Couple questions about adding 2nd battery...

[Yojax10]

My plan is to use a Blue Sea Add a Battery Switch & ACR. I want to squeeze both batteries in the port side rear locker and put the Switch , ACR & onboard charger in the starboard rear locker.

First question, to put both batteries in the port locker, I must relocate the ballast drain pump to the outside of the false wall, in the engine compartment. There is plenty of clearance from everything, but will I have any other problems putting this here, such as the additional heat from being closer to the engine? Sorry, the picture is blurry, it was cold in the garage.

Second question, I understand that as long as the cables from the switch to ACR are short, the only fuse I need there is the one on the ground wire on the ACR. What about the 1/0 cables from the batteries going to the switch? Do I need to put a breaker on each? I also assume that they should be as close to the battery as possible? And what size is recommended? 150A?
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[chpthril]

I would not worry about heat as thats actually the same pump as a bilge pump, just different inlet. As long as its not against the exhaust manifold, it will be fine. My worry, is priming. As long as there is a constant down hill travel from the sac to the inlet, it should prime. Id consider laying the pump on its side with the outlet up.

We typically do not put circuit protection on battery cables. For a starter cable, you may need up to a 300A breaker for example.

[Yojax10]

Awesome. Thanks for the input. I figured it was okay, but figured I would ask.

Now I have a few new questions...

1 - I would like to use the existing 1/0 that goes to the starter by putting it right to the battery, so it does not have to go pointlessly (I think) through the switch. However, the power going to the ignition switch gets its power from here, then it daisy chains to a couple things from there. So in essence, I would still be able to turn the engine over even if the battery switch was in the off position. Should I disconnect this wire from the starter and run the wire to the battery switch?

2 - In my efforts to trace down wires that I will be parting out, like separating out onto the separate batteries and such and tying the auto bilge directly to the starting battery, etc. I must have made the spaghetti factory of wires under the helm angry because the rocker switches are going nuts. I turn on the blower fan rocker, and blower does not come on but some of the instrument back lights come on along with some random rocker switch lights, but turn on the rocker switch for the instrument lights and nothing.... Soooo.... I have a nightmare to sort through, which I will get through, I've seen worse and troubleshot worse when I was an aviation electrician back in the day, at least here, I can get to most of the wiring and much less of it. Anyway, at one point a fuse panel was added and (mostly) everything put through it.. But it looks like everything still goes through the breaker panel on the dash as well. So it looks like everything is being double fused at this point. Is this necessary? Is there any issue with taking these breakers out of the equation? Some of the breakers feel like they have seen better days anyway, so If i can bypass them, I think it will get rid of a lot of excess wiring, remove a point of failure and therefore make troubleshooting a bit easier. Any thoughts on this?

[chpthril]

1) There is no negative to running the main starter cable through the switch, so dont bypass it. Make use of the switch. Its designed to handle the starter current and to be a master disconnect for when the boat is stored.

2) Is the bilge a 3-wire or a 2 wire with float? Either way, the auto B+ circuit should already be wired battery direct. I would dissect this back at the bilge/float, rather than under the helm. Its perfectly fine for the manual bilge operation to draw from the helm though.
Sounds like some of the breakers may have already been bypassed. IMO, I would prefer a breaker for those critical boat components, rather than fuses. Fuse blows, you need a fuse on hand. Breaker trips for your nav lights, you at least have the chance of resetting the breaker and getting back to the dock. Unless you are adding a lot of accent lighting or underwater lighting, theres not much out of those factory helm electronics that I would worry much about being wired to the main cranking. However, theres a good chance that they are fed through a breaker thats coming off the battery already. Just need to isolate it, and relocate it to the boat side of the switch's house circuit. But, you also need to confirm that the ignition switch is fed by its own circuit coming off the starter post. Id want the engine system to draw off the main cranking, not the house.

I would delegate that aftermarket fuse block for extra nonessential electronics and fix any breaker issues for the essential stuff. I dont think your 2000 had the switch control module like found on later 2K models. But if it does, Id ditch those 2 switch banks and rewire using traditional rockers and breakers.

[BurnMac42]

Take a look thru the paperwork you have for the boat. In there should be a document with bunch of handwriting on it. It's from Lee that works at Tige.....it lists the wire colors for each accessory under the dash...hopefully this shaves some trouble shooting time off!

[Yojax10]

Take a look thru the paperwork you have for the boat. In there should be a document with bunch of handwriting on it. It's from Lee that works at Tige.....it lists the wire colors for each accessory under the dash...hopefully this shaves some trouble shooting time off!

Now that you mention it, I remember seeing that. Thanks, it will definitely help me through this. I did figure out the non-existent issue I was having, it was mainly user error and I will just leave it at that...lol.


chpthril,

1) Ok. I can do it that way, I was just trying to avoid it if I could since the existing starter cable will only reach the port side. So to run it through the switch for the starting battery, I will just have to run a new cable from the one side all the way to the other side to the switch (which I obviously would have had to do anyway) and then all the way back to the general area of battery to get to the starter. This is probably better anyway since the existing battery cable is just screaming to replaced, not in the best shape.

2) It is a 3-wire. Yeah that is how my current array of issues started. I was trying to verify that it was directly tied in somewhere where my current issues began. I have verified the ignition switch is already currently fed by its own wire that is coming off the starter, so that should be the one thing that is good as is.

You have a pretty solid argument for using the breakers. I will use your suggestion and use them for the critical. So with that I have a couple of other questions.

So minus the ignition wire, this is how everything else is currently getting power:

There is 1 - 10 AWG unfused / unbreakered pair that run all the way to the helm and into the aftermarket fuse panel. From there, power is distributed to the aftermarket rocker switches, then they go to the original circuit breakers, and then to the respective places.

