Hey Lads,
Just bought a second hand tinny and am going to rewire the boat for peace of mind and also run a duel battery system, 1 for cranking and 1 for accessories with a sidewinder to charge them.
What i need advice on is,
Can i use a new smaller type dry cell (lighter) battery to run the accessories and will the sidewinder charge this battery.
Any advice or thoughts greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Knuckle
I dont see why not...
Your not running the batteries parrallel?
Why not get a single battery to do the whole job?
Personal opinion here: (small boat) mounted battery chargers are a PITA. I have a large tinny used for mostly ofshore trips and after having twin batterys in other rigs some bigger I decided it's just not worth the potential hastle unless lots of electronics are to be run. Today with LED lighting even this aspect of needing twin batterys to keep up overnight is largely gone.
I ended up deciding on 2 batterys though, each large enough to handle average trip needs but one is carried as a spare only, both get charged at home on a decent amperage charger.
Money can be better spent on the boat in other places IMO...like getting the best sounder possible.
Guys thanks for the replys, much appreciated!
Majestic,
I guess its for peace of mind, for a few extra bucks tleast i will know that the cranking battery will be used for just that.
FNQCairns,
The boat is 435 plate, normally i would be of the same opinion about a mounted charger, my mate has a side winder and it seems to do a great job, even when i did not get out for a while i would charge the batteries at home on a decent charger, what would you recommend?
Yeah, and i will still be spending money on the sounder and other bits, expensive exercise this, but i still love it!
Cheers
Knuckle
This is what we do. If we know we are going for a day out on the water, we hook the battery up to the charger the day before and give it a good charge. It is a good deep cycle battery and decent charger as well and we havent gone wrong.Originally Posted by knuckle
For peace of mind, I usually also take a battery jump pack on board. More so for the 12v cigarrette outlets though.
Running a solenoid might also be a option, where the solenoid automatically selects the 'crank' battery when you turn the key and reverts back to the accessories battery when the key returns.
Yeah one thing for sure this boating caper is entirely each to their own, no problem there.
If in the future I decide to hard-wire a 2nd battery in I will for sure end up with a solenoid setup spoken about by Majesticmarine.
On the charger IMO if it can smart charge at 15amp (12 at a very minimum)as then it's ok, i also suspect that because of how long smart chargers have been on the market now that as long as it is smart and of a decent enough amperage then any brand (price) will do a good job of it.
If the boat has a motor with a pull start as well I would not worry about a second battery in a boat that size.
If something untoward happens you can always give the motor a pull to get her going instead of having to carry the extra weight about.
I would not worry about the on-board charger too.
Get a C-tec for the shed and forget about the battery.
I intend on living for-ever....so far so good
Thanks for the replys guys
After weighing up the options reckon i am going to take your advice and stay with just one battery and charge up of a night before i go. I have replaced all the old lights with LEDs to save on any current draw.
As Finga said worst comes to worst i can always pull start the motor or un hook my minn kota battery and drag it down the front.
Now for a Ctek charger, will post on the other thread about which one.
Thanks again guys
Knuckle
I have a 4.35 platey and I run 2 batteries. One is for cranking and accessories and the other for the min kota but have both wired to a dual battery switch in case cranking battery fails I can switch over to my deep cycyle. It has enough cranking amps to start my motor. Have set up points to connect to each battery for connecting a charger when at home or camping. I use a Multi XS 7000 charger. As FNQ Cairns said with LED lights and such, you are very unlikely to flatten your craking battery and if all else fails you can always pull start. Had to do this once when forward/reverse/nuetral switch broke and wouldn't start via the electrics (hint: key switch still had to be on to start).
Jeff.
Quality is still delivering long after you have forgotten the price.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote