The add-a-battery kit is great. Simple solution that allows you to charge both batteries but have them isolated unless needed. My only thought about having the second battery in the cabin is you are going to have to run some long heavy gauge wiring up there and it won't be cheap. If you want that forward battery to be charging off the motor and especially if you want it to be used for emergency starting you are going to be spending a lot on battery cable.

-Svence

i for one have that blue sea system that spareparts is talking about and it works great. my electronics dont crash any more when i start the motor and i never had any trouble with my batteries. i even called their tech support for info and was well satisfied.:nice:

The Blue Seas switches are good but if you want better,try the BEP cluster switch. After all this is the 21st century ya know.
http://www.bepmarine.com/home-mainme...lusters-manual

http://i44.tinypic.com/34qnxts.jpg

This question never gets old.......

Ive seen or heard just about every combo out there. At some point during this thread someone will realize their battery is hooked up wrong, someone will think their setup works better than anyone else's and the majority will rest assured knowing that "it just works, but I don't know how"...........Only advice I would offer is that you should be able to crank your engine from either battery.

I feel like everyones battery setup is as diverse as their sock drawer........Ive got my long-winters on the right and low-ankles on the left. Or do you think my gold-toe's need to be on the left and long-winters in the back???????

Ugh, life is too confusing............

:clap: Thanks for the laugh, and man with organization like that you must have a big sock drawer. I go with the throw them all in one drawer and hope for the best approach.

-Svence

I have the Perko OFF-1-ALL-2 switch and am having battery problems right now. What is it about the Perko that goes bad? If I end up replacing batteries, it does make sense to go with two starting instead of one of each. I only run stero, two radios, and two electronics.

BTW, what kind of batteries should I get if I replace them? Barracuda?, Exide?, some other brand?, whatever they have at autozone? What can be done to preserve my batteries? I do have a Guest onboard dual charger, but for the most part I only plug it in for 24 hours before each trip.

the perkos are ok, but they give problems after they've had some use, especially if you've tried to start an engine with a weak battery, The best tool you can buy for checking your battery system is a load tester, harbor freight has them pretty cheap, I use my load tester weekly to diagnose all kids of electrical issues

Thacker, your question prior to this statement about how to prolong battery life...IMO and my experience, yer missing the greatest thing about having the onboard Guest charger...the best way to prolong batteries for the long haul is to keep them HOT...and that's what leaving that charger plugged in all the time does...I had a Guest 2620 20 amp (10 amps per leg) on two group 31 AC Delco Voyager deep cycles used for elec trolling motor...those batteries lasted 9 YEARS and only failed after they were not left on that charger by the next owner...Batteries like two things...to stay hot and not be completely drained...mine stayed plugged in 24/7

I think that some one already suggested this already, but here is the link to the blue sea systems ACR kit. It is rated at 120 amps and it can parallel the battery's if needed to emergency start the motor.
This way you can just have a battery for starting and the other to run your electronics.

http://bluesea.com/category/78/79/pr...e/overview/329

Or if you have a larger battery banks you can use this system:

http://bluesea.com/category/78/79/productline/388

I agree with spareP ditch the deep cycle battery, run two good starting batteries