Battery Recommendation and Cabling Gauge - Dual Battery Pending...

[atxmudder]

Hey Guys,

I have spent an enormous amount of hours trying to search for these answers, so if anyone can help that would be FANTASTIC..

I am planning on adding a second battery and using the Blue Sea Systems "Add a Battery Kit # 7650" with the SI-ACR Module.

What is the recommended battery for this Model year (97 Sea Ray 230 Bow Rider with the Merc 5.7L EFI MCM and Bravo III)

Questions:

What is the recomended battery? Group 24 (I Did buy the AGM Grp 24 but haven't installed it yet as it is still in the shop) - It has a Grp 24 Tray I believe...
What gauge wiring should I use to rewire the Battery cables and Grounds? I initially ordered ANCOR 4awg, but cancelled the order as I am not sure what SHOULD be in there...

Hopefully someone has tackled this and can help...I really would like to get the wiring and lug's ordered so I can work on this as soon as I get it back...

Thank you in advance!

Michael

 

[bbwhitejr]

Hey Guys,

I have spent an enormous amount of hours trying to search for these answers, so if anyone can help that would be FANTASTIC..

I am planning on adding a second battery and using the Blue Sea Systems "Add a Battery Kit # 7650" with the SI-ACR Module.

What is the recommended battery for this Model year (97 Sea Ray 230 Bow Rider with the Merc 5.7L EFI MCM and Bravo III)

Questions:

What is the recomended battery? Group 24 (I Did buy the AGM Grp 24 but haven't installed it yet as it is still in the shop) - It has a Grp 24 Tray I believe...
What gauge wiring should I use to rewire the Battery cables and Grounds? I initially ordered ANCOR 4awg, but cancelled the order as I am not sure what SHOULD be in there...

Hopefully someone has tackled this and can help...I really would like to get the wiring and lug's ordered so I can work on this as soon as I get it back...

Thank you in advance!

Michael

Added a new charger and a third battery myself last spring. See this website-there is a chart at the bottom that tells you cable size. It all depends on the length of the run.

http://www.boatus.com/boattech/articles/choosing-cables-and-terminals.asp

Here is a great place to buy from. You can have them custom made to your length with the proper lugs, etc. and prices are very competitive. Service and shipping were outstanding-

https://gregsmarinewiresupply.com/Zen/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

Bennett

 

[Wylie_Tunes]

ARX,

For a cranking battery, there's no such thing as too many CCA's. A typical group 24 will have more than enough to crank a typical sized gasser. anything larger than a normally aspirated 6.2L, Id go with a larger battery with higher CCA.

For a house bank, again, not such thing as too much, but in this scenario its Ah. At a minimum, you want to estimate your house loads and calculate that by how long you want to run said load, and then see what you needs in terms of Ah. Then you will know what size and how many batteries it will take.

The cable gauge will be determined by the load x length. Typically, I build my battery cables using 1/0. Nothing wrong with a little extra capacity. 4ga will be plenty for connecting the ACR to the switch, but not enough to carry starter current.

The Bluesea ACR is a great setup for most applications, but its not the best for those boats with a large Ah house bank that gets deeply depleted. For that, I prefer a traditional 1/2/BOTH switch.

 

[atxmudder]

My setup is with Both the Battery Switch Plus (On Off Combine) and the SI-ACR. I will eventually add a modest Stereo setup, actually an amp for the speakers, but I am not looking to compete with the wakeboard audio guys. I would like good/great sound, but not at unholy sound levels. Right now I have a Batteries Plus X2 (Northstar) AGM Group 24, and will add a second. I need to determine the wiring to use first (want to rewire all of of the power for the switch and charger). I added the Prosport 20 Dual bank charger as well. So when I get off the lake I can plug in top off and maintain the batteries.

SOOOOO much work buying a used boat. But I am not one to shy away from a good and time consuming project.

Thank you for the advice and info!

 

[LawyerMan]

I put two Interstate deep cycle AGM batteries on by 270 SLX recently. What I have learned on this forum and from reading up on the topic, is you want to keep them on a smart charger to prolong their life. My boat has shore power, and I leave it plugged in and the charger on at all times when it's in the lift.

 

[Lazy Daze]

You probably have 2-gauge cable in there, now. Check the existing cable to be sure, though. If you're not moving the batteries further away from there current spot then the same size cable as you currently have is more than sufficient as Sea Ray is not shy on the size cable they use.

For your anticipated use (stereo), I'd put a DC battery in there as your "house" battery and keep the current one for starting. Budget and space will determine how big of a DC battery you get. Don't skimp on the connectors!

Forgot to mention... you can also check your parts manual for the cable size (can be downloaded from SR's website if you don't have it).

 

[atxmudder]

It is 2awg...I found it in my parts manual and than went to the servicing dealer and looked at what i currently have. Lot's of work ahead of me, thats for sure!!!