House battery with solar charging question

[JWhit]

Currently I have only one battery on my pontoon and would like to add a second for the house accessories. I also have a 5 watt solar panel that i would like to leave connected to the house battery. My question is, would it be safe to simply run a length of wire with a switch to the starting battery so that when sitting for a while in between uses the panel can maintain both? Then when using the boat turn the switch off and basically have the motor charging the starting batter and the panel on house? Thanks for any advice

 

[j_martin]

Re: House battery with solar charging question

The problem is the first time you try to start with a weak engine battery and forget to turn off the switch, the wire will smoke, unless it's pretty heavy.

I'd put a NC relay in line with it, operated by the starter solenoid coil circuit.