Battery Charger & ACR or Switch Question

[Need A Vacation]

I’m adding a second battery to our 215 ID for the stereo, and wonder how many went with a single bank charger for just the stereo battery? I could be wrong but I don’t see the start battery needing to be charged very often if at all. The only time the boat will spend the night in the water is when we are camping and anchor the boat just off the shore. Otherwise it will always be pulled out at the end of any day trips.

I was considering a NOCO battery charger, unless there is better charger that has a similar price without breaking the bank?

Should we install an extension cord hook up to make it easier to plug the charger in? If so, where would you suggest on our 215? Near the rear corner, in the rear side seat base or the center base? Or possibly the transom? Would prefer it a little more hidden, but not having to remove the rear side seat or raise the motor cover would be nice. Maybe run the power cord into the port console and just open the walkway storage door to plug an extension cord in?

And should I upgrade the stock battery on/off switch to a dual battery switch (4 way), or just wire in an ACR? I like the idea of the ACR since I don’t have to remember to change the switch when anchoring and hanging out, or when taking off and cruising so the stereo battery charges.

TY!!!





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[tdonoughue]

I did the ACR route, with the Blue Sea Add a Battery Kit. It has the ACR and the switch in one pack. Never regretted it.

I used a single trickle charger with my 2 batteries for years. Hooked it to one battery and combined them, so it charged both. Seemed to work well enough. Batteries lasted 5 years on basically that system. Then finally upgraded to a fancy 2-bank charger when I got new batteries.

I have not done the through-hull fitting. I just ran an extension cord up from the charger at the batteries. But I know several who have drilled that hole and installed the through hull with good results. Reportedly a very simple install...

Hope that helps some.

 

[CrankyGypsy]

ACR was one of my favorite upgrades on my AR230. as simple as it is to manually switch, NOT having to be mindful about physically switching batteries back and forth makes the day way more pleasurable. plus, it distributes the charge on the water, so no worries about that, either.

get the dual bank charger. I had the lower-power NOCO, which I liked, but quickly wished I went with the higher-output one to charge the house faster in the driveway. the dual bank will be maintenance for the start battery if you don't get on the water in a few weeks: just plug it in for a few hours and the tickle will top the battery off to keep it in good health.

I got the NOCO extension - it's a cheap upgrade for a lot of convenience. I placed mine, against forum advice, near the fuel cap because I could unzip the cover for access. to limit any issues with spark, I would plug my power cord into the boat, THEN plug the male end into the garage outlet - any "connection spark" would happen at the outlet and not the boat.

there's a switch and ACR kit - just get that.

 

[CrankyGypsy]

forgot to mention: the benefit of upgrading your switch is that you can isolate your accessories to the house battery, so there's no chance of draining your starter.

 

[CrankyGypsy]

install can seem a bit overwhelming, so here's my layout to get you started:



the four items in the bottom-right corner of my "schematic" are the house and starter voltage meters, a 12v outlet, and a USB outlet (see third pic). the 4-post negative busbar was mounted behind the battery box, below the switch. I ran my Garmin, the power outlets, and I think the accessory ON for the stereo off the fuse block. you can order all the cables custom-made, which I recommend - each pair of positive feeds (and negative feeds) off the battery should be equal in length. when in doubt, go with the larger gauge. my stereo was stock/basic, so had plans to upgrade the battery sizes when I added an amp and sub.

 

[Need A Vacation]

TY!

I have ordered the ACR, but haven’t installed it yet.


I didn’t see a kit that include the switch for 2 separate batteries, but may hav missed it.


I will eventually upgrade our factory on/off switch.


TY!