Another Battery/Charging Question
 

Currently I have 2 batteries, a starting battery and a blue top wired into a perko switch charged by a 65amp alternator . The system I'm running is 2 Syn 6's and a 400 watt clarion amp. I have a budget of ~$750.00 and I need some advice on new batteries, an on board charger, isolator, and possibly a capacitor. Links to sites where I can find the equipment for the best price would also be very helpful. The boat is a '01 Tige 21i with the mercruiser 350.
Thanks for the help!!

Are you planning on keeping your existing blue top as part of the stereo bank? One starting battery should be fine. That will determine my answer.

Here are a couple of options. Keep your blue top as a starting battery if it is still fairly new and in good shape. Buy 2 Deka Seamate group 31 AGM batteries(200/ea), a Sure Power 1314 combinor/separator(70) and buy a good 20 amp dual bank charger(200).

Another option if you don't care about having AGM batteries is get 3 group 31 Deep Cycle Deka's(DC31DTM) and the same stuff from above. The deep cycle group 31's should be somewhere around 140-150/ea. Then you have all brand new batteries that are all the same.

I plan on keeping the blue top, I know I'll catch a little hell for it but its only a year old and was $200.00

Here is the SurePower, an excellent choice if you are only going to run 2 batteries for the stereo.
http://www.ase-supply.com/product_p/sp-1314.htm ($65 shipped)

For the onboard charger I would go with a ProMariner Pro Sport 20
Ebay was the cheapest option as far as I found ($159 shipped)

This leaves you with $525 to spend on batteries. Ditch the capacitor idea, you won't need it.
Personally I use XS Power d2700's. 3 of them as they provide the most bang for their size. They are spendy though at $299 each shipped. You could go almost go with a pair of these on your budget and they will play nice with your optima, which would then give you 3 stereo batteries.

I also like Brett's battery idea as mentioned above, but I'm not sure how well the Deka's would play with your Optima.

One thing I would not do though, is convert your Optima to a starting battery(unless the optima blue tops are not deep cycle). Use your existing starting battery and use the Optima with the other battery/batteries you get. If you do plan on using 3 batteries for the stereo talk to me as to why the Sure Power may not be your best option.

Check West Marine - They have some batterys on sale right now. I "think" their AGM batteries are re-labelled Deka's (East Penn Mfg). They are on sale right now - worth taking a look. Hope this helps.

You are correct. The West Marine AGM batteries are relabeled Deka Seamate's. They might even have a little better warranty then buying them as a regular Deka.

what is the utility of an onboard charger?

It hooks to your battery or battery banks so that you can plug a single extension cord into the onboard charger and it will handle the charging duties of your battery while docked or on the trailer. Basically a simplified way of charging your batteries, rather than have to have one charger with long wires to each battery that you have to haul back and forth from your garage

I would chime in with my 2 cents worth but it sounds to me like these bro's are giving you good information....

In addition the better one's provide specialized 3 or more stage charging profiles that can be changed depending on what type of batteries you have.

The initial reason for having an onboard charger though is that most guys alternators are not going to keep up with their huge systems. If you want better play time and better battery life you need an onboard charger.

Thanks for all the good information, what's everyones opinion on doing 2 interstate U2200 6v batteries for ~$200.00 which would give me 225ah , and if I used this setup can I still do the sure power 1314 and the prosport 20??

Check around for other brands to compare price. Find a Trojan dealer and ask about T105 or talk to a Deka dealer and ask about GC15. Both those and the Interstates are 6v golfcart batteries. Golf Carts are an excellent choice. They get you a lot of AH per $. Keep in mind that you should periodically check the water levels of these batteries. If you have those wired in series and an optima blue top for starting you should be good. I am not sure why Nic mentioned not to use the blue top for starting but it has more than enough CCA to start a 350 chev.

Yes, you can use a sure power 1314 with this setup.

I mentioned it as I thought it would be put to better use serving the stereo bank as he already has a starting battery. Though I also did mention that I was unsure as to whether the blue tops were deep cycle or not. If they are not deep cycle then switch it to your starting battery. If it is deep cycle, why not use it for your stereo bank if you already have it?

Well, I wouldn't buy one kind of battery for the stereo and ad an older different style optima. Plus the optima should work fine as a starting battery. You don't need a high CCA starting specific battery for a wakeboarding boat.

Sorry about how sloppy this diagram is but I want to make sure I'm wiring everything right, the only thing I don't know where to put is my line to all my accessories (head unit, amps, lights, etc) Again this is my interpretation of the wiring through multiple searches on the forum.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._1261291_n.jpg

Why all the Blue Top hate? I've had mine for going on 6 seasons, have never externally charged them, and they still run great. Am I missing something? Is there a different kind I should go to next?

With the 1314 what is the need for the perko switch?

Added flexability and so you can completely separate the 2 banks when using a 2 bank charger.

Ahh so I'm assuming in that setup you are connecting to the perko versus the ignition switch?

Nic, The perko is so you can manually separate the stereo and the starting banks when your charging your batteries at the dock. If you don't use one, as the starting batt gets charged, the 1314 will sense the voltage and automatically connect.

FWIW--
The Promariner battery chargers have HORRIBLE reviews online. I just got a 40 amp Xantrex because everywhere I looked (for the Promariner I wanted) had bad reviews listed. There seemed to be a LOT of people complaining that they stopped working after a year or that they went through several that all did the same thing.
I have no affiliation with Xantrex nor any experience with Promariner..just relaying what I found before I bought.

I hope the reviews were falsified cause I just ordered my promariner this morning :(