Dual battery setup/Merc 470?

[nola mike]

i know, i know. lots of info on the topic, much of which i've read. right now i have one of these that i used last summer in my truck/rv, and it worked very well. i have a merc 470 with the original stator setup, which both confuses and concerns me. i have a marine starting battery in the boat now, and have a deep cycle battery that i'd like my radio/lights/possibly emergency trolling motor to run off of.
1) can i use the above isolator with my stator setup?
2) will i run into trouble with it being electrical/non-marine?
3) if i can't use that, is a perko type switch the simplest solution?

my biggest fear is fishing/hanging out all day with the radio on, and then not being able to start.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Dual battery setup/Merc 470?

is a perko type switch the simplest solution?

Ayuh,... Why complicate something so Simple,..??

 

[nola mike]

Re: Dual battery setup/Merc 470?

Ayuh,... Why complicate something so Simple,..??

cause i already own the isolator, which worked well with the truck. also, no need to manually switch, though that isn't a big deal in my situation. if i'm running the electronics off of one battery and the starter/engine electric off of the other, i'll need to discharge the main battery to charge the deep cycle unless i'm in "combined" mode, right? so if i significantly discharge the deep cycle (not likely, but possible) and then switch to "C", doesn't that get messy with large current shifts from main-->aux battery? worse yet, can't i potentially kill both if i don't remember to switch from "C" to "aux" when the motor's off?

 

[q5ka]

Re: Dual battery setup/Merc 470?

You have two things to consider with this. One is the fact that you still have the old generator charging system and the second is the water cooled regulator. I switched to an alternator with mine and then used the bluesea add a battery system. It was super easy to use and setup. Also in the adult section in the mercruiser engine forum, you will find the manual for our engine and in that manual is the wiring diagram. There are two main wires, one is for the starter leads and the other is for deck power. I dont have my diagram available with me but if you can follow a diagram, you can easily determine what wire to hook to your house battery and how to hook up the starter to the start battery. It will also show how to get the power over to the isolator. There is also a section on just hooking up two batteries in there if that is all you want to do.

 

[jafo9]

Re: Dual battery setup/Merc 470?

i agree that a dedicated switch is the simplest. however, i liked the concept of the ACR so much that i bought the Add-A-Battery kit from Blue Sea Systems. With this system, its pretty much crank and go. My advice is to add a 2nd voltmeter so you can watch the voltage of both batteries independently vs. the LED that shows the ACR working.

 

[nola mike]

Re: Dual battery setup/Merc 470?

You have two things to consider with this. One is the fact that you still have the old generator charging system and the second is the water cooled regulator.

yup, i was wondering if this made things different than a standard alt setup.

I switched to an alternator with mine and then used the bluesea add a battery system. It was super easy to use and setup.

mine's original, and it ain't broke (yet)...

Also in the adult section in the mercruiser engine forum, you will find the manual for our engine and in that manual is the wiring diagram. There are two main wires, one is for the starter leads and the other is for deck power. I dont have my diagram available with me but if you can follow a diagram, you can easily determine what wire to hook to your house battery and how to hook up the starter to the start battery. It will also show how to get the power over to the isolator. There is also a section on just hooking up two batteries in there if that is all you want to do.

well, i'll be damned. i never even thought to check the manual for this. these things are THOROUGH. that's exactly the info that i was looking for. it shows exactly how to wire the battery isolator, and it even tells me to use 8ga wire. perfect! thanks!