Boat battery setup

[Choporoz]

New boat delivered to dealer with 24V trolling motor, but only one battery.  I had the dealer install 2 more batteries, a 3-bank charger and graphs.

 

  When I pick it up in a couple days, what should I hope to see, as far as how it is wired up?   

 

The shop has a good reputation, but fairly new to fishing boats....mostly ski and wake.  So I want to take a good look before I drive off, but I'm not sure what to look for.

[casts_by_fly]

Batteries are in a tray and strapped down

fresh new heavy gauge wire connecting the tm batteries

trolling motor works

big motor has power/will fire the starter 

Graphs all turn on

house lights work

 

[stratos4me]

I'll add that the 2 TM batteries must be connected in series (google it) with heavy jumpers.

[Choporoz]

Ty, @casts_by_fly.  I should have been more specific.   What I'm wondering is how should things be wired?  I get that there will be two batteries for TM. And one for motor.  I should expect those wiring systems to be totally separate, I'd think.  Graphs, live wells, lights, bilge pump, etc. all on the cranking battery?

[J._Bricker]

Maybe consider having a Perko switch installed

 

[Choporoz]

8 minutes ago, J._Bricker said:

Maybe consider having a Perko switch installed

 

Where in the big schematic of things would the switch be?  I assume to switch between batteries?  But what is being switched....to what? 

 

Sorry....I replaced an outlet once.   That is the extent of my electrical capabilities. 

 

Also...for original question.....where would I need/expect circuit breakers?  Where in the circuits, I mean.

[Bankc]

41 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Where in the big schematic of things would the switch be?  I assume to switch between batteries?  But what is being switched....to what? 

 

Sorry....I replaced an outlet once.   That is the extent of my electrical capabilities. 

 

Also...for original question.....where would I need/expect circuit breakers?  Where in the circuits, I mean.

Did you have them install circuit breakers?  Because if you didn't specify and pay extra for that, they probably just installed fuses, which are cheaper and just as safe.   Either way, they should come right after the batteries in the circuit.  Usually, you'll find them wherever the wires split off to their individual paths.  Also, they should be attached to the red (positive) wires.  

[casts_by_fly]

54 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Ty, @casts_by_fly.  I should have been more specific.   What I'm wondering is how should things be wired?  I get that there will be two batteries for TM. And one for motor.  I should expect those wiring systems to be totally separate, I'd think.  Graphs, live wells, lights, bilge pump, etc. all on the cranking battery?

 

Yes, all accessories should be on the cranking battery.  the cranking battery will have one or two wires on it.  If two, one goes to the motor and one to a fuse panel or connecting block.  If one, then it will go to a block first and then split out from there.  If there is a master off switch, it will be the first thing coming off the battery (and then the wire might split from there to go to the motor and fuse block).

 

trolling motor will be wired in series.  You can pull up a diagram, but the negative from one battery will be hooked to the positive on the other.  Then the remaining two terminals will be the main connections.  The negative should just be one heavy wire coming back from the TM.  The positive might have a master switch as the first thing coming off the battery before it goes up to the trolling motor.

 

There should also be a separate set of wires from each bank of the charger.  Each battery will have its own positive and negative charging wire to each bank.

[Choporoz]

@Bankc& @casts_by_fly, thank you very much.  Exactly what I wanted to know before walking in there.

[J._Bricker]

59 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Where in the big schematic of things would the switch be?  I assume to switch between batteries?  But what is being switched....to what? 

 

Yes, to switch between the big motor battery and the trolling motor batteries. Added insurance in the event that the big motor battery can’t/won’t start it due to be run down. Nothing like running livewell pumps and graphs all day never leaving an area because the bite was so good. Then get ready to head back to the ramp and hit the start button and all you hear is silence…. Having one of those puppies definitely provides peace of mind IMO.
 

[Tennessee Boy]

All of the things mentioned here are pretty basic stuff.   Anyone that doesn't know how to wire two batteries in series to get 24 volts should not be working at a boat dealership and certainly shouldn't be installing batteries and electronics.  If they don't have 24 volts to the trolling motor it will not work.  If that happens I would take the boat to someone that knows what they're doing to make sure it is right and there are no fire hazards.

 

 

[WIGuide]

42 minutes ago, J._Bricker said:

Yes, to switch between the big motor battery and the trolling motor batteries. Added insurance in the event that the big motor battery can’t/won’t start it due to be run down. Nothing like running livewell pumps and graphs all day never leaving an area because the bite was so good. Then get ready to head back to the ramp and hit the start button and all you hear is silence…. Having one of those puppies definitely provides peace of mind IMO.
 

Having one of these switches is worth the investment and it's pretty easy to set up. It's not great to jump from one of the trolling motor batteries, but I'd rather do that than be stuck on the water. When I bought a different boat earlier this year the previous owner put all new batteries in shortly before I bought it, but skimped on the starting battery. It met the minimum requirements recommended by the motor manufacturer but meeting the bare minimum isn't good when you fish all day and run pumps and bigger electronics. I owned it just long enough to put my bigger electronics on it before I fished my first tournament out of it and boy was I glad it had that switch. Used it a few times in the afternoon and it was a simple flip of the switch to get it started instead of digging out jumper cables if they were even in the boat yet. 

[GaryH]

I have 3 deep cycle lithium for the trolling motor which has its own breaker. The cranking battery which also runs all electronics and pumps has both breaker for everything and a switch that just handle’s accessories. Also an emergency start on the cranking battery. It takes the worry away when running your graphs and pumps all day while just trolling. Just push a button on your smart phone or on the unit itself and fire up the big motor.