 2002 15HP 4 stroke so I bet it could be wired up to do the job.
Never thought about using it to keep one battery at full charge at all times thx boys RB.


What brand is your kicker? If your close I have a brand new switch

[ruttinbuck]

What brand is your kicker? If your close I have a brand new switch
Suzuki DT or DF15

[spreerider]

always use two batteries.
you can leave one hooked to the motor for starting and one hooked up to the electrical for all your other needs, then if you need to you can always swap the wires,
unless you want to put a switch in then go ahead and wire it up.
we have 4 batteries in my bosses boat that we are wiring right now, 2 cabin/winch/deeplines and 2 for starting, but we have a good connection for industrial batteries so why not, all 4 cost less than 1 at crappy tire.

[lip_ripper00]

Suzuki DT15?


look under the cowling. where the tiller handle comes out out of the housing, their MAY be a 4 wire harness wraped up?

[ruttinbuck]

look under the cowling. where the tiller handle comes out out of the housing, their MAY be a 4 wire harness wraped up?
Does'nt look to be any harness there.I will spend some time in the owners manual and see what I come up with.RB

[lip_ripper00]

If it's not there phone the dealer, they will tell you by serial number, I am sure you can get it installed, my 15hp Yahama has it built in............ :wink:

[abbyfireguy]

Its easy enough to install a charging system on the motor if it doesn't have one already. I did it on my first 4 stroke kicker but didn't need to on the new yammie as it is an electric start(I know,pretty lazy!!:-D).
The charge coming from these charging systems on kickers will keep the batteries charged but don't generally have the power to charge dead batteries.They have a pretty low output as a rule.