Adding House Battery to scr3200

[Tfoose]

On my 1997 scr3200 Maxum saved a few bucks by having just 2 starting batteries with the house items running from them rather than 2 starting batteries and a dedicated deep cycle house battery. I have had the boat 5yrs now and it hasn't been a problem because on Lake Michigan we don't spent any nights on the hook, but I still don't like the setup. Has anyone done this or have a wiring diagram to show the correct way to do it. I know I would need to change to a 3 battery charger and probably a third switch, but getting three batteries to charge from the engines is what I'm not sure about. Now each engine charges one battery.

[Huddo007]

Tfoose,

What you can do is install a auto battery isolator, if you choose one of your engine batteries to be the charge supply battery your engine can charge both, the redarc system is an Australian one (from where i am) and it separates your "house" battery until your initial battery (start) battery is fully charged then applies the feed to the "house battery. All you need to do is connect your accessories to the house battery and leave the main charge lead to the start battery, that way you can completely drain the house battery and still start your engine.

Have a look at the link below for some guidance
http://redarc.com.au/products-and-se...ttery-isolator

BTW - I know they state for 4x4 use but i had this in my Bayliner for 3 years with out fault and it did get wet.

Regards

Huddo

[Tfoose]

Huddo, Thanks for your responce. This is going to be a lot easier than I thought. I don't think the Redarc is available here, but now that you've got me on the right track I should be fine. Looking at a BlueSea systems "Add-A Battery " from West Marine. Has anyone had any experiance with it. I think it's new.

[biggerseagar]

Hey T......I have 2001 3000 and have the same situation. Two starting batteries etc. One thing I do know is T check your charger.....I did and found it is a three bank charger. I bet yours is too.

Now for the other question....I very curious in how you wire all three batteries up...cause I would want to do the same.

I will be watching this thread closely....

Roger

[pipe dream]

I have a 2700 scr with 4 batteries and noticed a "battery isolator" in the engine compartment, I was wondering what it was for. Now it makes sense.