Bow Mounted Twin Battery Setup

[Parrot_King]

I am looking to move my 2 batteries up to the bow to get alot of weight from the stern as the boat sits very low in the water, could anyone please give me some tips on the best way to do this and if its possible? Also if you wanna share some photos that would be great. Also could the fuel tanks be moved to the bow and has anyone done this before if so could you please post some photos and tips


I have attached a photo of the front of the boat, i was thinking of putting my 2 fuel tanks under the thwart seat and the 2 batteries in front of the thwart seat and make a casting platform on top, also i am gonna seal off the gap under the seat between the batteries and fuel tanks

any advice would be great
cheers Mike

[snatchy]

Hi Mike

i have looked at doing this on my boat. from what i have researched, batteries up the front are more likely to cop a pounding and fail prematurely. moving them forward a bit (eg. under seats?) might be a compromise.

what size boat do you have?

you will need to get appropriate size cable/wiring so that there is not much voltage drop. the furthur away the battery from the motor, the thicker the cable needs to be. look up the internet somewhere charts showing gauge wire required based on length and current draw. so you will need to know how many amps your starter draws - might be easier to see an auto electrician. depending on the length of your boat, you might be suprised at the high cost of the wiring/cabling needed.

i am not bothering with my battery relocation idea and saving my effort and money for trim tabs

[Parrot_King]

Thanks for the reply Snatchy

i have an Allycraft 4.45m Tinny, did you mean moving the batteries under the front or back seat?

[oldboot]

Moving the weight forward is a good thing.....but moving it too far forward may not.

Having a lot of weight up the bow can cause handling issues.....and especilay the fuel..as the weight varies with thank content.

If you can get this weight low and toward the centre of the boat, that is the safest option...the boat will ride better and the handling will vary less with fuel load.

some detal of what you have would help.

as far as the size battery cable.....don't bother with the charts and tables....in practicality you have 2 options
#8 B&S or #2 B&S.
well realy one option....#2 B&S
Starter motors on outboards are pretty pissy.....hell I've pull started my 2 st 60 evenrude and it takes less heave than my ride on mower.

If you go #2 B&S you should be pretty safe.

I'm refitting my 16 foot centre console at the moment, there is an existing 60 litre fuel tank under the floor in the centre and I am moving my batteries from the stern to into the new centre console, which will be about a foot further forward.

cheers

[deckie]

Go to "electronics" section and look for "Repositioning Batteries and Rewiring" for one blokes method. Some detail of your rig would help hugely.
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=167534

What oldboot and others have said is spot on but its not until u do these things u discover the little things that matter...especially with the planning/positioning part coz its first priority. Some thought at the start saves time and money too. batteries are small concentrated heavy weights but if you bear that in mind you cant go too far wrong especially if you checkout your hull's performance before you start stuffing too much with weights.
First things first...go for a hoon and take some bags of something heavy like gravel, sand, pebbles, tanks and its all fully loaded as if heading for a 6 hr fish. A spare teenager or skinny mother in law is an alternative as long as they can sit still and not whinge.;D Must make sure u arnt about to create something that will now handle like a pig, plough or broach in bigger conditions than normal so dont pick a calm day to do this. Assume a new dual setup will weigh roughly 35-45kg once installed and move weight around and test your current rig especially in those following sea conditions. Not nearly so important if u fish flat water but u need to protect the performance characteristics of your hull.

Most boats DO benefit from a bit of weight fwd except in following seas, but remember this weight change is static weight and not portable like getting 120kg of fatboy to suddenly move back or fwd to help with the handling. Smaller the rig the more important it is to check because all hulls are designed to perform a certain way with weights in certain area's. Also remember its far more than 35-45kg weight transference because you are subtracting from the butt end as well as adding forward. Choose one or the other, batteries OR fuel.

A few little things.
Dont complicate with gadgetry if the donk is less than about 70-90hp..the less electronics the less can fail just when u need it, plus more expense that will need upgrading/checking/replacing in the future...most small-mid range outboards dont have an alternator big enough to even bother with things like VSR's i reckon and dont bother trying to charge both batteries automatically whilst on the water. Long cable runs, batteries that dont easily accept a charge combined with small alternators render this kinda pointless. A VSR for instance can just end up a pain and u may also find the charge to the second house battery just isnt worth bothering with anyway...best to maintain the crank as a priority i reckon. Best and safest/easiest/cheapest just to have one very solid cranking battery maintained tip top out there, plus one large storage house battery that you charge at home after each trip. If the house battery runs low who the hell cares ?... at worst its time to go home, chuck some yakka's out of the tank and switch off the stereo, or maybe just get a bigger battery at worst isnt it ?...but u still have that spare battery to get u out of trouble which is the only real goal.

