Routing starter cables to reloacted battery advise please.

[Monster1]

It works fine for small outboards but, if you want to stick with a heavy lead acid starter battery for a little tin boat that is your choice. I will continue to use lead acid starter batteries for my bigger motors until there is a better option.

I certainly don’t consider ABYC as the holy grail that must be followed to the letter on a little tin boat.

Well, a small outboard is kinda what I have. As far as ABYC standards, I'm not saying it's the holy grail or has to be followed to the letter. But why would anyone want to do anything half a$$ed especially on a floating conductor?

 

[Still Afloat]

Well, a small outboard is kinda what I have. As far as ABYC standards, I'm not saying it's the holy grail or has to be followed to the letter. But why would anyone want to do anything half a$$ed especially on a floating conductor?

Half assed is a matter of opinion. It really boils down to the application and common sense.

Anyway, I was just sharing what I use for starting small outboards. That certainly isn’t the only way.

 

[JL8Jeff]

Thank you for all your help. After unboxing the motor, I discovered that it already has starter cables preattached. They are small gauge and look like maybe 6ga. Definitely not 4ga. Anyway, after seeing the control wiring harness that came with it and knowing the mess of spaghetti when I mount the control to the side console. I'm going to have to built a small cover or at least zip tie everything up in the stern corner out of the way. This will be a good spot to mount a few terminal lug posts to run the factory cables to and then from there to the starting battery. Being it's a 14ft jon boat, I want to keep it simple. If I ran all accessories at the same time, I think I'd have a hard time making even a 20 amp load. So I think I'm just going to use one battery as my battery for starting, nav lights, bilge pump, and fish finder. Not too concerned with running a battery completely down and not starting the motor as this motor is also pull start. When in doubt, follow ABYC guidelines (as one poster suggested).

My boat stays in the water from Apr through almost Nov and I've been running a single battery for years without issues (other than when my stator went bad and killed the battery). My biggest worry is the bilge pump, I don't have a trolling motor or fish finder and I rarely use the lights since I don't fish in the dark. Last season, I left the boat in all year and never had to top off the battery (and we had a lot of rain to deal with).

 

[Monster1]

Half assed is a matter of opinion. It really boils down to the application and common sense.

Anyway, I was just sharing what I use for starting small outboards. That certainly isn’t the only way.

I wasn't implying anything you were doing was half a$$ed. After I thought about it, if I extended my starter cables and routed them under the floor on the bottom of the hull, that might not be the proper way to go about things. I've come up with a solution that uses common sense and follows closely to ABYC standards, so that's a win/win in my book. I appreciate your replies.

 

[Tin Man]

A couple of things....

You need to use a wet cell lead acid starting battery. It is recommended by most/all outboard manufacturers. I called Mercury customer service (and my local dealer) a few weeks ago and was told the same by both.

My dad is preparing to hang the same new Suzuki 20hp on his Crestliner 14 Sportsman SC. He will keep a group 24 wet starting battery at stern so as not to lengthen cables, etc. It's a SC and he already has a group 27 DC at bow for TM, along with an anchor, tackle, and storage...all at bow. He believes that with bow weight, and having a SC, there is not a need to move starting batt to console.

Just something to consider.

 

[Monster1]

A couple of things....

You need to use a wet cell lead acid starting battery. It is recommended by most/all outboard manufacturers. I called Mercury customer service (and my local dealer) a few weeks ago and was told the same by both.

My dad is preparing to hang the same new Suzuki 20hp on his Crestliner 14 Sportsman SC. He will keep a group 24 wet starting battery at back so as not to lengthen cables, etc. It's a SC and he already has a group 27 DC at bow for TM, along with an anchor, tackle, and storage...all at bow. he believes that with bow weight, and having a SC, there is not a need to move starting batt to console.

Just something to consider.

Noted. Yeah. Flooded cell batteries are best for starting purposes.

 

[alask83]

Thank you for all your help. After unboxing the motor, I discovered that it already has starter cables preattached. They are small gauge and look like maybe 6ga. Definitely not 4ga. Anyway, after seeing the control wiring harness that came with it and knowing the mess of spaghetti when I mount the control to the side console. I'm going to have to built a small cover or at least zip tie everything up in the stern corner out of the way. This will be a good spot to mount a few terminal lug posts to run the factory cables to and then from there to the starting battery. Being it's a 14ft jon boat, I want to keep it simple. If I ran all accessories at the same time, I think I'd have a hard time making even a 20 amp load. So I think I'm just going to use one battery as my battery for starting, nav lights, bilge pump, and fish finder. Not too concerned with running a battery completely down and not starting the motor as this motor is also pull start. When in doubt, follow ABYC guidelines (as one poster suggested).

What is the max amps of the terminal lug posts?

 

[Monster1]

What is the max amps of the terminal lug posts?

What they are rated for? No idea. All wiring is installed now and motor cranks flawlessly.

 

[airshot]

I would recommend running wires thru a PVC pipe, if you ever need to replace or add another wire, the pipe makes it so much easier !!