battery setup

floater212

I have a 2005 212 captiva rx1 with 2 batteries they are hooked up to a battery switch .. 1-both- 2 -off. my question is for the most part the switch is on both, because I'm too lazy to climb half over seat to switch it, what kind of batteries would you put in this? all I have is a stereo&amp and starter that needs more power the other little powered things are switched when needed. how would you set them up?

youstolemybeer

battery isolator, 2 batteries. One battery for start ONLY. other battery for house (stereo and whatever, I have a blender on mine) Take the battery switch out of the system

212rowboat

the dude with the confiscated beer is right. 

there are some pretty slick isolator's out there.  

w/ 2 batteries and a smart isolator, it doesn't matter what size they are- they can be different or the same.  

the isolator senses charge state of the battery and offers charge if needed- your starting battery can be recharged by your alternator at full blast charge (amps/volts) and quickly recover from starting duties- meanwhile, your house battery can be charged as needed with the alternators full capacity (if it's drained) or ignored if it's already topped off.  

furthermore, a smart isolator w/ multiple charging points can be introduced and allow different charging devices which will work the same way- send charge to the battery that needs it, not allow back charge, and protect both the batteries from each other as well as from the charging sources and their desparity.  I'm going to be introducing one of these to charge from a solar tender mounted on my bimini- this way after I make my run home from whatever excursion, and either yank, moor, or dock the boat, the batteries will be tendered w/o having to worry about chargers. 

Cableguy Greg

When I had a 232cc with two batteries, two amps and an active crossover, 5.7L, I ran with a switch, isolator and 2 deep cycle batteries for years without a problem. I know the DC's didn't have the proper MCA, but they got my boat started every season with no problems. The isolator is the key because you can keep the switch to one battery, and always have the second battery as the backup.