Adding second battery for radio

[Canyon Lake Tige]

Anyone added a second battery to run radio when engine is off? Is this battery completely independent of the engine (Main Battery) or are they in parallel somehow?
Is this something I can do myself or should I bring to a radio shop?

Thank you

[Guma]

If you have some electrical understanding and can follow instructions I would say go this route, and DIY.

http://www.discountmarinesupplies.co...D_PACKAGE.html

There are also Perko switches that you can install that are cheaper but IMO are as convenient.

[JGR]

I just switched mine to from group 24's to group 27's. Used nice battery boxes and battery switch. I usually run the stereo with switch set to just one battery . That way I always have a reserve to start up. I used deep cycle batteries for both.

You should be able to do install yourself. YOu can purch battery cables in different lengths which will help and save you from having to crimp custom ones yourself.

[Canyon Lake Tige]

What size battery cable should I use to go from solenoid to second battery, if I am putting the second battery under the radio compartment? Does the solenoid mount in the same location as the switch?

[chpthril]

This is definitely a DIY project for anyone that is handy with basic hand tools and a DVOM (digi volt/ohm meter).

There are a variety of ways to set this system up depending on how you want it to work exactly. This will determine such things as cable size, how much cable you need, whether you actually need a manual switch (and if so, will it need to be an ON/OFF or the 1/2/Both/Off.

You can go with just the BS 7610 (no manual ON/OFF switch) and have a simple dual battery setup that will charge you dedicated tunes battery, or add in a 1/2/Both/Off switch, and configure it so the stereo battery can be used as a backup starting battery if needed. This adds to the cost and complexity, but this is how I like to set up all my dual battery system.

To just set it up to automatically charge your stereo battery, 4g cable will do. To set it up as a backup starting battery, you will need 1/0ga cable from the manual switch to battery + and from the battery - to ground.

If you stereo is factory, what system option do you have? If dealer done, or done after sale, then gives us a run down on what you have and how it is set up. If you have amps already installed and the amp cables are run to the existing single battery, then I would look to locate the additional battery as close to the starter battery as possible, and just pull the amp cables off and move them over. There should the room for both batteries back in the rear/stbd battery compartment.

[Canyon Lake Tige]

It is a factory installed clarion. I dont have any amps or other speakers installed other than factory. I am trying to sort out the power situation before I install additional speakers. There is currently a master on/off switch tot he battery and a fuse box under the driver console. I assume that is where the radio is currently run.

[chpthril]

Ok, sounds like you have the base option: Head unit w/4 cabin speakers. If you are planning on upgrading the stereo anytime soon, now is the time to look at the big picture and plan ahead.

i cant remember exactly where the head unit draws it's power and ground from, whether it's under the helm or at the battery, I want to say it's from the pos and neg buss bars under the helm.

Ideally, the head unit need to share the same battery for it's power and ground and when adding amps, the whole system will need to share the same battery. In this case, what we recommend is to run the H/U's yellow power wire (memory) and the blk ground right to the amp's + and - terminals, or at least the the distribution blocks for the amps.

You basically have a blank canvas so to speak. You can do just about whatever you want and mount the battery and ACR anywhere you want, just need to decide what kinda future stereo upgrades you may want to do. If a stereo upgrade is not in the works for this off season, but you still want to add the 2nd battery, then here is the easiest and most cost effective option IMO: Mount the new battery and ACR (auto combiner relay) back in the back next to the starter battery, then run a 12ga + and - wire from the battery to the head unit. Since you already have the master On/Off, all you need is the Blue Sea 7610, not the whole Add-a-Battery setup. When you are ready to add amps, all you have to do is run power and ground cables from the newly installed battery to the area where the amps will be mounted.

[philwsailz]

^^^X2^^^

CHP is on the case!

Phil
Kicker

[Canyon Lake Tige]

Thank you for the info. In the off season, I am going to mount some tower speakers, some additional speakers in the cab and an amp to drive it all. How do I get the existing wiring from under the helm to the new battery? WIth this in mind, should I mount the battery under port side cockpit or in rear?

