dbric36
New Member
I have a starting battery and a house battery with a 1, 2, all, off switch. Can I just add a 3rd battery to my house battery?
Adding a 3rd battery
- Thread starter dbric36
- Start date
MLauman
Active Member
Sure. Just wire it parallel to the existing one. It's better to use identical batteries when building 'banks'.dbric36 said:
ARMANDALEG
New Member
The same age is important as well. If you have the room it might be easier just to add one or two newer higher capacity batteries. I had great luck using Trojan 6 Volt golf cart batteries.
http://www.trojan-battery.com/Products/ProductSpec.aspx?Name=T-125
Put two of those babies in (in series each is 6 volts, so you need two to get 12) as you house bank you will get 240 Ah almost 2.5 times the capacity of a standard SeaRay group 27 and run that fridge and stereo all day! They will also start an engine no problem. And with proper care last alot longer.
I added a third battery to my system. There was just barely enough room to add a battery behind the starboard rear seat. I used a 'split charger', which effectively 'isolated' the third battery. I ran the connections as follows: the alt and connector to the battery switch to the center connector on the splitter - the right connector on the splitter to battery #2 and the left connector on the splitter to battery #3. I then ran a 12 ga. wire from #3 to a buss bar in the control panel and hooked up all my electronics (radios, depth/temp, FF, LORAN, etc) to the buss bar (each item individually fused). Now my electronics do not turn off and reset every time I start the engine and all the batterys charge whenever the engine runs, regardless of battery switch position. I also incorporated a solar panel through the center connector on the splitter to keep the batterys 'trickle charged' when the boat is not used for any extended periods. Seems to work, but I guess time will tell.