Power Distribution. Connecting Consumers to Batteries

[Kirdud]

Good day, Captains!
I’m continuing the renovation of my boat and have now turned my attention to the electrical system—specifically how various consumers are connected to the batteries.

Currently, I have:

• Two starter batteries (one for each engine) 105AH
• One house battery Deep Cycle 200AH
• One battery for the generator 90AH

I noticed, for example, that the hydraulic bridge is connected to one of the starter batteries. This doesn’t seem ideal—it would probably be better connected to the house battery instead. The anchor winch is connected to the house battery, but after spending two days at anchor in a lagoon, I ran into a problem when trying to lift the anchor. The house battery was low, so I had to use the main switch to combine the batteries and was able to raise the anchor that way. This made me wonder: would it make more sense to connect the winch to one of the starter batteries? There are also many wires currently connected to the starter batteries, and I plan to trace where they lead and possibly rewire them for a more efficient and reliable setup.

Any insights or suggestions from your experience are more than welcome! Thank you!

 

[AllDodge]

Leave it as is, no change. It's better to be able to start the motor then raise the anchor

If you would run the Gen a bit more than the house Bat would be ok. Can also add another house Bat

 

[makomark]

you may want to relocate the power feed for the hydraulic lift...agreeded its always a good idea to isolate the starting baterries from a house load.

As far as many consumers being wired to the starting battery(ies), they likely should NOT be connected there....a lot will depend on what they are. I prefer to see all of the loads run thru a breaker panel but not everybody shares that preference.

Whatever you do, make sure any changes you make use a good grade of marine wire along with the proper terminations...going cheap in that department will cause a lot of pain in the future.