I've got a question on mismatched
battery types. I think I'm okay here, but being a mechanical type, I'd like a second opinion on things
electrical. First, some background. I've got a
catamaran with two
batteries in each
hull. On each side there is one
battery marked "Engine/Starting" and one marked "House". The house
batteries are controlled by a standard "1-2-Both" switch near my breaker panel and hooked up to a battery
charger as well as the alternators. The engine/starting batteries appear to just be connected to the alternators, not the
charger. On both sides, the negative terminals of the house and
engine batteries are connected, but the positives are not. The batteries are all wet cells, but there is a mix of Group 31 and Group 27 batteries. On the Port side, the
Engine battery is a Group 31 Deep Cycle/Starting model, and the house battery is a Group 27 Deep Cycle. On the Starboard side I've got two Group 31's. The house battery is a Deep Cycle, and the Engine battery is a Deep Cycle/Starting mix. All 4 batteries appear to be from different manufacturers and vintages. When we bought the
boat 2 yrs ago the
surveyor recommended replacing them all, but they have been fine up till now. Finally though, the Port Engine/Starting battery has completely given up the ghost. I would like to replace all of them now, but am thinking I should go with dedicated Starting type batteries for the Engine/Start units and dedicated Deep Cycles for the House batteries. My question is, is there any harm in using Group 27 Starting batteries for the Engine/Start units and Group 31 Deep Cycles for the House batteries? Each battery appears to go through its own isolator, so I don't think there would be an issue, but wanted to check with you all. Sorry for the long winded post.
Chris
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