Battman is Moving the Batts

[Wandering Sagebrush]

We finally have a sunny day or two, and I worked up the gumption to pull the batteries out of the starboard lazarette so I can replace them, plus move the house battery over to the port side. I am of the opinion that Sportcraft must have used grease, a shoe horn and a gorilla when they put both of them in there.

I had to pull the battery switch loose from the bottom of the locker in order to get enough room to pull the batteries.

Next steps are to go down and get about ten+ feet of AWG 4 cable, some decent terminals and heat shrink, and a couple of batteries. I am going to use a group 24 for the starting battery, and a group 27 for the house. The group 27 will go on the port side to try and balance out the kicker weight. I put four one inch holes through the front end of the port locker for ventilation. Hopefully, no more mold in there.

I am planning on hooking the positive cables for the onboard charger directly to the battery side of the battery switch (not the boat side), with the negative cables to the negative terminal of the starting battery ( both batteries will be on a common ground, as they were in the original install). If anyone sees an issue, I would appreciate your warnings in advance.

So far, just one skinned knuckle and a few bad words (about the tight fit).

Battman Steve

[Brooks Cooper]

I put both batteries in boxes between the fuel cells and freed up both lazerettes just a thought. Brooks

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I still have to set up two busses (switched and non switched), but the batteries are in their new homes, and things seem to work (no smoke yet). Here are a couple of photos...

Starting battery


House battery


Here's a shot of how they used to be positioned in the starboard locker


Here are a couple of things that came in handy. The "Brush On Electrical Tape" for under the battery switch, and the corrosion preventative for the terminals