Moving your battery

For what it's worth, I moved my battery in my boat up front to balance it out and I used the best JUMPER CABLES from NAPA. They were 4 GA copper with very good insulation on them and they were paired together making it a very nice looking setup in the boat. Going the jumper cable route was a whole lot cheaper than individual wires and looked neater with the two cables paired together. I have everything run through a watertight fuse block that I also mounted up by the battery. This is just for info. Thank you.

Good tip on the cables. Thanks!

Good stuff man - can you post up a few pics and show us how you wired into teh fuse block. i know it is not rocket science but I can always use some new ideas

moelkhuntr said:

For what it's worth, I moved my battery in my boat up front to balance it out and I used the best JUMPER CABLES from NAPA. They were 4 GA copper with very good insulation on them and they were paired together making it a very nice looking setup in the boat. Going the jumper cable route was a whole lot cheaper than individual wires and looked neater with the two cables paired together. I have everything run through a watertight fuse block that I also mounted up by the battery. This is just for info. Thank you.

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moelkhuntr,
did you put a battery terminal in the back near your motor?
Would you happen to have pics?
-jasper

I just took bolts and screwed the ends together. I silver soldered ends on the jumper cables after cutting to length and left the original ends on the motor ends. I done it this way incase I had to move them back if it didn't work. This sure helped balance out my boat. I wrapped a bunch of electrical tape around the connections to protect them an then run it up the sides of the boat under the ribs. Mine is an aluminum flat bottom. Super nice and high quality jumper cables and really flexible. I used 4 gauge so would not have any voltage drop. May of got by with 6 gauge but didn't chance it.

moelkhuntr said:

I just took bolts and screwed the ends together. I silver soldered ends on the jumper cables after cutting to length and left the original ends on the motor ends. I done it this way incase I had to move them back if it didn't work. This sure helped balance out my boat. I wrapped a bunch of electrical tape around the connections to protect them an then run it up the sides of the boat under the ribs. Mine is an aluminum flat bottom. Super nice and high quality jumper cables and really flexible. I used 4 gauge so would not have any voltage drop. May of got by with 6 gauge but didn't chance it.

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Ok, I see.
Actually, I did the same. 4ga is the way to go.
I crimped lugs on both ends of the jumper cables.

A piece of pvc pipe serves as my terminal
block to the motor. I drilled a couple holes for bolts for making the cable connections.
I just need a better solution to shed water
off the connections.
Right now the pvc pipe (terminal block) is inside a plastic jug mounted
to the port side. Not pretty, but it works.
Thanks. -jasper

I am trying to move my battery to the front also. I like the idea of using jumper cables for the wire. Where did you get the watertight fuse block from? Or does anyone have any suggestions for this?

I got my fuse blocks from AutoZone for around $7.00 each and went to Wallys World and got 2 plastic food containers with snap lids for $2.00 each and put a hole in bottom and sealed it. Cheap setup and it works. Have also had guys use about a 4" sectin of PVC pipe with a lid on each end an it works also. Putting a fuse block in back and front of boat makes it handy about hooking things up.

I have moved my battery on 3 boats now. Getting ready to move the 4th one now. I buy my wire from Home Depo. I use coated electrical wire, thickness depending on application. I use crimp on ends that attach directly to the battery that I place in a battery box with a lock down lid, and then to the fuse box at the back of the boat. I always use water tight connectors. I usually go to the wrecking yard and pull a simple box off a older car or truck. I run the electrical trolling motor direct off the battery, everything else off the box for protection. I fuse everything off the box according to MFG requirements. I don't use any inline fuses. That way all problems if any are easy and quick to find.

Question, I have done this also ... moved my main battery from back of the boat up front and added a TM battery up front also (for when I get a TM next season). I was in a pinch when I had to move the battery during a camping trip so I bought some cheap cables from a hardware store. After initially hooking everything up it worked fine but after about the 2nd outing the electric start would barely turn the motor over. I thought the battery had gone dead by the sounds of it so I took it off and hooked it up to the charger and it was full charge in less than an hour so I didn't think that was the case. I re-checked all the connections which looked solid to me and put the battery back in but had the same thing, the engine would turn over like normal sometimes but most of the time it was slow as if the battery was dead. Fortunately I also have a rope start on the motor so I just reached back and gave that a pull and was on my way.

Now I'm back home and had this same issue on the water last weekend and want to investigate it. Do you guys think its loss of voltage due to crappy cables? Does the length of cable reduce the voltage? I don't have the box anymore for the cables so I don't know the specs but both pos and neg cables are maybe an 1/8th inch bigger in diameter than a standard pencil and have lots of small copper wires.

Secondary question, if I leave the 2 batteries up front, TM battery and 2nd for running everything else but starting the boat, could I get away with a smaller size battery in the back just to start the boat?

Thanks

+1 on pictures..
DanD

Iczer said:

Question, ...
Now I'm back home and had this same issue on the water last weekend and want to investigate it. Do you guys think its loss of voltage due to crappy cables? Does the length of cable reduce the voltage? I don't have the box anymore for the cables so I don't know the specs but both pos and neg cables are maybe an 1/8th inch bigger in diameter than a standard pencil and have lots of small copper wires.

...

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You will have to measure the voltage drop across your cables. I'm using 20 feet of 4ga jumper cables, and I'm still getting over 13V at my motor. No problems starting at all.

Iczer said:

Secondary question, if I leave the 2 batteries up front, TM battery and 2nd for running everything else but starting the boat, could I get away with a smaller size battery in the back just to start the boat?

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Had a problem with my electric start fuse blowing when running wires to my battery up front, so I bought a lawnmower batter and put it in the back just to start the motor. Works perfect. If you have the manual for your motor there may be a section on required cranking amps and such. Write those down and then find the smallest battery that will do the trick.

moelkhuntr said:

For what it's worth, I moved my battery in my boat up front to balance it out and I used the best JUMPER CABLES from NAPA. They were 4 GA copper with very good insulation on them and they were paired together making it a very nice looking setup in the boat. Going the jumper cable route was a whole lot cheaper than individual wires and looked neater with the two cables paired together. I have everything run through a watertight fuse block that I also mounted up by the battery. This is just for info. Thank you.

Click to expand...

great idea, I would lie to run up up front too :mrgreen: