N00b Battery Question

[perry386]

Hello forum, I have never installed an additional battery for a stereo system before but am getting really tired of only being able to play 5 songs before my sub turns off . How hard would it be to add a third battery just for the sub woofer?? Would it just be switching the leads (coming off the amp) from the old battery to the new battery? Or is it more complicated than this? I want my sub to have its own battery because it draws so much power that when it, plus the rest of the system is drawing on the stock 2 batteries I literally get 5 bass heavy songs before I have to turn it down and switch genres.

[kmgs]

Do you have an onboard charger? Like a Minnkota D210?

If you're not charging after ever time out, that's probably at the root of your problem.

[perry386]

I have Prosport Dual-Bank charger. Not sure the model. And yeah, I usually don't because after one week it still will start the next time out so I never worry about it. What I'm worried about is if I was out and was just sitting with some friends listening to music and I run my batteries completely down and am stranded. That would suck.

[MLA]

Perry,

I think you may have some deeper root cause, either a bad battery or a design/wiring flaw in your audio, switch and charging scheme. Ideally, you do not want some parts of the audio system on one battery and other parts on a different battery source. What you want, is to have all the audio components sharing the same battery source. This battery bank can be comprised of a single battery or multiple batteries wired together. Ive had 2 and 3 amp systems play at a moderate level for 3-4 hours on a single group-24 deep-cycle with no voltage sag issues. Also, charging a depleted house battery fallowing use, is far better for the battery then leaving it down until before the next trip out. This really shortens its life span and reduces its recovery level. If you have a dual-battery switch and everything is wired correctly, you be able to anchor and play the system as long as you want and always have one battery isolated in reserve. I would look into the entire system and how its wired, before adding batteries. Once everything is good to go there, creating a larger house bank based on your system and how much play time you want while at rest, is easy.

[xrichard]

Your batteries should be at 12.6-12.7v before you go out...if they're not, then you're starting with batteries not fully charged and you should have them on a charger between outings. To avoid depleting your starting battery and getting stuck, use an ACR like Blue Seas or, second best, a manual switch from Perko or Blue Seas.

I wouldn't consider a third battery until I did these two things. If you do add a third battery, wire it in parallel with your other stereo/house battery...but to avoid issues there, both batteries need to be in the same condition which means you really need to replace your existing stereo/house battery when you add to it.