2 Battery Setup Vs Solar Charging

[Kaschool]

HI All - soon to be proud owner of new AR210 . I was thinking about adding a dual battery setup but then I thought that perhaps a simpler solution would be a good quality solar panel. My primary use case would be cruising around a little on the boat but often stopping and having music playing and at some point I'll be upgrading speakers and adding amp. Could be out on the water on sunny days for 6-7 hours.

Does anyone have any thoughts or even experience with adding solar to be able to play stereo without draining battery down, and getting away with this on a single battery setup? if so where did you mount the panels, how is your setup working, which panels did you use etc?

Many thanks for any input

Rich

 

[marcham]

Radio with an amp? How many watts? Many stereos will outpace a solar panel. Plus, a solar panel can't start the engine if the battery fails. Needless to say, I like having a backup starting/house battery.b

 

[Kaschool]

Well let’s just assume factory HU and no amp to start. I wonder if there’s any solar panel that would keep the battery charged when using the radio in the stock config (except speakers upgraded).

 

[Weeb]

If you go solar I would get a jump starter too. I would go duel battery myself.

 

[Mike Cardillo]

I have a small solar panel that I plug i n when sitting and playing music. Never had a problem. Simple and cheap.

 

[marcham]

If you have a basic radio with 4 speakers pulling 15W RMS each and full sun, then yes, a 100W panel will keep up. Anything over 5-10W solar you also need a charge controller (MPPT or PWM).

 

[redthumper9]

Dual battery with on board shore charger without question.

 

[Kaschool]

Got it - thanks for all the feedback! I think I'm going dual battery and the add-a-battery kit 65amp
Mini Add-A-Battery Plus Kit - 65A (North America)7655

I know some have gone the 120v 7650 add-a-battery route but that kit doesn't come with a charger and I don't think I necessarily need 120amp since when on water the stator/alternator will only put out up to 65amp. and when I'm dry I typically would prefer it to be charging at a slow rate - is my thinking correct here or should I be going for the 120amp version?

 

[marcham]

I'm purely guessing here, but I'd be surprised if each stator can produce more than 30 A. Some of that is used to run the engine and accessories, so less than that would be going back into the batterie(s).

What battery on/off selector brand/model do you presently have installed? It might be easier to work with the same brand/size to avoid additional holes or wire routing issues.

BEP is another good option, it's what my 2019 was equipped with from the factory. That's why I replaced the BEP ON-OFF switch with a 1-both-2-off switch. Here's what I did: https://jetboaters.net/threads/ar195-dual-battery-install.25694/

There are 2 types of basic switches:

1-both-2 (4 position): you choose which battery runs everything. Can manually select both to charge both. This system can be configured with a DVSR / ACR as well. Whatever battery position is selected feeds all boat systems and is also charged by the engine.



1on and 2on (but seperated) - combine (3 position): normally engine is on 1, other house systems are on 2, you have the option to combine both batteries to boost for start if required. This system requires a DVSR / ACR to charge both batteries as they are both always in use.



The kit you linked to falls into thie category and certainly simplifies wiring as it avoids needing additional wires from the batteries to the charger.

There is also an advanced switch configuration that requires 3 switches:

I believe some dual battery Yamaha boats come with this. A seperate on/off switch for house and engine, a separate parallel switch and a DVSR to keep all batteries charged at all times. By far, this is the best system as you can turn on the house battery (radio) without having any random loads depleting the start battery.





To decide which is best, you need to figure out the wiring that goes to your existing battery switch and figure out how you will use the boat. Can you power your radio separately from the wiring for the engines / connext?

 

[BlkGS]

Do dual batteries and bring a solar panel. That's the best of both worlds.

 

[zipper]

Note that when utilizing your battery bank to operate electronic devices or appliances, you will require a power inverter to convert DC current to AC. It’s a must to adhere to the manufacturer’s recommendation to safeguard your solar battery.

Can you post a picture of your 2008 Axis GT 24 please? Curious as to what it looks like...since Axis started making boats, founded in 2009.