Batteries Died - time for some work.

[Member]

Just before the rain set in my front 24 volt battery bank on my dam boat gave up the ghost. Had both banks of batteries on charge overnight - the front charger was quite warm when I disconnected it, never a good sign. Got to the dam, plugged in the bow mount, zip, would not even spin the prop. A Quick look with the multimeter, under 20 volts. D E A D. Not much you can do with that - so went fishing on just the rear motor, which feeds off the back bank of batteries.

With all the christmas cheer, electricity bills, car rego etc, no chance of finding $700 for 2 new batteries. The ones I had were borderline size anyway, being only 100amp units. So I had a root around in the shed and found my 2 spare 6 volt batteries, a quick swap around of my various batteries giving me 4 6 volt 160 amp hour batteries I could put together to power my bow mount (24 volt). ( I bought all 4 of them  3 years ago, only recently pulled two out when I upgraded to a 24 volt front motor)

There was no way I was going to fit those four beasts under the front seat, and at 35 kilo's each, the trailer would have been to unbalanced anyway. So I decided to mount them mid floor on the boat, which is only slightly in front of the trailer axle, meaning little change in the draw bar down weight. Might even have got a bit lighter after pulling the dead batteries from under the front seat.

Mounting them mid floor still gives me 90cm clear floor space front and back, and 45cm each side to get around them. Also gives me a nice working platform - additional seat in the middle of the boat.

Dead Batteries removed from under the seat.


First order of the day was a good solid front plate to hold the batteries in case of an accident (I had my batteries break free in a minor accident 6 months ago, dont want a repeat performance).

Thats 8 x 14 gauge screws in a bit of 3x2, the front 4 screwed through in to the sub floor frame. If the batteries break free there wont be much else left anyway

For the rear just used 3.



Next order of the day was to mock up the wiring loom and make sure I had the right voltage in the right places. (Yeah I know it is simple, but mocking it up and checking it is simple enough to do)


Front and rear panels in place.


Side Panel in place


View from the other side


All sides in place, time to get serious about the wiring loom.


50 amp automatic fuses used everywhere power is coming out of the box.



Wiring loom complete. 24 volt to the right,goes down under the floor and comes up next to the bow mount. 2 x 12 volt on the left going to external anderson plugs that mount on the box.That way I can power the rear motor from this bank, or if I choose individually charge each 12 volt half of the battery bank.


Ready for the top to go on


Complete - view from the rear


Complete - view from the front
You'll notice the two breather holes (dont want any explosive gases building up) and that the top is flush with the edge on the front but overlaps around the sides and rear. That so I can put vertical rod holders on the front later on after I get around to painting it (woods to wet at the moment). The overlap has nothing what so ever to do with the fact that was the size of the sheet of plastic I had  and I only wanted to make one cut instead of two!


Also here is a hint, when working with serious batteries like this, be very careful about where you put tools and wiring. Dropping a spanner on the top of those babies would probably not be a good idea.
 

[Member]

Nice bit of carpentry Binder. I've got one of the cordless drills same as yours, you can't kill 'em. Now all you've got to do is sweep up the bloody floor!!
Cheers mate,
JD

[Member]

Great job Binder.

Not alot of folks think about the balance on the trailer when making changes to a boat; a good tip. 

I think I've got a headache after following the wiring loom. You've drawn off the bank twice but from opposite ends, is there are reason for that?

Nice chippy work.  Maybe a bit of high density foam or similar on top might make for a handy seat.

Thanks for posting...

fitz..

[Member]

Fitzy,
Second twin core cable actually runs positive for one pair of batteries and negative for the other for the 12 volt connections.

Takrat - Boat only sits in a car port, it gets overspray with the rain, all the leaves etc blow in. Its actually going mouldy with all the continuous rain! It all usually just hoses out before a trip! Its a working boat, no carpets or cushion seats in my boat (you should be standing and casting anyway!). Its not a pimp mobile 

[Member]

No worries Binder, good work there mate. I do have carpet in mine but it still sits out in the rain with a tarp over it only unfortunately. Can't get my wife to put her car outside. Some good tips there too, electricity is a bit of a mystery to me, I can see oil and water but never seem to trust what I can't see. Here's to clear water.
JD

[Member]

Nice work Andrew!!!

If you want a career change, you have my number 

Dave

[Member]

To worn out to make a living from the tools any more Dave. Took 2 days to build the box and everything hurts  !

Took the old girl out for a run this morning, forgot the GPS, so not sure of speed, but felt faster. Used to do 6kph, I'll have to see if it is faster or just back to 6kph (batteries might have been failing for a while)

Did about 8k's on NPD today and when I got home the front bank was still at 24.8 volts (80%), back bank at 12.6 volts (90%) . So very happy they will easily see me through a days fishing.

[Member]

Also here is a hint, when working with serious batteries like this, be very careful about where you put tools and wiring. Dropping a spanner on the top of those babies would probably not be a good idea.

'Specially if there happened to be a venting fuel tank anywhere about!

Neat job of work.

My Delkor 100 amp battery died on arrival at Burrinjuck week before last. Came out Saturday morning to raise the outboard, remove the transom brace and the bugger refused to go back down! Must have sucked those last remaining amps from the cables! The hydrometer had gone from green to white giving the black the flick pass along the way. Good as it turned out as the weather went all to hell: gales, thunderstorms and sheeting rain.

Can't complain though: the date stamp was 10/03. Good batteries them thar calcium batteries.