2nd Battery

[adub7]

Ok so im adding a second battery and switch and just wanted to make sure this is pretty much what I have to do... http://www.ehow.com/how_4814380_wire...ry-switch.html

[chpthril]

The only real hard part is moving all the accessory devices over to the "House" battery.

As your next upgrade, when you're ready to spend a Ben, add a Blue Sea ACR. It makes switching obsolete.

[AdaminMN]

Blue Sea ACR's on EBAY for $75 delivered. I just bought one myself.

[willis]

What does the blue sea ACR do? also, someone brought to my attention that a potential problem with setting up this 2nd battery for a stereo like the diagram on that website is that the 2nd battery will run out of juice quicker than the other battery that will be used solely for starting the engine so the alternator will be overcharging the battery 1 and under charging battery 2. your thoughts on this? i'm not the most mechanical/electrical inclined so i may just be totally misunderstanding this

[chpthril]

What does the blue sea ACR do? also, someone brought to my attention that a potential problem with setting up this 2nd battery for a stereo like the diagram on that website is that the 2nd battery will run out of juice quicker than the other battery that will be used solely for starting the engine so the alternator will be overcharging the battery 1 and under charging battery 2. your thoughts on this? i'm not the most mechanical/electrical inclined so i may just be totally misunderstanding this

The ACR - Auto Combining Relay, is basically a lazy mans Perko switch. It links the "House" and "Starter" banks together when the engine is running, but isolates the "House" bank when the engine is off.

I do not see an issue with an alternator over charging the main battery, for a couple of reasons. 1) a properly functioning alt should not over charge a good battery. alternators are really designed to only keep up with load and replenish what was use by the normal electronics. 2) when the ACR combines the 2 banks, they will somewhat equalize and be seen as 1 large battery.

It will be perfectly normal for a heavily depleted stereo battery to not get recharged by an alternator.

[willis]

thank you! couple more questions...is it necessary to install a ACR? what would be the advantage and disadvantage? i am preparing to do the install of the 2nd battery and have the wires, perko switch, battery and battery box. i was thinking this was all i need so now i am wondering if i should put in this ACR or would it be safe to go without. also, what type of hardware should i use to mount the perko switch? i was told stainless steel bolts/screws??

[chpthril]

thank you! couple more questions...is it necessary to install a ACR? what would be the advantage and disadvantage? i am preparing to do the install of the 2nd battery and have the wires, perko switch, battery and battery box. i was thinking this was all i need so now i am wondering if i should put in this ACR or would it be safe to go without. also, what type of hardware should i use to mount the perko switch? i was told stainless steel bolts/screws??

An ACR is just and enhancement to to the system, but not necessary since you have a Perko. The ACR will allow you to leave the Perko in Batt1 (main starting) position, and not have to switch back and forth to charge/isolate the 2 banks. It a set it and forget it kinda thing.....float up to the party cove, drop anchor, shut off engine, blast tunes, relax as there's no need to move the switch. A system can be built with just a switch, just an ACR, or both together. Having both allows all the other benefits and one more. The Perko will allow you to switch over to house bank for an emergency start if the starter bank fails.

[willis]

thank you so much for your help. i was starting to think that this would be much more complicated than i originally thought and was going to put the boat in the shop to get it done which would have cost me a couple hundred and about 7 days, but now i'm thinking it's not that difficult. thanks again

[willis]

one last thing...when mounting the perko switch to the side of my boat does it matter what kind of hardware i use? somebody told me i should use stainless steel since it is not magnetic but i have no idea. the back of the perko switch has two poles coming out of it where the wires get hooked up so my fear is if they came loose somehow and touched the bolt/screw i use to mount the switch that it would charge the whole thing???

[petrey10]

i am going to mount my ACR on the top of the battery boxes... with stainless steel bolts. I am running out of room to mount things...

[Jason B]

Do not use any hardware that is not Aluminium or Stanless Steel. It will rust. The lugs on the back of the Perko have a split washer that prevents them from coming loose if you properly torque the nuts--the nuts coming loose would be the LEAST of my worries.

Here is a compete set of instrucions for the add-a-battery system. I KNOW that's not what you have, but the instructions are exactly what you need to follow. Very easy if you're a lil handy.


http://bluesea.com/files/resources/s...heets/6833.pdf



hope that helps