Fishing Victoria Forum

Stewy wrote:Was thinking of having a separate battery (kickass kit) with a solar panel on the hardtop just for the oven, but as a backup for main power when and if required.

only way to go...two batteries are the key

Esp if you fish by yourself.

I have one battery solely for starting tbe boat

Bm

barra mick wrote:

Stewy wrote:Was thinking of having a separate battery (kickass kit) with a solar panel on the hardtop just for the oven, but as a backup for main power when and if required.

only way to go...two batteries are the key

Esp if you fish by yourself.

I have one battery solely for starting tbe boat

Bm

Same. 1 battery starts the boat and the other runs the electronics. Both are capable of starting the boat. Bought a trickle charger last weekend and connected it up so no more flat batteries for me

Mick & Crumpet,
Just out of interest, why do you guys use one battery for the motor and one for all the electronics? I just use one battery and if it every runs out I switch over to the spare. I didn't go the VDR switch because I wanted to keep it simple & I have a small power-pack as back up. I also have both batteries on simultaneously when the motors running and have them on trickle/maintenance charge when it's at home.
Am I doing things right, or is there a better way?

Mattblack wrote:Mick & Crumpet,
Just out of interest, why do you guys use one battery for the motor and one for all the electronics? I just use one battery and if it every runs out I switch over to the spare. I didn't go the VDR switch because I wanted to keep it simple & I have a small power-pack as back up. I also have both batteries on simultaneously when the motors running and have them on trickle/maintenance charge when it's at home.
Am I doing things right, or is there a better way?

I have the battery just to start the boat so I never have to worry abt not being alble to start it.

The 2nd battery runs everything like fridge, pumps, fishi finders, lights.....so after a few days fishing if the battery is low I can allways start the boat......the fridge may not work or no electronics but im not paddleling back .

I have a vsr that charges the start battery first then the 2nd battery.i can combine the batteries if I need to.my 2nd battery is a 130 amp agm....it really gives me the 3 days in hot weather off running a engal fridge and gps.





I also have solar panels to help out

bm

Mattblack wrote:Mick & Crumpet,
Just out of interest, why do you guys use one battery for the motor and one for all the electronics? I just use one battery and if it every runs out I switch over to the spare. I didn't go the VDR switch because I wanted to keep it simple & I have a small power-pack as back up. I also have both batteries on simultaneously when the motors running and have them on trickle/maintenance charge when it's at home.
Am I doing things right, or is there a better way?

im with Mick. I like to have 1 battery that I can always rely on. I do 3 or 4 day trips at a time sometimes and I need to be able to depend on 1 battery if the other goes flat. I used to have both of my batteries set to auto thinking that an overnight trip with just lights on overnight wouldn't drain both batteries. After having to call the coast guard twice within 3 months I realised something wasn't right.

I took my batteries and battery charger to battery world and they told me that my battery charger was faulty. Instead of giving a true reading it was out of whack by 75% then cutting off (100% full batteries were actually only 25% full). I got the guy who services my boat to put in a manual switch so that I could control what battery I wanted to use whether that be battery 1, battery 2 or both at once.

electric anchor, live bait tank, bilge pump, 4 separate sets of lights, sounders, radio, phone chargers all take some juice to run...

I bought a jumpstarter for emergencies which ive used twice due to the faulty battery charger. Since I got set up properly I haven't had an issue since. Great piece of mind I suppose to give yourself the best outcome. Cant believe I ever fished night trips with 1 battery and no jumpstarter when I first started night fishing. Experiences and talking to people who know more than me have made fishing safer and more enjoyable for me and family.

Same as the 2 blokes above 1 battery for house, 1 for motor and then can combine the 2 if needed. It's all about making sure you can get home safely.
Well worth having a decent charger at home for when your boats in the shed.

Mattblack wrote:Mick & Crumpet,
Just out of interest, why do you guys use one battery for the motor and one for all the electronics? I just use one battery and if it every runs out I switch over to the spare. I didn't go the VDR switch because I wanted to keep it simple & I have a small power-pack as back up. I also have both batteries on simultaneously when the motors running and have them on trickle/maintenance charge when it's at home.
Am I doing things right, or is there a better way?

Matt, how Barra and crumpet have it set up is the best way. when running around its switched to both which will charge them both, then when anchored up, switch to one, which will mean if the first battery drains after a long session, no need for a battery pack ( mind, they are good) you just switch to both and the fresh battery will always start the motor. another plus, is that if your second battery is never used, never having a load put on it, one would expect it wouldn't last as long, my understanding was that a battery is designed to be used, just keeping it fully charged and not drawing from it, I was told is not ideal for longevity. 30 years of that system and i've never needed a battery power pack to start my motor.
I'm sure someone with more technical info will chime in and comment, but just keeping one fully charged battery as a spare putting no load on it in my opinion is not ideal..........

Thanks guys...that makes perfect sense (I didn't realise that an unused battery's life expectancy was shorter than a used one) Might get an oven to see how long it lasts (& use it on the 'accessories battery'!)

Mattblack wrote:Thanks guys...that makes perfect sense (I didn't realise that an unused battery's life expectancy was shorter than a used one) Might get an oven to see how long it lasts (& use it on the 'accessories battery'!)

Matt I use a cute charger in my boat recommend it goes through a multi step charging process that can recondition batteries that appear to be losing power to quickly also goes through a voltage check function that charges batteries as the voltage drops over time.

Does that say 150W? If so, it's drawing more current than a lot of sockets are rated for. You are probably best off running a dedicated line and socket for this (fuse it appropriately, close to the battery).

Another thing to keep in mind is that most batteries, even deep cycle ones, do not appreciate being flattened completely.

As above, some level of separation is important between loads and the starter battery. Don't want to get stuck!