Battery Switch

[kimden5]

Every boat I've ever had, has had a single battery switch, Off-1-2-Both. My new to me boat has three, Port Sw. Off 1-1&2-2, Parellel Sw. Off-On & a Stbd. Sw. Off-On. Why wouldn't the Port switch be sufficient. What are the other two for? And where do they all need to be set so the on-board battery charger will charge both batteries? I checked the owners manual and it only talks about a single switch installation. This is a single outboard powered boat. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[ranger58sb]

Hard to say without hands-on experimentation, and it might depend on how many battery banks you have on board...


But a thought that comes to mind, FWIW, is that maybe the boat's battery system was set up for fishing? Maybe separate banks for motor, electronics, kicker, live-well, etc.? Switching available so a bank can be held in reserve?


The parallel switch is often a get-out-of-jail-free card, giving the ability to start a main engine by momentarily coupling two battery banks together... That's fairly straightforward, but our parallel switch is a three-way rocker, completely different from our main rotary battery switches.


-Chris