We had a start
battery fail on us. We were in a place where I could easily
purchase a new one, but I got to thinking about installing a switch to let me start off the house bank if this happens again and we aren't in a place to buy anything.
The
engine is a long way from the house bank and I don't want to run a long length of giant cable just for an
emergency start (it is a
catamaran and the
engine is 25' away from the house bank).
My idea was to put a switch into the 2/0 positive wire running from the
alternator to the house bank and connecting a pigtail from that to the starter. Then, if the start
battery is bad, I just flip the switch and start off the house.
The connection from the
alternator to the house will never be broken doing this - I will either bring an additional wire from the alternator to the switch, or connect the alternator and house together on one of the switch terminals.
The engine was originally wired from the factory to have its alternator output go to the positive terminal on the starter (and then back to the battery), so this seems to be acceptable.
Is there anything wrong with my plan?
Mark