Quinte Fishing

I have a new boat and I want to put another battery in the back with the cranking battery to operate electric downriggers, can I just run the two batteries in parallel(positive to positive and negative to negative) without a battery selector switch. I would like to keep them hooked together so they will stay charged while trolling with the big motor.Thanks.

Yes you can.

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Off Shore Tackle Team Canada
Limestone City Fishing Charter
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YouTube Jim Lyon Fishing

Battery selector is only for battery isolation and/or battery combining, as Jim said, yes not problem. Battery selector + ACR between them, is battery isolation + parallel charging + battery combining.

Thanks,I thought I would be ok but just wanted to be sure, I didn't want to cause any problems.

Your batteries are only as good as your weakest one. If you are adding a new battery you want to make sure your old one is in good shape or replace both. Put your old battery in the wife's van or something like that; treat your fishing buddy to two new ones.

When servicing batteries always remove the negative cable first. With parallel batteries you have to remove both negatives or the potential for grounding a positive still exists.
Sorry if this is stating the obvious but I have been surprised by some people who should know better and always start with the positive.

Just a thought. Don't mix a cranking battery with a deep cycle.....

Bear in mind that cranking batteries are not designed to be 'run down' as is the case with Deep cycle batteries.

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