Thread:

Hooking up 2nd battery

So I broke down and bought a 2000 watt amp..I want to put in a second battery with Perco switch..Can someone show me a scamatic of how I should do it please..Also need to run approx. 12' of red wire..Is 4g big enough to run 4- 6 1/4 and a 10" woofer?? As far as a ground, guessing I need to run back to block..?? Yes??

Thanks in advance,

-g

Hmmm, good question..It probably be easier for me to just have one battery isolated to just the stereo.

Originally Posted by ka0tyk

Must have been good!!

Here is a simple Diagram:



I have a big stereo in mine with the same setup (Not a wacker for a motor though. lol) I run off 1 battery for everything, starting, lights, stereo, etc. So it's always on battery 1, battery 2 is backup but it will still run all the lights and stereo. So far this summer I haven't even had to switch to battery 2 yet.

4 awg at 12' for 2000 watts is as small as you'd want to go. I run 2 amps, 1000watts (probably more like 1200) for the sub and 600watts for the highs. I ran 1 0 awg wire from the common on the perko switch to the fuse block, the 2 4 awg wires (about 15' each) to the amps. Then for the grounds I ran 2 4awg wires back to the battery and each of those go into a terminal on the battery big enough for them. The grounds are tied together so it doesn't matter which battery. I didn't use the block because unlike a car, the entire boat isn't grounded through a chassis. I get zero engine noise through the speakers this way.

Hopefully that helps.