The Outdoor Line Forum

He was sooo proud of his new power plant he had to send me a picture!

While I like to pick on Tobeck every single, solitary chance I get there are some great point illustrated by this clean, professional installation!



First, the use of marine, double-terminal batteries with stainless nuts NO WINGNUTS!!!

Clean, marine-grade swaged and insulated cables bound together and the correct color .

Batteries are mounted using correctly sized mounting frames with stainless hardware. NO PLASIC STRAPS!!!

While the batteries have caps they are sealed, AGM's or Absorbed Glass Mat type and as such will not vent or release electrolyte or explosive hydrogen gas.

The batteries are correctly sized. The larger Group 27 or Group 31s' far exceed the cranking amps and reserve capacity of the more common, less expensive Group 24's.

One last point: This battery upgrade was initially performed to just add a battery and increase the overall capacity of the system. Instead of adding a new battery to an old bank, Tobeck took the extra step of replacing all the batteries at the same time, installing identical cells of the same size and chemistry resulting in a bullet proof (but sadly not Cougar-proof ) installation!

The problem with adding a new battery to an old bank is that the older battery will work the new one and hasten it's demise. Also, do not mix battery chemistry. Your boat should sport all flooded-cell or all AGM's. The newer dry-cell Optima or Blue Tops are beginning to fall out of favor with most boaters and marine mechanics due to a high failure rate. AGM's have their lead plates supported by a polyester mat matrix and are very resistant to the jarring, pounding and vibration so common on board boats.

I hate to say it but GOOD JOB ROB!

Wow, great post Nelly! You beat me to it, i was just about to post the pic myself. I have to say that you did do a better job of describing things than I would have. Sadly, I just write checks, i don't seem to posess the ability to do the work myself. With that being the case, I am a stickler for making sure I do all maintenance called for and even go overboard sometimes to insure that my days on the water are safe and enjoyable. Troy Mcginnis from Boat Can Do did the install for me.

Great points Nelly, sweet clean setup Rob! That might even pass Bucket's approval

Buckets a tough one to get sign off on TBD

Sheesh Tobeck, what are ya powering, a battle ship? I guess in certain respects you are.......

Looks good, I hope on batteries 3 and 4 you really didn't put the tie downs over the wires?

did you consider buying Optima batteries?

My experience at buying the Boating World type of batteries is they are cheap $70 and last for 24 months.

http://www.optimabatteries.com/home.php

Those aren't tie downs, they are handles for the batteries. I didn't consider Optima or any other brand, I just went with what was reccommended by the guy doing the work. I have found that doing it that way usually works out pretty good. I"ll keep optima in mind for next time though.

Well I am jealous, I only wish I had room on my Stripper for 4 batteries. One of the few things I don't like about the design is small access panels to the batteries. I have to lie on my stomach and tip the batteries on their side to remove them. Next winter I will put larger access panels

ac

Rob,
What was the installers recommended battery?

Bucket wrote:Rob,
What was the installers recommended battery?

I'll have to look and get bak to you, he just pointed me in the direction and I went with it. Drives Nelly crazy because I don't ask too many questions on the details, for me, listening to the answers is all greek. I just want it to work when I want to use it.