What I am thinking I would like to do is fuse/breaker that 10 AWG at the battery disconnect switch, run power to the original breakers THEN to the lighted rockers, and then to wherever they go from there. My thought here is if they go to the breakers before they go to the lighted switches, the switches won't light up if a breaker is tripped, correct? Any thoughts on this?

If I take the fuse panel out of the equation and use it for the non-essentials/radio battery as you suggest how would you like to see the power distributed for all of the essentials? Would I get a power distribution block or a single stud junction block to put this 10 AWG on and then take it to the breakers (or rockers depending on the question above)?

[chpthril]

1) if the cable is looking bad at just the ends, you can snip off the ends back to clean fresh shiny copper, and put on new ends. However, this shortens a cable that already sounding short fro the ideal switch location. You could consider mounting the switch on the inboard side of the locker's back wall, rather than the outboard. Cable may reach there.

2) You should have a brown wire with inline fuse wired directly to the battery B+. That would be the auto bilge. if not, find where it goes.

There is 1 - 10 AWG unfused / unbreakered pair that run all the way to the helm and into the aftermarket fuse panel. From there, power is distributed to the aftermarket rocker switches, then they go to the original circuit breakers, and then to the respective places.

No circuit protection? Needs something like a 50A breaker back by the switch for that circuit.

No need for redundant circuit protection on those accessory rockers and you dont want an old questionable breaker there either. If it were me: I would breaker that 10ga B+ off the switch. Terminate it under the helm to that aftermarket fuse block as it is now. Come off that B+ stud with a 10Ga routed to the first switch breaker. From there, daisy chain to the next and then next, etc. You can use 10ga or 12ga for those little jumper. Replace any suspect breakers. They can be had for under $10 each for a marine breaker.

Yes, breaker or fuse goes pre-switch, not after switch. if there is a short and the breaker trips or fuse blows, the switch not lighting up is the first indication there is an issue. If your bilge pump is wired right, the light in the switch also comes on when the auto bilge comes on. this tells you its pumping without you seeing or hearing any discharge.

Now you've got that helm BUS protected, all the important stuff has breakers and you have a fuse box for other nonessential accessories that will be fused.

[Yojax10]

1) if the cable is looking bad at just the ends, you can snip off the ends back to clean fresh shiny copper, and put on new ends. However, this shortens a cable that already sounding short fro the ideal switch location. You could consider mounting the switch on the inboard side of the locker's back wall, rather than the outboard. Cable may reach there.

I thought about going this route, and I am now leaning back towards it. If I do it this way, I will probably still replace that cable that goes to the starter anyway, as it is an extremely stiff cable and does not like to be manipulated. (I assume the 1/0 cable that you sell is much more flexible?) If I put everything on this side, I will need that flexibility to get things nice and tidy in this space. The concerns I have are that I have a custom fat sac (which I believe was purchased through you) in that locker. I can not remember how high the bag goes up when it is filled. I would obviously want to have the switch and ACR higher up than the bag. I guess to help prevent any issues, I could always flush mount the switch up high and mount the ACR on the inside of the false wall? Or maybe all the way port near the hull where it flares out? How much do the bags at top shift around when full of water?

2) You should have a brown wire with inline fuse wired directly to the battery B+. That would be the auto bilge. if not, find where it goes.

I still need to check this out. I have a feeling about this one. There is a brown wire that looks to be broken at the harness under the helm. This same harness has a lighter brown wire going to the manual/switched side of the bilge right next to it.
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No circuit protection? Needs something like a 50A breaker back by the switch for that circuit.

None. This was the one thing I was sure I needed to fix.

No need for redundant circuit protection on those accessory rockers and you dont want an old questionable breaker there either. If it were me: I would breaker that 10ga B+ off the switch. Terminate it under the helm to that aftermarket fuse block as it is now. Come off that B+ stud with a 10Ga routed to the first switch breaker. From there, daisy chain to the next and then next, etc. You can use 10ga or 12ga for those little jumper. Replace any suspect breakers. They can be had for under $10 each for a marine breaker.

The fuse panel that was added is only a single battery panel, so it only has a single + stud, which will be used for the 2nd battery stuff. Should I get a split fuse panel , or can I just take that 10ga right to the first breaker? I think everything that I currently am going to have on the starting battery can be covered by these breakers, so I should not need to fuse anything.

Yes, breaker or fuse goes pre-switch, not after switch. if there is a short and the breaker trips or fuse blows, the switch not lighting up is the first indication there is an issue. If your bilge pump is wired right, the light in the switch also comes on when the auto bilge comes on. this tells you its pumping without you seeing or hearing any discharge.

Cool. We are on the same page here. I REALLY wanted to rewire this portion so it goes to the breaker first. Plus I am a bit OCD when it comes to cable management and this area could really use some.

[chpthril]

I like the locating the switch over on that outboard corner high on the back wall. However, as long as the switch is mounted high, the sac should not be an issue. Should not be any sharp edges to puncture sac. I would suggest mounting the ACR right behind the wall but still close to the switch. Flush mounting is also a great way to go. Only the knob is in the locker.

What is currently in your boat is a low strand count copper battery cable with a marine grade outer jacket. Not very flexible and can be tough to work with. What I use for all my custom cables is a high strand count copper cabling. More strand but smaller are easier to bend and route compare to less strands that larger.

I would connect that 10ga, with a breaker, to the boat side of the house circuit of the switch. No issue with blower, bilge and lights being on the house battery, as well as that aftermarket fuse box.