question about trolling battery

[crappieseeker]

My trolling battery doesnt hold out for as long as I wanna fish. It is a 12 volt trolling motor. Instead of going through the wiring process of adding another battery and adding a switch, " since I know absolutely nothing about how to do that" I was wondering if it would work and be safe to buy one of those rechargeable jump boxes and just hook the cables to my trolling battery and run from the jump box a little longer. I'm not sure if it would work, be safe, or even last long enough to be worth it. Anybody have a comment or suggestion?

[Shellback]

I don't think those jump boxes have any long time storage, just a couple fast shots and that's it. To add another battery, you wouldn't need a switch, the batteries just need to be connected in parallel ( positive to positive, and negative to negative? Connected this way they should give you near double the time of operation.

[Barnacle Bill]

Two batteries in parallel will certainly help and they can both be charged with one charger, but heres the problem with that. Most chargers today are smart chargers and when they sense a charged battery, they shut down to a maintenance mode. So you could wind up one one fully charged battery and the other not. There are 2 ways around this. Start off with identical batteries of the same size and age and then you will be ok until one of the batteries get weaker than the other. By far, the best solution us to install an on board smart charger. If you get one for three batteries, you can keep them all fully charged. When you get home fron fishing, you just plug it in and forget about it until your ready to go again. Just don't forget to unplug it before you drive off. I've done that twice now. LOL

[Superdave]

Two batteries in parallel will certainly help and they can both be charged with one charger, but heres the problem with that. Most chargers today are smart chargers and when they sense a charged battery, they shut down to a maintenance mode. So you could wind up one one fully charged battery and the other not. There are 2 ways around this. Start off with identical batteries of the same size and age and then you will be ok until one of the batteries get weaker than the other. By far, the best solution us to install an on board smart charger. If you get one for three batteries, you can keep them all fully charged. When you get home fron fishing, you just plug it in and forget about it until your ready to go again. Just don't forget to unplug it before you drive off. I've done that twice now. LOL

You can get around that by hooking the POS+ to one battery and the NEG- to the other battery. It will charge both batteries equally.
SD

[Barnacle Bill]

You can get around that by hooking the POS+ to one battery and the NEG- to the other battery. It will charge both batteries equally.
SD

Since both batteries have the grounds hooked together, its not going to make any difference which ground you use. You could disconnect them and do one at a time.

[krappiekrazy]

I have using two 12 volt batteries for years. connect the pos to pos and neg to neg. you have just created a battery twice an big and it is still 12 volts. Hope this helps.

[KARL]

on batteries and how to hook em up and charge them.....

http://batterytender.com/connecting.php/#9

hope this will help some...

[Barnacle Bill]

on batteries and how to hook em up and charge them.....

http://batterytender.com/connecting.php/#9

hope this will help some...

Excellent article. I still don't understand their reasoning for hooking the ground to the other battery (blue wire). Unless the charger wire is a lot bigger than the common.

[smedley]

Crappieseeker,

The first thing we need to know is what type of battery are you currently running? If it is a standard automotive battery then you need to replace it with a deep cycle marine battery. The lead plates inside the battieries are different. A deep cycle battery will hold a charge for much longer than an auto battery. The deep cycle marine battery should be charged at a slower rate than an auto battery. If you have a selector on your charger (i.e. 10/2 or 12/4) switch it to the lowest setting. It will take substantially longer to charge that battery but you will reap the benefits on the water. Wally world sells the Everstart deep cycle marine battery that I use. I've had good luck with it so far (had it about a year). I have an onboard chanrger, and I highly recommend these little jewels. I bought the Bass Pro 2 bank (4/4) earlier this year when it was on sale for , I think 50 bucks. Well worth the price. If you don't have the $$ to replace your battery right now, try draining it dead then recharging it on the lowest setting on your charger. Also check the water level in the cells...even if it says maintainence free. Fill cells with DISTILLED WATER ONLY not tap water. Good luck.

[crappieseeker]

smedley, I have a deep cycle Interstate marine battery. I'm not impressed with it. I also have an onboard charger, I do love that. I will check some articles and figure something out. Thanks everyone.