Two Batteries

[Travis91]

I was just thinking.. instead of redoing my wiring in my boat( my wiring is set up for the battery to be at the back of the boat) should i buy a really small deep cycle to put in the back to run my lights and bilge and such, and put a bigger deep cycle upfront to run my trolling motor.. the smaller battery could also be a starting battery so down the road i could put a electric start engine on.

 

[Captain Ahab]

Sounds good to me - just make sure your 2nd battery has enough cranking amps to start the motor

 

[Oldgeek]

Ahab, I agree. Deep cycle batteries don't have a lot of cranking amps. Sort of the difference between starting batteries (lots of amps over a short period) and a deep cycle (fewer amps over a longer period). I'd buy a regular automotive battery for starting. Nothing worse than being miles from the dock and having a dead starting battery.