The aim is not to simply produce something fancy for the lazy....it must be a practical safety feature for a rare emergency with a sie benefit of giving u plenty of extra amps to run whatever u feel like from a house battery. There's no issue even keeping them totally separate and carrying jumper leads or a jumpstarter rather than going to lots of fuss and expense. You could argue thats actually a benefit and complicating things is just adding risk to any emergency situation/need. Bigger motors with bigger charging circuits tho ?....there's a definite advantage to a proper wizz bang dual setup.

Unless we actually use advances in technology there's no point admiring it. Your new #1 enemy is pounding and vibration on not only the battery but the wiring/connections...luckily the newer AGM batteries (yepp a bit pricier to start with) are damn near 5-10 times more vibration resistant due to their design/construction. well worth thinking about. Decision time but i'd definitely at least switch over to an AGM crank battery if u can stretch it. Dont go too far fwd with the weight...at or just fwd of a CC or at feet of cuddy/runabout is about perfect and close to centreline as u can. About 1/3rd back from bow about right if u can for handling reasons. Think EXTRA STRONG mounting and if possible a backup mount...25kg of lead can rip screws out fast in bad conditions in a small boat and u dont want that weight flying about suddenly. A tight fitting 2 inch velcro backup holding strap is cheap insurance but make sure the main mounting is steel and extra strong screws. You can get rubber vibration matting to sit under the battery and absorb some punishment and that can extend battery life... but just make sure the priority is a strong mount.

Make sure the mounting spot is dead flat too..25kg of lead pounding away on a small spot is a huge amount of g's in rough water and if concerned u can always lay some form of plate underneath first ..something wider than batteries to distribute the load outwards. If u want it raised a bit off the deck dont mount on chocks..broad flat raised board/plate. Big screws into solid stuff coz bateries can rip little ones out easily and you dont want a 50lb brick flying around.

2 B&S (32sqmm) cabling will cure voltage drop back to the motor and never less for joining the two batteries. 8 B&S to hookup battery to distribution panel and 4mm tinned wire will do for just about everything onboard. Things like decent sized pumps/spotlights etc u might want to run 6mm wire.

Silly little things like double checking the vert clearance size available before starting to include mounts and terminals...assume most u need roughly 225-230mm vertical as minimum. Check any battery size before buying. Also when positioning make sure its either in a box or space where debris cant drop onto them.

Not THAT difficult to do as long as common sense is used...but best course is probably a pro like Spaniard King or others in here who i'm sure would offer better advice than this and do it spot on to suit your needs and rig.

[Cheech]

I did that with my 21ft glass boat. Moved them midships. I got my cable from a welding supplier. I think it was 10 or 12mm. Not cheap, was about $150 for the length I needed. They also did the crimping of the connectors each end.

[Parrot_King]

Here is a photo of the area i have to play with, I was thinking of installing the 2 X 25 Litre fuel tanks under the front thwart seat and the 2 batteries in front of the thwart seat and make a casting deckon top and also seal off the batteries from the fuel tanks

[Parrot_King]

Here is the Link to the Photo of the area i have to work with, please feel free to suggest ideas

http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=62312&d=1286866893

[Parrot_King]

Any Ideas People

[oldboot]

link does not work,

cheers

[rooboy98]

Heres a couple of photos of my set up.

The two batteries are for my Minn Kota though.

The boat rides alot better now as they are centered and stored down low.

Cheers,
Roo.

[Parrot_King]

Thanks Rooboy, I have sent you a PM

[Parrot_King]

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[Parrot_King]

Come on People i need some advice

[Parrot_King]

Come on People i need some advice

[fish'n'chippy]

P_K
are you after something in particular?
between ROO's and mine, you pretty much have the options covered.
either raise your floor (or make a front casting deck) to give you enough space to hide them underneath, or put them in the seat.
where else were you thinking of putting them?
i can't see the point of making a battery box and putting it under your console, it would take up too much space.

grahame

[Parrot_King]

I was after other ideas but it seems they are my 2 only options.

Thanks Grahame

[fish'n'chippy]

no worries mate
if you want to come and have a good look at mine, let me know and we can organise something.
easier to look at something over a beer than in a photo ;D

cheers
grahame

[Parrot_King]

Thanks Grahame, Looking at your boat would be alot easier so that would be great,let me know when we can arrange it

cheer Mike

[MyWay]

putt battery there and leave tank at back

cheers

[Parrot_King]

Thanks myway for your input