Reserve/starter battery location and mounting

[Stu Jackson]

Good point, Noah.  In fact, that's what I have for my reserve bank (which is in the OEM box).  Got a better deal at American Battery, but even $79 isn't bad.  Just don't buy any more batteries at WM, they're just rebranded for more $$.  Use it for other boat stuff or beer!   

[mark_53]

DOES ANYBODY HAVE PICTURES?  If so can you post, please.

Here you go. I like to keep them secured and in boxes.  Acid on the hull is not good.

[lazybone]

DOES ANYBODY HAVE PICTURES?  If so can you post, please.

Here you go. I like to keep them secured and in boxes.  Acid on the hull is not good.

What's the large PVC 4" pipe for?

[mark_53]

DOES ANYBODY HAVE PICTURES?  If so can you post, please.

Here you go. I like to keep them secured and in boxes.  Acid on the hull is not good.

What's the large PVC 4" pipe for?

It's a duct from the diesel heater to the aft cabin.

[Clay Greene]

I went through the same analysis and I came down on the fact that it was important for the reserve battery to be close to the house battery bank so I did not have to run separate charging wires from the alternator and the battery charger to the reserve battery.  I put the reserve battery in the compartment immediately forward of the starboard water tank under the starboard dinette seat.  I ran a positive wire to the #2 post on the battery switch (with a 2 AWG wire because of the length of the run) and another charging wire to a Blue Sea Systems automatic charging relay that was connected to the positive post on the house battery bank.  The ground was run to the house ground.  I then left the battery switch on #1 and ran everything off the house bank with the knowledge that I had the reserve battery available on #2 (or "all") if necessary.  That also was my opportunity to run the alternator output directly to the house bank and to get rid of the jump wire from the alternator output to the starter. 

I can see why you would want the additional battery to be close to the engine if it was a dedicated starting battery but I still wonder why you would need or want a dedicated starting battery instead of using the third battery as a reserve.  True deep cycle batteries work great for both house needs and starting the engine. 

Anyway, food for thought.