2003 Super Air Dual Batteries

[ck1105]

I have the later model super air where there are 2 batteries in the back two seats. Each of them has its own ON/OFF switch. When I have them both on, for some reason the port side battery which powers my amps loses its charge to a point where the amps turn off. If I then shut off the Starbord battery at the switch then it will quickly recharge it. I was thinking about wiring a smart switch and creating a starting battery and a house battery setup. Only I cannot figure out how this boat is wired. Does anyone have any insight or experience trying to do this???

[MLA]

Since you are tossing out the old puzzle with missing pieces, why bother putting it together, to see what pieces are missing, just break out the new puzzle and start putting it together. Sometimes when I come across a spaghetti nest of an install, its easier to gut the entire setup and reinstall fresh and correct, rather than try to figure out whats what and fix.

Toss the twin on/off switches, get the blue sea add-a-battery kit and wire it properly.

[ck1105]

Best analogy ever. The more I have researched the more I have to say I agree. Thanks again MLA. You make everything I stress about easy again

[wakejunky]

Many years ago, I put a dual battery relay in place and wired it up to an ignition hot wire. I keep the batteries isolated via the manual switches behind the starboard battery. I've wired all my amps on the port battery and kept the starboard battery strictly for the boat. The port battery is isolated from the starboard battery (my starting battery) and will only be connected in parallel when the boat is running, then the port battery gets charged. This keeps my starboard battery from being drained while I sit around and just listen to music.

[MLA]

The Blue Sea ACR and Dual Circuit Plus switch does the same thing but with one huge advantage. In one turn of the main battery switch, you can disconnect ALL loads from BOTH banks when you leave the boat. This disconnects the amps from the hose bank while the boat is not used. Even one the amps are off, they would still have voltage. other notable advantages:

COMBINE mode for emergency start. Cant effectively do that with an ignition controlled relay.
The ACR is voltage sensitive so it opens and closes based on the input to the ACR and the draw through it from the house bank. A simple relay is either open or closed based on the ignition switch

[ck1105]

So I have the blue sea add a battery kit half installed. All the hot wires are in place. Can I skip using the grounding hub? Both batteries have home run lines grounded to the motor, I can ground the vsr into a battery and be done. Only reason I am asking is because my boat has the wires that clamp onto battery terminals and this kit is for the wires that bolt on with wing nut or small bolt. Thank you in advance.

[MLA]

You will want to either A cut those ends off and install new eyelets or B start with bulk cabling and custom make new cables as needed. I would not discard a cable junction as it will likely force those cables over to the battery posts. Too many cables stacked on a post is not good.

[ck1105]

You will want to either A cut those ends off and install new eyelets or B start with bulk cabling and custom make new cables as needed. I would not discard a cable junction as it will likely force those cables over to the battery posts. Too many cables stacked on a post is not good.

Ok so what I did was remove the original battery cables that have the terminal lugs on them and connect them to the grounding hub, then I used 2 new cables that have the eyelets ran them from the original grounding points on motor up to the grounding hub, the VSR is grounded at the ground hub. Everything works in the garage. I was not able to launch the boat and run it so see if the "both batteries charging" light came on.