Any recommendation on a good amp that will drive 4 8" wet sound tower speakers and 8" bass speaker under helm?

[chpthril]

Thank you for the info. In the off season, I am going to mount some tower speakers, some additional speakers in the cab and an amp to drive it all. How do I get the existing wiring from under the helm to the new battery? WIth this in mind, should I mount the battery under port side cockpit or in rear?

Any recommendation on a good amp that will drive 4 8" wet sound tower speakers and 8" bass speaker under helm?

Honestly, If were doing your install, there would be nothing under the helm I would need to relocate. I would just clip the H/U's yellow (memory) + wire and blk - wire behind the H/U and just run 2 new ones directly to the new battery. If you go ahead and lay in the cables for the amps, then power the H/U right from there, and not run to the battery.

Where the battery goes will decide what Ga (size) power cable is needed, as well as how you want to utilize that battery, will determine batter cable size. Again, if I were doing it, I would suggest mounting the battery in the rear, as there is room, and not take up storage up front, but there's not really a wrong place, just changes the configuration.

To wire in the ACR, you will need 4ga wire, for 1 amp, you will more then likely need 4ga cable from the battery to the amp. For 2 amps, you will probably need 1/0 ga wire. There is probably a $.60 p/ft diff between 4ga and 1/0ga.

Tower Amp: For 2 pair of Pro80's I would recommend the Wet Sounds Syn2 - 175 watts rms to each speaker, or the Syn4 - 125 watts to each speaker. Or for the Double Up (Pro80's and MB8's) I would recommend 1st, the Wet Sounds Syn6 - 200 watts rms x 2 for the Pro 80's and 155 watts x 2 for the MB8's, next would be the Syn2 - 175 watts to each speaker and then the Syn4 - 125 watts to each speaker. My personal preference would be the 4 chnl amp route over the 2 chnl amp - one speaker per chnl even though it's a little less power to each speaker.

For the cabin amp: If you are indeed going to add a 3rd pair of cabins, for a total of 6, and a sub, then the Syn6 is the best option here. It will give you about 60 watts to ea cabin speaker and power either 1 or 2 XS-10's @ 305 watts ea or 1 XS-12 @ 600 watts. Or, go with a Syn 4, which will run 4 or 6 cabins and then a single chnl/mono amp, such as the Micro, for a sub like the XS-10FA-D2. Even with your current 4 cabin speakers, the Syn6 is ideal for powering them and a sub.

If your not going to add a 3rd pair of cabins, then go with the Syn4 and the XS-10F-D2A or the XS-12D2. This will give you 100 watts to each cabin speaker and then 400 watts to either sub.

Or, the Syn4 for either 2 or 3 pairs of cabin speakers and the Syn1 for either the XS-12 or the XS-XXX

Ok, this is probably info overload I need to step back and reread to make sure i'm not out in left field with something

[Nobody]

We have 6 extra batteries for our am/fm radio on a seperate switch. 2 batteries for engine. Total 8 batteries.

[Guma]

We have 6 extra batteries for our am/fm radio on a seperate switch. 2 batteries for engine. Total 8 batteries.

Why do you have so many batteries and why two on the motor?

[dingleberry]

Why do you have so many batteries and why two on the motor?

Because that was Tim's previous Wet Sounds demonstration boat. So it has enough stereo power to handle an arena rock concert.

Do a search for Wet Sounds Demo RZ4.

[Guma]

Thanks dingle... nice setup,

Back to topic...

[SPBFAN]

CHP and Phil are already doing a great job here. I have to be honest I did not even read all their post because I know them well enough to know they are on the game. Here is a thread we all spent a lot of time on talking about wiring a system up to get rid of winning noises. It has some real good schematics and such on it to help you also.

http://tigeowners.com/forum/showthre...=SPBFAN&page=3