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RPLieser
1st Mate

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USA
70 Posts
Initially Posted - 10/17/2018 :  22:26:22  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Has anyone installed a 2nd battery under the forward V-berth, presumably to run as a house battery (want to keep the weight forward)? How is it best secured? What type of charge controller - will it charge two separate battery systems?
Edited by - RPLieser on 10/17/2018 22:26:56

k3fuller
1st Mate

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USA
73 Posts
Response Posted - 10/19/2018 :  13:34:45  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I was going too but for ease of installation I installed my second AGM right behind the one in the aft. It's in a battery box secured with two ratchet straps - one around the fiberglass base for the primary battery and a second one around the two batteries (I sail in a lake so it's secure enough for me). They are joined together in parallel with cheap ($7.99) heavy duty 4.0 gage automotive starter cables from Autozone. The stock Xantrex charger in my boat reaches both of them with no modifications. Positive to the primary battery, negative to the secondary battery will equalize them properly. 50lbs of sand way up front balances out the extra weight. Easy cheap project, barely took an hour to do.
2004 250WB #781
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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2269 Posts
Response Posted - 10/19/2018 :  14:15:39  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Front berth is best, but a pain to install. Behind the battery was not an option because I had a holding tank there. I put a 2nd battery under the compaionway stairs. Made it easy to remove for occasional use with a trolling motor.
Rick S., Swarthmore, PA
PO of Take Five, 1998 Catalina 250WK #348 (relocated to Baltimore's Inner Harbor)
New owner of 2001 Catalina 34MkII #1535 Breakin' Away (at Rock Hall Landing Marina)
Edited by - TakeFive on 10/27/2018 07:02:11
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jpwdesigns
Deckhand

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USA
21 Posts
Response Posted - 12/29/2019 :  15:34:05  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by WK 727


I have a board glued to the hull under the forward v-berth with three battery trays. I purchased the AGM batteries because there isn't proper venting and am thrilled with the results. In the middle tray is a jump starter in case the batteries are inadvertently rundown. I don't have a charge controller but plan on installing one this winter. Hope this helps, John



How did you route the battery cables to the switch panel?
250 WK #597
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jpwdesigns
Deckhand

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USA
21 Posts
Response Posted - 12/29/2019 :  19:51:08  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by WK 727

I have the old Perko 1,2 combine switch. The simple drawing on the right is what I believe you were requesting. Two batteries, output 12 volts connected to the distribution panel. Best practice is to use the positive of one battery and the negative of the second battery.



Actually I was wondering where you routed the battery cables. In the liner or through the lazarettes etc...
250 WK #597
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jpwdesigns
Deckhand

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USA
21 Posts
Response Posted - 12/30/2019 :  14:06:37  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by WK 727

Sorry about that! I have a stainless steel tube directly below the panel that connects right below the countertop. The lines run thru the stainless tube, under the molded plate and cup holders in the galley, exit under the sink and then along the inside lip of the lazarette to the forward berth batteries. I have been struggling with the mast light wires in the liner which have a short somewhere. Let us know if you can come up with a creative solution to running lines!


Ah. I have a 10 gauge wire running through the stainless pipe along with the gas line to the stove so that route is full. No room for another wire. I'll have to think of another route if I move my batteries into my vberth storage.

I've routed wires through the liner successfully with this tool from harbor freight. I've also used it to help pull lines through my cabin top rope clutches. I'd say it's saved me several hours of frustration already: https://www.harborfreight.com/3-16-inch-x-11-ft-fiberglass-wire-running-kit-65327.html
250 WK #597
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GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4275 Posts
Response Posted - 12/30/2019 :  21:11:06  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:

... I have a 10 gauge wire running through the stainless pipe along with the gas line to the stove so that route is full...

I'm not a marine wiring expert by any imagination so take what I say with a grain of salt.

A 10ga wire can carry a lot of current. Having the gas line and a 10ga wire sharing a stainless pipe seems like a disaster waiting to happen. A high current short circuit could easily burn thru a gas line in a matter of seconds creating a fire or explosion.

Maybe this was the factory setup so let me know if I'm completely off base. Only bringing this up as I don't want to see anyone get hurt.

Association Member

GaryB
Andiamo
'89 SR/WK #5862
Kemah,TX
Edited by - GaryB on 12/30/2019 21:12:18
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jpwdesigns
Deckhand

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USA
21 Posts
Response Posted - 12/31/2019 :  12:47:12  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by GaryB

quote:

... I have a 10 gauge wire running through the stainless pipe along with the gas line to the stove so that route is full...

I'm not a marine wiring expert by any imagination so take what I say with a grain of salt.

A 10ga wire can carry a lot of current. Having the gas line and a 10ga wire sharing a stainless pipe seems like a disaster waiting to happen. A high current short circuit could easily burn thru a gas line in a matter of seconds creating a fire or explosion.

Maybe this was the factory setup so let me know if I'm completely off base. Only bringing this up as I don't want to see anyone get hurt.




That's a very interesting thought. The factory has the wires for the princess stove in the stainless steel pipe along with the gas line. My 10 gauge wire is tinned copper in a sleeve and is appropriately fused near the battery with a 15 amp fuse that should blow long before the wire would short. The wire is for a custom fridge and currently that is the only circuit on the 10 gauge which only pulls 3ish amps. I'd be more concerned with the wire going to the princes stove since it's now 18 years old. I will assume there's some thought that went into the stove wire and gas line sharing the stainless steel pipe but still...

Has anyone else seen a different route for the princess gas/wires?
250 WK #597
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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5231 Posts
Response Posted - 01/01/2020 :  14:29:07  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Jeremy,
This is an interesting call because the fuse would prevent any extended shorting or sparks along the wire. That is, however, provided it’s a fuse and not a mechanical circuit breaker.
Is the gas line a rubber hose or some kind of pipe?
Bruce Ross
Passage ~ SR-FK ~ C25 #5032

Port Captain — Milford, CT
Edited by - Voyager on 01/01/2020 14:30:19
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jpwdesigns
Deckhand

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USA
21 Posts
Response Posted - 01/01/2020 :  16:46:19  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Voyager

Jeremy,
This is an interesting call because the fuse would prevent any extended shorting or sparks along the wire. That is, however, provided it’s a fuse and not a mechanical circuit breaker.
Is the gas line a rubber hose or some kind of pipe?


Yep the fuse is a blade automotive type in a blueseasystems fuse box. The gas line is a rubber hose.
250 WK #597
Edited by - jpwdesigns on 01/01/2020 16:47:40
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Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9013 Posts
Response Posted - 01/01/2020 :  16:47:16  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Voyager

...the fuse would prevent any extended shorting or sparks along the wire. That is, however, provided it’s a fuse and not a mechanical circuit breaker.
True to a point--a fuse is more reliable, but not necessarily faster acting. I presume the conduit (pipe) is intended to protect both the wires and the hose from chafing anywhere along the run. I saw the result of wires being chafed through by a plastic wire-tie that was intended to stabilize them, causing a short and a LOT of smoke in a friend's galley and sail locker from burning insulation. The breaker on the circuit never popped--I switched off the power. The wiring was probably 25 years old at the time, and the breaker probably was too. Conduits are probably safer long-term in a boat than screwed-down wire ties. Fuses are DEFINITELY safer than breakers, especially in damp and/or salt air environments. My current $+!nkp*+ has a blade fuse on every circuit.
Dave Bristle
Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT
PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired),
Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge
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