Need more juice!

[mattie_k]

I recently added a stereo and some lights to my boat and with both running the voltmeter drops down to the 10 volt range. Would a second battery be a useful thing for powering the add-ons or maybe a bigger alternator (it's a 55 amp now)?

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Need more juice!

A 55 amp alt will easily handle what you have mentioned and much more. I would suggest testing the alt and the batt, use a digital multi-meter to test the battery voltage at idle & 1500 RPM (don't do it on the muffs, put her in the drink). A load test will tell you the condition of the batt, most battery stores do this for free. If everything checks out o/k then repost and maybe we take a look at the wiring.<br /><br />Aldo

 

[waterone1@aol.com]

Re: Need more juice!

I agree with the above post. For some background, both of my previous boats had amplifiers putting out over 1000watts. The factory alternators did the trick, and I never had a battery or power problem. I would be suspicous of the gauge.

 

[Don S]

Re: Need more juice!

With a DVM, test the battery voltage (at the battery) without the engine running.<br />Should be around 12 to 12.5 Volts.<br />Start the engine on muffs (No prolonged running at high rpm's or the engine will overheat) rev to around 1200 to 1500 rpm and check battery voltage at battery again. Should be around 14 to 14.5 volts. That tells you the alternator is working properly. Get the battery load tested.<br /><br />Assuming all worked before you started adding things, the question that arises is where did you tap in to get power for the new items? Hopefully you came off the fuse panel with a fused wire to the new accessories and didn't just start cutting into hot and ground wires and splicing together.

 

[cosander]

Re: Need more juice!

to ease the strain to the batt/alt you could add a capacitor. Your alternator is good for a little over 700 watts(in working order). Once you go over 700 watts you are pulling from the battery.

 

[mattie_k]

Re: Need more juice!

I got the battery new half way through last season, and no I didn't splice into the positive leads I ran new lines with inline fuses. But yeah, maybe I should get the alt checked out anyway. I'm going to hook up my multi-meter this weekend on the water and see what a accurate gauge tells me, good point about the gauge waterone1!