Newb with electronics questions

[Big Al]

I'm a new guy on the forum, but I've been fishing a long time from our canoe, my kayak, and any other ways I could get on the water. Lately my dad and I have been working on installing decking, flooring, and other structural features into my grandpa's old 14' herters vee hull boat. We basically stripped it down to a bare hull and worked from there. It will be used with an old 9.8 Merc for now, and it is only pull start. I may get some pics up on here as we progress on the project. My questions concern electronics:

I have an Eagle 320 graph, livewell pump, nav. lights, and will soon have a bow mount trolling motor. (probably a Minn Kota Edge 40) These all have to be powered by a battery, possibly two only if it is really necessary. Can anyone recommend a battery that will last me a good day of fishing?

Also, I have been wondering about the wiring. I think I will run power to a control panel, with switches for various devices, and from there I'll have fuses/breakers inline with tolling motor or whatever else needs it. I also understand that there can be interference between devices (i.e. motor and sonar). What would be your recommendation on a wiring setup that minimizes interference?

One more minor thing. I will have a pedestal up front and one in the back as well for piloting the boat. I am wondering where the best place to mount the soanr unit would be. It would be nice to have it in back so I could view it while navigating, but the majority of my fishing will be done from the front. Where would you put it?

Ok, I know there's a lot of very smart people on this forum that have plenty of experience with boating electronics. Anyone wanna help out the newb? Thanks in advance...

[HPBB]

First off good luck on the boat.

Battery: best for the $$ would be a big yellow Everstart Maxx 29 from walmart, they are about $65. If it will last all day?... well that depends on how much you use it. I hear guys say "my battery last all day". well they might not be running alot of extras or be on their TM alot. But with what your saying one battery should be good. If its not, then buy another. One thing. maintain that battery good. as soon as you come back from fishing put it on charge.

On wireing you might get interferance or you might not. I have run TM and other stuff off of one battery and had no interferance. in other boats there might be. Use good wire for the TM. 6ga no smaller than 8ga.

as for where to put the DF. in the middle some where would be good. so you can see it when running the outboard and then turn it around so you can see it when using the bow TM. best would be to get another unit so one can be in the back and the other on the TM up front.

That TM is a good one, but If you can afford to get one that is bigger get it. Buy the biggest one you can afford. It always better to have to much power than not enough

[Jig Man]

My questions concern electronics:

Can anyone recommend a battery that will last me a good day of fishing?

What would be your recommendation on a wiring setup that minimizes interference?

the soanr unit would be. Where would you put it?

I don't pay much attention to battery brands.  I buy good ones from marine dealers or sporting goods stores.  For motor batteries I get a good battery with lots of cold cranking amps.   For trolling motor batteries I get deep cycle ones with lots of reserve amps (200 if possible).  Maintaining the batteries by charging after fishing and keeping the water level correct will keep batteries going for years.

I would keep the tmotor and depthfinder on seperate batteries.

I would mount the depthfinder in the front.  I have one in the front of a 21' boat and can see it just fine from the driver's seat or the front fishing seat.  A Ram mount is a good option with the depthfinder for convenience.

I also advise you to get the biggest tmotor you can reasonably afford.

[Catt]

I run my trolling motor, depth finder, & q-beam on the same battery with no problems  

Mount the depth finder in the bow, mount the transducer on the transom, & kick the font size up for easy viewing while running.

[Big Al]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.  I think I'll try running everything off of one battery at first and if it doesn't go well I can get another.  That battery sounds like a deal to me.  I agree with the suggestion about upping the trolling motor power, and I might do it if I can scrape up some more cash.  The 40 lb thrust unit is $299.99 at Basspro right now, and if I want to go up only 5 lbs to a 45 lb unit, it will cost $120 more.

Can anyone share how your electronics are set up (path from batt. to devices) on your simple little boat like mine?

[XcoM274]

Yea I just lead everything right on to the terminals. I have a 14 foot Lund and as long as you use good low ga wire and make sure it's not going to contact the hull or anything you're good. The graph and TM have fuses so if anything did happen, they would just blow. As for circuits, you may be putting in more work than it's worth. When you're dealing with high voltage AC like in a house, then it has real potential to fry something fast. But on a low amp marine battery, it's gonna take quite awhile to destroy something, especially with seperate fuses. I'm not saying to just jury-rig everything in there, make it nice, but it isn't a deadly high voltage scenario. I have all my stuff running to a low ga lead line that ties into the battery. Maybe I'm totally wrong too, any experienced opinions?

[Pa Angler]

I use Interstate batteries, Group 29 Deep Cycle for my 24V trolling motor and Group 27 Dual  Purpose for my Cranking, Boat accessories and electronics. I have had no issues with Interstate. Get the most thrust in a trolling motor you can afford or your wiring will handle.