Battery Relocation

[racer808]

This is my first task for thus year besides the usual clean

up. I get tired of not being able to fill the whole 400# up in rear locker due to batteries. Also I cannot let down the divider very far since it hits one of the corners on the battery.

I thought moving the battery was the easiest part of my project. Doing the perko, routing wires from passenger compartment to helm took me longer since I was uncertain where it is safe to cut holes, best way to do amp racks, where I can drill, where I had to use liquid nails. I got most of my boat torn apart & it is wearing me out looking at it. Need to button a few things up & gather my thoughts so I can move on the phase two. Hard to think when you got a mess of things & 3 projects going at once. Maybe take my riddlin

[Nitrousbird]

I'm in the process of re-wiring my boat now. I'm doing 2/0 for the ground and wire from the starter to the batteries (two Deka group 34M's under the observer seat). Blue Sea Add-A-Battery setup is going in. I didn't go tinned as I didn't see the point, especially at the extreme cost difference; my boat has never been in a state that has salt water and is garage kept so I'm anything but concerned.

I don't get the whole "go with the pre-lugged" BS. I paid a whopping $12 for my Hammer crimp tool and paid a little over a buck a lug (and a bit more for the battery terminals). Why not DIY so you can get the exact cable lengths you want? I didn't even look into the cost difference but I'm positive I am paying a lot less than pre-lugged wiring anyway. I have a number of lugs I have to do and pre-lugged would have never worked out anyway.

[jwl019]

I have 2 batteries and a perko switch, how many lugs does it take? Also, my perko switch is in the vdrive compartment on the sidewall nearest the starter, will it have to move with the batteries up under the observers seat or can it stay? I am looking for ghe easiest way possible.

[Smokedvw]

Im about to do this on my VLX and curiuos what you guys ended up doing here. I might make a new post just so I can be clear on what my plans were.

Put in 2 fat sacs in the rear lockers which I thought meant running the starter and ground wires up to the observer area.  Looks like people have done that with 2 gauge and 0/2.  I then plan to put in a blue sea add a battery setup and have 2 batteries up there.  I will be running 2 amps, one for main speakers and one for the tower speakers.

When you guys say no turns I am assuming you need to make some large bend to make it out of the current battery area (back rear) and run down the passenger seat and into the observer area.  Does anyone have photos or a tutorial section of their move?

Edited July 21, 2021 by Smokedvw

[ChadFulton]

On 7/21/2021 at 3:59 PM, Smokedvw said:

Im about to do this on my VLX and curiuos what you guys ended up doing here. I might make a new post just so I can be clear on what my plans were.

Put in 2 fat sacs in the rear lockers which I thought meant running the starter and ground wires up to the observer area.  Looks like people have done that with 2 gauge and 0/2.  I then plan to put in a blue sea add a battery setup and have 2 batteries up there.  I will be running 2 amps, one for main speakers and one for the tower speakers.

When you guys say no turns I am assuming you need to make some large bend to make it out of the current battery area (back rear) and run down the passenger seat and into the observer area.  Does anyone have photos or a tutorial section of their move?

Did you end up doing this last year? Thinking about doing the same to my '01 VLX soon... Main thing is wanting to add ballast w/reversible pumps and switches on the dash. And the speakers on my boat were all trash when I bought it so I would like to rip out the stereo and start from scratch on that at some point.

Seems like both ballast and stereo additions would be better off if I relocated the battery, added a second one (or at least a switch so it could eventually be added easily). 

Would love any feedback you have!

[jd8181]

If you look at my post from earlier this year, you can see where i just did this over the winter (along with a few other projects to my 01 VLX. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

On 7/21/2021 at 3:59 PM, Smokedvw said:

Im about to do this on my VLX and curiuos what you guys ended up doing here. I might make a new post just so I can be clear on what my plans were.

Put in 2 fat sacs in the rear lockers which I thought meant running the starter and ground wires up to the observer area.  Looks like people have done that with 2 gauge and 0/2.  I then plan to put in a blue sea add a battery setup and have 2 batteries up there.  I will be running 2 amps, one for main speakers and one for the tower speakers.

When you guys say no turns I am assuming you need to make some large bend to make it out of the current battery area (back rear) and run down the passenger seat and into the observer area.  Does anyone have photos or a tutorial section of their move?

 

1 hour ago, ChadFulton said:

Did you end up doing this last year? Thinking about doing the same to my '01 VLX soon... Main thing is wanting to add ballast w/reversible pumps and switches on the dash. And the speakers on my boat were all trash when I bought it so I would like to rip out the stereo and start from scratch on that at some point.

Seems like both ballast and stereo additions would be better off if I relocated the battery, added a second one (or at least a switch so it could eventually be added easily). 

Would love any feedback you have!