Starting engine on battery #1

[John Fogelgren]

Our boat starts on batteries when in "all" position, but will not start when on #1 position alone.  It only clicks.  We do not have gulf cart batteries, but they are all new and show full charge.  Both banks share a common ground.  #1 alone will run the other pumps, but we were saving #1 for starting in case the other two lost charge.  Shouldn't the engine start on #1 alone?
Excuse my lingo - this is Greek.  I'm John's wife, Honey.

[Craig Illman]

The first thing I'd check is whether the terminals are clean and the cable connectors were clean and solid. The factory crimps on my boat weren't particularly substantial. I followed Ron Hill's advice to crimp and solder the replacements. Your starter needs a lot of amps and good contact at all connections between the battery and starter. Since it sounds like it starts from the other battery bank, you only need to check from the battery switch back to the #1 battery and the #1 battery's ground connection.

- Craig

[Steve Hansen]

Honey,

I just solved the same problem on Georgia Peach. Would only start when battery selector was on All, not 1 or 2 alone. When I removed the tape that was around the lug at the battery terminal, The red wire was green with corrosion and frayed. The other lug when tape was removed pulled right out of the lug! After repairing, engine started right up no problem. I used crimp, solder and shrinkwrap technique, and ran a dedicated starting wire from the start battery to the starter.

Good luck-Steve

[Footloose]

Honey,

I concur with the other posts.  The terminals on the cables are most likely the problem.  Even a small amount of resistence at the high aperage that is drawn by the starter is a significant power loss.  You will be amazed at the difference.

By the way, do all of the terminals ie the ones behind the Nav Station and the ones on the starter and the engine block, as well as the ones in the battery box.

Dave

[Ron Hill]

Honey : The above posts give good advice.
To answer your question "shouldn't the engine start on #1 alone"? -- YES, if the battery is relatively new.  The clicking that you hear is most likely the starter solenoid "asking" for more amps.  I'm sure if you check all the connection as mentioned, you'll solve the problem. 
It's always a good idea to use "All" position when starting the engine.  That guarantees the starter has the maximum number of amps available to turn the engine over.   

[Stu Jackson]

There is a train of thought that says it's not unreasonable to start your engine with just the start battery.  This could be done on a regular basis, or at least sometimes, just to make sure it works, regardless of the age of the start bank (and, perhaps, even more importantly with an older one).  This is because the idea of having a separate start battery to begin with is one of those "just in case" electrical system design concepts: to be there when either ALL or only the house bank do NOT work. 

FWIW, we use the start bank at the beginning of the day and the house bank at the end of the day.  We have our alternator output hooked directly to the house bank with a battery combiner connecting them when a charge source is present. 

If your alternator output is wired to the C post of the 1-2-B switch, and you do not have a combiner (or equivalent), then you may have to start the engine with the switch on B (ALL) because this would be the only way to charge both of your banks.

Another "your boat, your choice" thought.