Im thinking of adding a stereo to my skeeter. I know my way around on installing a stereo but had a question when it came to installing on a boat, do I hook up the power to the cranking battery or to the trolling motor batteries? The trolling motor batteries are hooked up in series so would i hookup the stereo the same or to a single battery since it would only be 12 volt? Thanks in advance

my stereo is wired to one of my TM batteries and my GPS is wired to another. no problems and no drain on the cranking battery.

That's the answer I was hoping for. Have 2 brand new TM batteries but I hardly ever use the TM. So it doesn't matter that the batteries are in series, you can still hook up the stereo to an individual battery?

I cheesed out on drilling holes into my Skeeter. I built a small stereo box that the speakers are mounted into each end of it. To power it I run it off the cigarette lighter. This way I can take it in and out of the boat as needed and no holes are drilled in the boat.

A stereo connected off of console power supplied by the cranking battery is preferable......

When the console is powered off, the stereo will always be safely powered off.
The trolling motor powered stereo will if forgotten and left on, will kill/damage a trolling motor battery.

The stereo's amp draw powered from the cranking battery can possibly be fully replenished by the engine's alternator during the day.

If you connect the stereo to a trolling motor battery, it soon results in once equal size/age trolling motor batteries now having quite different actual capacities. If the weaker of the trolling motor batteries later becomes severely overdischarged, it can result in it becoming reverse charged and permanently damaged. The trolling motor battery would need replaced.

After a long day of listening to a trolling motor powered stereo and unexpectedly you run out of gas or have an engine failure, the weak trolling motor battery might not get back to the dock or safely to shore.

^^^This^^^

I've always wired radios to cranking battery via an ignition-controlled spot on fuse panel. That way you don't have to remember to turn off radio for fear of draining you battery when boat is stored. I've done a few boat audio installs for friends and myself.

I run a "house battery", specifically for my stereo, amp, live well lights and transom lights, but they are also tied into the ignition. I use the add a battery kit so it's charged by the alternator but not used to crank unless I switch it too.

I too run a house battery setup. The above kit though includes an auto-switching device which voids the warranty on some motors such as any Evinrude engine.

I really appreciate all the help fellas, thanks