330 Battery Upgrade and / or Relocation

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David M

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So as not to hijack this thread, I dedided to ask this here.

I have a 99 330. Any 330 owners know the batteries on the port side require a contortionist midget to get to them.

As much as I would like to buy a great set of AGM's, I cannot afford them right now and, if my batteries do not load test well in a few weeks, go with wet cells and the fillers in the link above.

Questions.

What does each battery go to? I think (hope)one is house, one is port, one is starboard, and one is for the gennie.

If that is not correct, is there a way to install a battery directly to and for the gennie alone?

I am making the assumption that the house battery is in the port bilge. Is that the case? If so, I was going to go to twin golf cart batteries for the house and move the second battery from the bilge to under the jump seat behind the helm. This would necessitate going to batteries that are smaller in size but have as many CCA's as the batteries I have in their now.

If moving a battery as I stated above is too convoluted, I saw a group 27 at walmart with the same reserve as if I doubled up GC batteries. Is there a huge advantage to the twin golf carts? I know PascalG says there is I just can't recall the reason. I will be spending a lot of time on the hook this year so I would like the capacity so as not to have to run the gennie except for the real hot days when I want A/C.
 
Here is how my Sundancer is set up. (1985 340)

For the Starboard engine I use 3 battery's group 27. My Starboard engine and the "house" share these battery's.

For the Port engine I have 1 Group 27 battery that is just used to start the engine. I have the dash mounted cross-over switch to jump one engine off the others battery if needed. I have never needed it.

All battery's are equal in every way, I don't even mix brands.

The guy next to me at my marina bought 4 Wal-mart group 27 battery's last year for $79.00 each and they seem to be just as good as Interstate or Napa's battery's. He has no complaints and they give you a 2 year no questions asked return policy.

I helped him lift the battery's onto his boat and they weighed every single ounce as much as the same sized Sears Die-Hards that we used in our other boat.

I used to have only 3 battery's on board , 2 for the house and starboard engine and one for the port, and it worked fine. I want to run my EU2000 Honda less this year and keep it quiet after 9:00pm so I'm trying a 3rd house battery this year to see if I can run lots of lights and TV for 3 hours at time without killing the battery's.

My Vacuum flush head hates a low battery!!!

Hope this helps you.
 
I have a 97' 330 and the two batteries to port are combined and used as the starter for the port engine and the house. This is OK as I have an emergency jump switch at the helm if I use too much power in house mode to start. I have two other batteries to starboard; one for the starboard engine (which is only combined w/port setup if I push the jump switch on the dash) and one for the gennie.

I am thinking of replacing the two port batteries with a set of 6 Volt and comnie them vs. in sequence as they are today. Replace the starboard w/a wet cell group 27 and the gennie.

If you upgrade to AGM's or gel's you should really upgrade your charging system to get the benefit of the faster charge capabilities which is a bunch more money...
 
Same boat, and setup as mine.

I was thinking of something similar or perhaps the same thing and I did not understand you correctly. I was thinking of replacing the port batteries for the house and port engine with golf cart batteries.

I was going to move the port starting battery to the jump seat behind the helm seat. It would sit there with the starboard starting battery and the gennie starting batterie. In that the gennie is a very small engine, a group 24 (or 27..Whatever is in there) seems like overkill for a large riding lawn mower engine. A smaller gennie battery would free up room for the P/S starting batteries.

I know I am missing something here, I just don't know what.

HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!
 
The jump switch is between the two engines so putting two in the box under the helm seat won't give you anything other than more starting power to starboard and more jump power if required. Anything else will require you to re wire which is big money in 1/0 battery cables.

You got it right on the port though. Another way on the port is you may be able to squeeze in three group 31's for the starter/house...
 
quote:
Originally posted by bob richards

The jump switch is between the two engines so putting two in the box under the helm seat won't give you anything other than more starting power to starboard and more jump power if required. Anything else will require you to re wire which is big money in 1/0 battery cables.

You got it right on the port though. Another way on the port is you may be able to squeeze in three group 31's for the starter/house...

Click to expand...


Thanks Bob. Big money rewire. That's what I was afraid of. Seems to me to be a poor design from the get go.

So If I understand this correctly, I should be looking at buying straight deep cycles for the port side and straight starter batteries for the starboard side. From an economic perspective, that should minimize the $$$ damage. I can't afford AGM's right now, so I think I need to get to bass pro and buy a couple of golf cart filler kits as my fat arse and old bones cannot get into position to service the batteries as needed.

Thanks for the help.
 
Ours came with 2 deep cycles, paralled, on the port side and 1 deep cycle and one cranking under the starboard bench seat. I replaced both starboard bench seat ones with cranking batteries and I replaced both deep clyes on the port side 3 seasons ago, all wet batteries, all still as strong as day one. I check the water every couple of months and add distilled water as needed.
 
quote:
Originally posted by MrsRobinson

Ours came with 2 deep cycles, paralled, on the port side and 1 deep cycle and one cranking under the starboard bench seat. I replaced both starboard bench seat ones with cranking batteries and I replaced both deep clyes on the port side 3 seasons ago, all wet batteries, all still as strong as day one. I check the water every couple of months and add distilled water as needed.

Click to expand...


That's good to know. I take it you are having no problem starting off the deep cycles.

Where the hell have you been?
 
quote:
Originally posted by KiDa

quote:
Originally posted by MrsRobinson

Ours came with 2 deep cycles, paralled, on the port side and 1 deep cycle and one cranking under the starboard bench seat. I replaced both starboard bench seat ones with cranking batteries and I replaced both deep clyes on the port side 3 seasons ago, all wet batteries, all still as strong as day one. I check the water every couple of months and add distilled water as needed.

Click to expand...


That's good to know. I take it you are having no problem starting off the deep cycles.

Where the hell have you been?

Click to expand...


I had your exact problem. It wore me out to service those port batts.

It hurt financially, but this winter I replaced the ports with 2 DEKA AGMs,($180 ea.) and I have never been more happy. The 2 under the seat for the SB engine and Genny remain starter batts, as they have no other purpose in life.

As you know, if you run down your port batteries, you have two choices to start the port engine. Either run the genny to charge them back up, or use your crossover switch.

My technique is to use the port batteries to start the port engine when I go out, and I use the crossover switch to start the port side when I return, after first starting the right engine. This keeps the relay active and ready if you really need it. A better method would be to mix it up a little, to be sure current can flow in both directions.

In combination with this, I also converted to all LED bulbs in the cabin, helm and cockpit area, as well as the anchor light above which eased the load on the two port batts.

Our TV remains AC, so if we watch TV it requires starting the genny. I was going to convert to a DC system of entertainment, but we just don't watch TV that much on the hook, other than an occasional movie. Would much rather put on some good music "Barry White", pour a glass of red wine and chat with the wife.

All the kids care about is the battery in the Cell and IPOD.

Now if those are dead, we have real problems.

Find out what works for you and your boating style, and that is the best solution.

AB
 
Never had an issue KiDa. Just need to keep water in them. I have replaced both starters since we owned the boat but I think that was just regular maintenance.
 
airbus:

What LED's did you use for the interior lights. I can't find them or am missing something on the sites I have visited on the www.
 
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