I am going to add a house battery and wonder if an isolator is required in addition to the battery selector switch. My boat has a simple system and knowing not to turn the battery switch to off while the engine is on to avoid alternator damage I hoped to make the installation simple and straightforward. I have very little locker space and in the locker that I would like to put the battery there is no liner or floor. Any suggestions on securing the battery box?
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Combiner
Do not use an isolator, use a combiner instead. It will charge the second battery when the first is up to charge. Combiners use much less power than an isolator. West Marine has a good write up in their catalogue. Or seach the web for info. As far as tying the battery down make your own hold downs and imagine how it will work when the boat is upside down
Do not use an isolator, use a combiner instead. It will charge the second battery when the first is up to charge. Combiners use much less power than an isolator. West Marine has a good write up in their catalogue. Or seach the web for info. As far as tying the battery down make your own hold downs and imagine how it will work when the boat is upside down
A second battery is a must.
You can epoxy wood blocks to the hull and then screw the hooks for the box strap unto them. Our batteries are located in the locker under the storm berth on the port side of the boat. There is room there for three batteries. If you are going to add a house bank do it by installing a battery switch to manually isolate or combine batteries. A "make before break connection" switch will enable you to switch between bat#1, Bat#2 or both without hurting your alteranator. When two batteries are connected in parallel if one fails it will usually bring the other one down too. The idea is to separate them and to keep one in reserve for motor starting purposes. Should one fail or become discharged the other would be available. We keep our switch on battery #2 which is our deep cycle house bank. #1 is reserved for starting power and would only switch to "all" for a momentary starter boost. In order to be able to charge both batteries from the alernator you would need to add a combiner. What we do is to manually set the switch to the battery we want to charge underway for the length of time that we want. A smart inboard charger individually charges the batteries and maintains them when hooked to 110V short power. If your only source of recharging is the generator by all means get a combiner. About choosing a battery, get the largest "deep Cycle" you would be willing to purchase. For cruising vessels a delicate balance needs to be maintained between the power usage and the ability to recharge batteries but for day sailing or weekend cruising you can get away with two batteries for navigation lights, anchor lights, radio, instruments and engine starting. Hope this helps.
You can epoxy wood blocks to the hull and then screw the hooks for the box strap unto them. Our batteries are located in the locker under the storm berth on the port side of the boat. There is room there for three batteries. If you are going to add a house bank do it by installing a battery switch to manually isolate or combine batteries. A "make before break connection" switch will enable you to switch between bat#1, Bat#2 or both without hurting your alteranator. When two batteries are connected in parallel if one fails it will usually bring the other one down too. The idea is to separate them and to keep one in reserve for motor starting purposes. Should one fail or become discharged the other would be available. We keep our switch on battery #2 which is our deep cycle house bank. #1 is reserved for starting power and would only switch to "all" for a momentary starter boost. In order to be able to charge both batteries from the alernator you would need to add a combiner. What we do is to manually set the switch to the battery we want to charge underway for the length of time that we want. A smart inboard charger individually charges the batteries and maintains them when hooked to 110V short power. If your only source of recharging is the generator by all means get a combiner. About choosing a battery, get the largest "deep Cycle" you would be willing to purchase. For cruising vessels a delicate balance needs to be maintained between the power usage and the ability to recharge batteries but for day sailing or weekend cruising you can get away with two batteries for navigation lights, anchor lights, radio, instruments and engine starting. Hope this helps.
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