Moving lights over to deep cycle battery?

[Twhjelmgren28]

I did check out the lights wiring diagram sticky but I could not make sense of it (I'm terrible at reading those things). Basically, I have everything set how I would like as far as what is powered by the starting battery vs. the deep cycle battery - I just have one more minor issue.

I thought I had my lights wired to the deep cycle - I essentially have all of my switches going to a switch panel and the switch panel wired to a fuse box (the fuse box is then connected to the deep cycle). From the lights switch specifically, I have a solid gray wire going out to the switch panel. There are several other wires coming out of the light switch (solid brown, grey with red stripe, another solid gray that jumps from one terminal on the switch to another terminal on the switch, & a blue wire)...the only other wire that seems to have an impact on the lights (and fuel gauge for that matter) is the black wire that I have grounded to metal on the boat.

The only issue is when I turn my key and then turn the lights on, my voltage needle drops a tiny bit - I assume this means that I'm using juice from the starting battery (I know that gauge is reading the starting battery b/c it spikes up toward 14v when I'm driving). As far as I can tell, all of the gauges are wired together - so how do I get the lights wired to the fuse box / deep cycle battery.

 

[NicoPags]

Just a suggestion but I learnt here using metal on the boat is never recommended. Try to get that ground to your bus bar or too the deep cycle. Is your fuel gauge wired to the accessory post on the key switch?This could be your voltage drop cause. Or possibly electric choke?

 

[Twhjelmgren28]

Thanks for the response,

So I initially had the ground wired to the switch panel and the fuel gauge would spike all the way up and the lights wouldn't work. I will try it directly on the fuse box that leads to the deep cycle (rather than switch panel to fuse box to deep cycle).

As for the fuel gauge being wired to the key switch, I believe it is because the fuel gauge only operates properly when the key switch is turned to on. I can do this without a voltage change - the tiny voltage change only occurs when the key switch is on and i flick the lights on. The boat is an I/O so I'm guessing it is an electric choke (???).

Maybe it is caused by something other than the lights???

 

[bruceb58]

In my opinion, all lights on your dash or anything associated at all with running your engine should be on the start battery.

 

[Twhjelmgren28]

In my opinion, all lights on your dash or anything associated at all with running your engine should be on the start battery.

Got you. If that's the case then I might as well not worry about switching anything over, other than getting that ground off of metal on the boat. I guess my thoughts were that I'd want the lights on the deep cycle in case my boat was off for extended periods in the dark but I guess it's just as simple as starting the boat periodically to keep juice in the battery. Thanks for the input!

 

[bruceb58]

Do your navigation and anchor lights get powered by the key? That would be odd to me. The anchor light would be the one I would want off the deep discharge battery.

I have two boats. On my pontoon boat I have 2 separate power buses with one dedicated to the engine and one for everything else. On that boat I have a switch that is basically 2 switches that connects both circuits seperately. Its the Blue Sea add a battery kit switch. I also have an ACR.

On my Wellcraft, I have 2 identical AGM batteries wired to a 1/2/Both switch also with an ACR. Everything is on one sytem and battery #2 is essentially a backup battery.

 

[Twhjelmgren28]

Do your navigation and anchor lights get powered by the key?

No, the lights work whether or not the key is turned - it's just the fuel gauge that only works when the key is turned.

I only have the front navigational light and the rear navigational/stern light - and then obviously my dash light. If I turn on the navigational lights, the dash lights are on as well.

 

[Twhjelmgren28]

The anchor light would be the one I would want off the deep discharge battery.

It took me a bit to figure this whole thing out - I don't boat much at night but would like to start doing so. How would I get the stern/anchor light to be wired the deep cycle?

As of now, my light switch works as follows:

Up: Front Nav lights on, dash lights on, stern/anchor light on
Middle: All lights off
Down: Dash lights on only

Like I said, I have the solid gray wire running through the switch panel and into the fuse box - I have that fuse box running to the deep cycle.

There are six terminals on the back of the light switch - is there a way to wire the switch so that up is all lights on, middle is all lights off, and down is the anchor light only? If so, then I could run the anchor light to the deep cycle by itself...

 

[bruceb58]

Your down position should be anchor light only. have the feed to the switch come from a fuse panel that is only fed by your deep discharge battery. Install an ACR between your 2 batteries so the deep discharge is charged while your engine is running.

Do a search on the site. There are many pictures how to wire up your switch. Skip the ones with the diode if you have a DPDY switch which you would normally have with a 6 terminal switch

EDIT: here is one
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...9678-bayliner-br-185-navigation-switch-wiring

 

[Twhjelmgren28]

Thanks for the help Bruce! I got it all straightened out...Up is all on, middle is all off, down is anchor light only.

I did confirm they are all operating off the deep cycle.

I do plan on getting the mini add-a-battery kit - I think I might save up and do the mini add-a-battery plus b/c I don't have charger yet...