Have I got this right? - Boat Electrics

[Johnn]

I have been reading a couple books, is it right to have a deep cycle battery connected to switch board, and then somehow connect items such as gps/lights to the switch board? Am I missing somethings out, no doubt awful lot

Thanks John

 

[David2452]

No that's right, the general arrangement is to have a dedicated high cold crank amp for starting and one (or more) capable of deeper discharges without damage for domestics. They are independantly charged and therefore if you use too much power and flatten the domestic there is still enough to get up and running. The above arrangement is for cruisers with accomodation, obviously a small sportsboat would probably not need it.

 

[Assassin]

You need a deep cycle battery as they drop to very low voltages and do not become damaged like the traditional automotive batteries, which would be destroyed if their voltages dropped to the levels deep cycle batteries can.

How about a battery pack, simply buy more than one deep cycle battery and connect them in parallel, this gives a significantly longer working life than a single battery.