2000 180 CC-Rewire the bait tank

[nickp]

Good morning. I have a 2000 180 CC that I use for fishing. The starting battery is located in the rear of the boat. I have a deep cycle inside the console for my 12v trolling motor. I use the bait tank in the port rear all the time, and the Garmin chartplotter gives me warnings throughout the day that I am draining the starting battery (it is also hooked up to the boat's starting battery).

Question-has anyone re-wired their boat to have the bait tank run off the deep cycle? If I do that, I'd like to install a second deep cycle in the console to run both the trolling motor and the bait tank.

Thanks for your input!

[gnrphil]

Hello Nick and welcome aboard. There shouldn't be any problem doing that at all, if the bait well switch is on the console it's gonna be real easy. I would suggest using a battery isolator and run sufficient wiring to the console to charge the battery in the console while the outboard is running.

[freezerfiller]

I hook everything up to the house battery except the outboard and run a battery isolator between them. When the batteries get below 12.5v the combiner separates them so the starting battery has plenty of power. Once you crank it up and the starting battery gets above 13v, it combines the two so you can charge them both with the alternator. It really comes in handy when you run a livewell or forget to turn something off. You can use your trolling motor battery as a house battery, or add one if you prefer.