Bait tank Setup

[quackquackboom]

I think the answer to you question somewhat depends on how your house batteries are wired. Is one dedicated to cranking and one running electronics?

This also leads to the question what battery is running your tank now?

[coheasion]

I have mine set up similar to JMR's. I have 3 TM batteries wired to a 3 bank charger with a On/Off battery selector - a cranking battery wired for engine - and a "house" battery to run lights, electronics and bait tank -both cranking and house battery are wired to an on/off selector and to a separate 2 bank charger.

At night when I'm done fishing I plug an extension cord with a 3 outlet female end into the shore power and then plug the 3 bank charger, the 2 bank charge and my AC/DC power inverter (that my bait tank is now plugged into) into these 3 female ends. That way all 5 batteries are charging overnight and no battery is having power drawn from it while charging.

I've looked really closely at the setup that Yam suggested and that Bushwhacker noted in a previous post and I just haven't pulled the plug on it yet. Partly because it is hard to find the time to do it and partly because the system I use now is pretty simple and hasnt given me any issues. But it is always in the back of my mind. If I was to buy the boat new again I'd talk to my dealer about having them rig it up for me as it is a pretty sweet system.

[gizzardlips]

We have the same set-up as MW that was done by Modlins. The guy does really good work.  We only have a 35 gallon SBT in the boat, but it certainly could be modified to fit a 40 gallon.  A 50 gallon tank would start to be a little crowded for our boat passing on the sides if the seat frame was pushed out another 6 inches, if that makes sense.  As far as powering the tank goes, I guess this thread raises a question for me.  (Hope I'm not stealing your thread)  We have dedicated 36 volt trolling motor batteries on a 3 bank onboard charger. 2 house batteries for running starter and everything else. they are charged by engine, and a second 3 bank charger when the boats not running. We added a dedicated battery just for the bait tank.  It's charged at night by the 3rd bank of the charger.  My question after reading these posts is if your running a bait pump that takes 3 amps to run, and your charger is putting out 10 or 20 amps when its charging, isn't the battery actually gaining charge through the night when it on the charger?  Knock-on-wood, we have run this setup for several week long trips during the TX's down there, and the set-up appears to be keeping up with enough charge to continually run the tank pump.  (probably just jinked myself lol).  But back to the original thread, I highly recommend Keith.  He does fantastic work, and he is a really nice dude to work with.