2520 battery management

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albiejunkie

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Hi all,
In my quest to be as anal as possible, I have been thinking about the current battery setup in the 2520 XL I just bought.
Boat has a Yamaha F250 with a 9.9 kicker, it looks like both are charging the batteries, but I'm not sure.
Currently, it is setup with 2 Group 29 Deep Cycle batteries and a Guest 1,2, All, Off switch. It also has (3) 40-50 amp breakers installed nearby. All of this is in the aft deck compartment.
Installed in the freestanding station is a shore power inlet and a NOCO Genius Gen 2 20 amp charger.
My last boat had a Blue Seas add-a-battery system and i thought it was great. Turn it on in the morning, turn it off when I got back. Batteries were kept charged by the ACR while running as well as a NOCO Genius Gen 1 10 amp charger at the dock.

My question is, am I currently set up to maintain my batteries while away from the dock and/or is this the best setup? I know Parker sets this up this way and I also know that plenty of people run it this way.

I am not the average though. I run my boat every day from May to October as a commercial fisherman. I will also be installing a powered davit to lift fish traps as well as some lobster traps. Battery drain will be an issue and need to make sure both of my batteries are being charged. I also want to make sure that my current setup will prevent electrical load fires.

Thanks for any input
 
Aside from charger relays that will cost you to set up, you can have the battery switch set to both when you start the engine and when you are running the engine.

I switch to one battery when i am on the water and the engine is off, then i go back to both to start and go.

When i connect to shore power I put the battery switch to just one battery so I have 12V power available and if someone shuts off shore power on the dock while I am gone I am not draining both batteries.

Also one of the bilge switches, the forward one is not factory live wired so if the batteries are off that bilge is off.

The battery charger charges both batteries regardless of the position of the battery switch.

Dana
 
dcunniff":3nzgj39f said:
Aside from charger relays that will cost you to set up, you can have the battery switch set to both when you start the engine and when you are running the engine.

I switch to one battery when i am on the water and the engine is off, then i go back to both to start and go.

When i connect to shore power I put the battery switch to just one battery so I have 12V power available and if someone shuts off shore power on the dock while I am gone I am not draining both batteries.

Also one of the bilge switches, the forward one is not factory live wired so if the batteries are off that bilge is off.

The battery charger charges both batteries regardless of the position of the battery switch.

Dana
Click to expand...

Old School through's.....Leaves a LOT to forget.

The BEP's are a Compact clean setup.......The Blue Seas "add a Battery" are not....They take up more room.

Running a Perko switch in All has the potential to kill Both batteries.

If one has a cell go....[which makes it junk] The other battery will try to keep it charged and thus kill the 2nd battery.....Giving you 2 dead batteries.

Never mind you don't have a dedicated House Battery to keep from spiking your electronics.
 
warthog5":3fxxjr00 said:
Nope...... Search my posts......BEP Battery Cluster
Click to expand...
Wart, I took your advice and looked up some of your posts about BEP clusters. Something I definitely want to do.
I will have some questions as I move along.
I currently have 2 Group 29 Deep Cycle batteries hooked up on the boat now. I have a single F250 and a T9.9 kicker, both charging the batteries when they are running.
I also have a NOCO Genius 2 bank 20 amp charger installed for at the dock or run by portable genny.
I want to get rid of the Perko All/Off/1/2 switch and replace with the BEP.
I want to set this boat up with a davit and hauler to lift 10-12 pots a day in about 50-60 feet of water.
Electradyne draws about 50-60 amps.
1. Should I install another "house" battery to take care of hauler and house loads, or keep the current batteries set up the way they are?
2. Does that little red wire on the back of the cluster need to be run all the way to the key switch?

