satisfactionII

My '96 Scarb (26') only has one battery and a battery switch. I am adding a high performace stereo this weekend and know it is going to draw a lot of amperage. I want to add a second battery for backup and need some advice. I know I'll need another battery, battery box and battery cables, but what else am I going to need. I want to make sure that both batteries are charged at all times, but also keep the stereo off the starting battery. I would also like this to be easy to install and with a minimum of switches. Kinda foolproof.
Any ideas, diagrams, or suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks

Dave1972

Satisfaction,
You can make it as difficult or easy as you want. I'm guessing you are going for easy so here is my solution. You will have the positive leads from each battery going to your battery selector switch with the shared positive going to the starter. Connect the wires for your amps directly to the 2nd battery (or whichever battery will be your stereo battery). Be sure to bridge the negative terminals for both batteries so that you can charge both and/or use both in emergency situation. The batteries will still be separated for stereo, but when you put the selector switch to "both" or "all" position, both batteries will charge. I'm not sure how your head-unit is powered but I usually go directly to the battery for that as well, that way I can have all the power shut off and still operate the stereo. Be sure to put fuses inline on the positive leads for any power wires to avoid any complications/safety concerns.