Re-Siting Batteries

[phil kelly]

Both of the batteries on my X are sited under the helm seat making access to the engine,steering linkage and swim ladder difficult.
I think I need to get them out of the way, in order to keep as much weight forward I'm thinking of putting them up front as far as possible.
Does anyone have a suggestion of the best way of doing this and will I have any problem just extending the battery leads the extra length without 'weakening' the current.

Also, any danger of build up of battery gasses with the batteries inside.

Phil.

[Scott]

The stock location for the (1) factory installed battery is under the nav station seat, (aft of galley.) I left my start battery there and relocated enough foam under the v-birth to mount my house battery there.

[DaveB]

I installed 2, 125 amp hr batteries for house batteries back side of V berth center to Starboard bulkhead suporting foam and took out the screws holding the hatch to ck for battery acid. this works great as it put the weight forward, I still have the starter battery left side of galley.
When I install the fixed Port 15 ga. water tank it will balance boat out.
I ran a selector switch on left side of gally cabinet with 6 elect. panel than ran #4 wire to the 2 house batteries so I can charge them if useing the engine for 1/2 hr or more. Just another way of chargeing and starting my old 50 honda, only puts out 10 amps. Max.
This allows me to keep house and starter battery on seperate circuits without useing diaodes.
I also have same setup with a 10 amp. AC charger chargeing both batteries without dischargeing other, the House batteries are parrel and been useing this system for years on all my sailboats. I always buy same batteries at same time when parreling.
Dave

Both of the batteries on my X are sited under the helm seat making access to the engine,steering linkage and swim ladder difficult.
I think I need to get them out of the way, in order to keep as much weight forward I'm thinking of putting them up front as far as possible.
Does anyone have a suggestion of the best way of doing this and will I have any problem just extending the battery leads the extra length without 'weakening' the current.

Also, any danger of build up of battery gasses with the batteries inside.

Phil.

[tangentair]

Boat wiring, especially in salt environments, requires tinned copper wiring not the usual household or some automotive types of cables. A good general article on this is here. And if you are wondering about wire sizes you can find some useful info here.
My rule of thumb is use the next larger size when ever in doubt and keep the runs short. Use liquid electrical tape liberally and check crimps twice.

Having said all of that, there are a lot boats out there working just fine with regular old lamp cord or chopped off extension cords running every which way. I would however point out that in the US our common line voltage is 110 were as in Europe it is 220 and that means our wires and insulation are a little heavier due to the higher currents carried in the wires needed to preform the same work. Keep that in mind if you use European extension cords or lamp cord, your conductors and insulation will be lighter than the ones that you might see used here in some of the mods etc.

[Catigale]

Dont worry about Hydrogen from a safety standpoint - not enough to worry about. Battery acid will corrode any aluminum nearby, but FG isnt a problem.

[Morimaro]

Phil,
the standard place for the battery in the EU version of the 26X is in the steering console. As Mac's come with only one battery from the factory the second one in the console area must be a modification.

I fitted a 2nd "house battery" in the forward locker next to the ballast breather bucket. The battery is in a plastic enclosed battery box that I fixed fore & aft between the liner walls and port & starboard between the breather bucket and hull with wooden pieces. The box is also fixed to a wooden base and "stuck" to the top of the ballast fore/aft tank connecting tube with 3M's marine fixer adhesive.

A three way battery switch was fitted next to the main switch panel and the battery connected to it with 15amp marine cable. I also fitted a waterproof marine battery charger next to the new battery and use that for charging it when I am on a pontoon with shore power connected. This minimises the need to charge the house battery from the engines charger via the three way battery switch. But allows both batteries to be available in an emergency.

Cheers
Morris
26X99 hullaballoo Solent UK

[kmclemore]

Dont worry about Hydrogen from a safety standpoint - not enough to worry about. Battery acid will corrode any aluminum nearby, but FG isnt a problem.

Indeed. And as it rises *very* rapidly, it will soon escape through the gaps in the hatch cover.

As noted, battery acid will indeed corrode aluminium (), but it will also eat up any paper or fabric items nearby, so word to the wise on that.

[PatrickS]

Phil,
the standard place for the battery in the EU version of the 26X is in the steering console.

I presume that's a requirement for the CE certification, right? Any idea what the reasons are for requiring that the battery not be in the cabin?

(I ask, as I'm about to take my 26X to Finland, and will be going through the CE certification process -- I have dual batteries presently under the aft seat adjacent to the galley)

[Morimaro]

Patrick,

my understanding is the RCD requires that batteries have to vent out into the open air not inside the cabin, for more info on RCD try Royal Yachting Association at http://www.rya.org.uk/ as they administer the RCD for the UK and have a lot of info on their site.

Cheers
26X99 hullaballoo Solent UK

[bastonjock]

Patrick,have you checked out the costs involved in C.E certification?It can be quite a shocker.

[tangentair]

I am not sure how long you plan to stay there, but if you can find a way to "work" the visiting rules, you might want to consider it. Your permitted to stay for some length of time before you have to get it certified. And if you can visit different countries that are not in the EU, to reset the clock so to speak, you might not need to bother especially if your not establishing a perminant residence. Or if you winter it in a nonEU country that might reset the clock - the borders are not that far apart over there - not like living in say Dallas, Texas and trying to get to the rest of the hemisphere.

[PatrickS]

Patrick,have you checked out the costs involved in C.E certification?It can be quite a shocker.

Yes. It took awhile to recover from the shock, but after alot of calculations and deliberations, we decided it was worth taking along with us.

We'll get a bit of a break on the CE certification costs, as our boat will be "processed" along with a number of others at the same time during this coming winter, so the inspector doesn't have to do many one-off trips, but does 10-12 at one go, so the final price is a tad bit more tolerable than a one-off certification. I also will be getting manuals and other docs from folks with Macs that are already CE certified, further reducing the documentation costs, etc. Still, it's not pretty.

Patrick

[Morimaro]

Patrick,

are you permanently importing the Mac into EU or will you be returning it to somewhere outside EU in the future? If so, I don't think you would need to certify to RCD or pay any Import VAT but the RYA could help you on that also

Cheers
Morris

[PatrickS]

Patrick,

are you permanently importing the Mac into EU or will you be returning it to somewhere outside EU in the future? If so, I don't think you would need to certify to RCD or pay any Import VAT but the RYA could help you on that also

Cheers
Morris

Permanently, or at least for a good long time. Finland does require CE certification to register the boat and put it into the water, but fortunately, no import taxes.

I've got the CE inspection/certification process pretty much nailed down, but I'd be happy to hear if it could be further simplified and/or costs reduced by any services RYA might be able to provide (even though the boat will be going to Finland, not the UK).