Thanks
 
Here are some crappy pics of the current setup.
What are those 3 breakers seen in the pic for?
And why 3?
1259a8403e754f980ac656262b4cfa69.jpg
fb0a52abec5f71812d563b31c11710bf.jpg


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
I never had a problem with running my batteries down using my pot puller but I would keep my main running while pulling the pots. The puller was a little slower if the motor wasn’t running and would probably drain the battery pretty fast.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
FishWhisperer":2xo0yfwr said:
I never had a problem with running my batteries down using my pot puller but I would keep my main running while pulling the pots. The puller was a little slower if the motor wasn’t running and would probably drain the battery pretty fast.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Well Yes......Motor off on a Full charged / Good battery is 12.6V

Motor running with Alt putting out 13.5V @ idle. Everything will move faster with higher Voltage. :)
 
I've had great success with the BEP:

I have a 2003 2520XL with single outboard and have installed the BEP cluster switch. I primarily tuna fish, and spend most of the time on the hook running livewell pump, fish finder, radios, etc.. on house battery. I was always running out of power, but since switching to BEP I have had zero battery issues. When I installed the BEP I also installed an extra house battery based on my usage. Here is my configuration:

I have a group 25 starting battery that is wired to the BEP start switch
I kept the original battery switch (1,2,both,off) and wired the output to the BEP house switch
I have 2 group 31 deep cycle batteries connected to the original battery switch
I have a guest 2 channel battery charger that is wired to the house batteries so that they are charged individually when on shore power

Using the standard battery switch I select either battery 1, or battery 2 such that only one of them is connected to the BEP house circuit.
By doing this I always have a full deep cycle battery available to me when offshore. FYI - I have never had the need to set them to both.

When running, the BEP always isolates the house from spikes during startup, and then charges the starting battery to full before switching the relay so that both the starting, and the selected house receive charging from the running motor. When on the hook, the relay switches as soon as the level drops, protecting my starting battery, and running on the one selected house battery. If this runs down, I can simply switch the original battery switch to the other battery.

No regrets here, the install was clean, works perfectly, and everything is in the bilge.
 
FYI - I have also installed a DC winch for pulling tuna on the boat. That seems similar to the hauler use that you describe.
I never use the house batteries for this. I have it wired into my windlass circuit since the wire gauges were adequate for the winch, and I'll never use both at the same time. I wired in a connector for the winch so that it is only installed when pulling a fish on. When doing this I always run the motor as the windlass is wired to the starting battery.
 
Thanks Ludicrous, your setup sounds like what I need. Don't think your group 25 will keep up with my hauler though.
I think having 3 batteries is the way to go in some configuration that works for me though.
Do you have any pics of this?

Wart,
With the kicker motor, how would that get wired?
What BEP cluster would I need? The twin outboard cluster 717 or single outboard cluster 716?
 
OK Wart, 717 is what I need.
Can I use the 2 existing group 29 deep cycle batteries with that switch, or do I need to have 3 batteries?
My batteries are only a year old and I don't want to invest in 3 new ones right now...

What if I rarely use the kicker? Will that setup (717) still charge all the batteries?
It would be nice to see a diagram or picture of someone with a similar setup.

Thanks
 
Wait STOP!

Upon further through.......... I would Change that. You say kicker is hardly used....The Alt. on a 10 or 15HP motor is not much at all. 10amps or something like that?

I'd use the 716.........Just attach the starter cables to the Kicker at the same points as the main engine.
 
warthog5":1szlp8jp said:
Wait STOP!

I'd use the 716.........Just attach the starter cables to the Kicker at the same points as the main engine.
Click to expand...

Wart,
If I hook the kicker cables to the same B stud behind the 716 cluster as the main engine, don't I run a risk of damaging an alternator when and if I run both motors at the same time?
What about hooking kicker positive to stud D on back of cluster?

Can I add components to this 716 cluster to make it a 717 if/when I make this a 3 battery system?

Thanks again
 
The battery will only take so much charge.....That is why there is a regulator.

Don't know why you would run a main and a kicker at the same time anyway?

I'm sure a 716 could be made into a 717.....The biggest problem is where to get the tie Buss bar that will be needed. The switch and the relay are easily available.

If thats what you want......Then treat it like 2 and have 2 start batteries....1 house. and use the 717.

I know there are people that just have to have their kicker.....We don't use them ...or it's rare that you see one along the Gulf Coast....It's the first thing I yanked off my boat.
 
warthog5 said:
The battery will only take so much charge.....That is why there is a regulator.



I meant to say, could I damage an alternator by hooking the 2 motor positives on the same bep cluster lug? Would hooking kicker motor to D lug(house load) on bep cluster be a better choice? I want to keep existing 2 battery setup for now.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 
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