battery placement

[Honeygirl]

With the boat down for the drive work I am going to do some much need maintenance and a few upgrades. I am switching over to 6V, I currently run 3 group 31 optimas for the house power. 2 of them are about 5years old and 1 is about 2 years old. I should be getting 12+ hours out of house power, with the normal stuff running, frig, gps, running lights, bait pump Ect. But with just the bait pump and running lights on I am only getting about 6hrs.

1. Dose anybody have there batteries mounted in the V birth. With all the batteries on one side of the boat it tends to list bad.

2. If you are running 6v how many and what brand. I have been told US battery is the best?

[Wa Mei]

Hey Joe,

I use 4 6v Trojans on a switch. Basically 2 sets of 12v.
I run on #1 all day and switch to #2 before I go to bed
to make sure the bait pump, GPS Alarm and anchor light
stays on. I hate having to worry about them.

I have a separate switch for the starting battery. Everything
is in the "all on" position when the boat is running to get charged.
The house bank also serves as a back-up just in I forget to turn
it off at night.

This set up has been great! I have stayed over the Cat or Clemente
Islands for 2-4 days without any problems.

Hope this helps...

With the boat down for the drive work I am going to do some much need maintenance and a few upgrades. I am switching over to 6V, I currently run 3 group 31 optimas for the house power. 2 of them are about 5years old and 1 is about 2 years old. I should be getting 12+ hours out of house power, with the normal stuff running, frig, gps, running lights, bait pump Ect. But with just the bait pump and running lights on I am only getting about 6hrs.

1. Dose anybody have there batteries mounted in the V birth. With all the batteries on one side of the boat it tends to list bad.

2. If you are running 6v how many and what brand. I have been told US battery is the best?

[Knot Now]

I have 2 Costco 6V golf cart batteries.
They have served me well and all I needed to do is extend up the battery box with 1x2s and they fit right into the box. I though about using 4 6V batteries when I was using an inverter, but I an now using a honda 2000 generator. I do charge the batteries while cooking in the microwave and turn the refrigerator off overnight.

[Honeygirl]

Thanks Guys. Are both your batteries in the orignia spot? Do you have any listing problems?

[Wa Mei]

Thanks Guys. Are both your batteries in the orignia spot? Do you have any listing problems?

Joe,
I run a 26' Skippie so the configuration is different than yours.
My batteries are in the engine compartment, portside and I carry
40 gallons of fresh water on the opposite side so it balance out.

[Freespool]

Thanks Guys. Are both your batteries in the orignia spot? Do you have any listing problems?

I am running four 12's in the original spot on a 26 billfisher and I also have all my spare oils and anchor in the same compartment. The boat does not list at all and the compartment on the other side is empty.

On two 12's I can go all night with anchor light, bait pump, vhf, gps, and the occasional house light and still be over 12 volts in the morning. I haven't run the fridge all night because it is old and it would do just that (run all night).

[Knot Now]

I have a listing problem, but I just move my "Mother in Law" over to the other side. LOL


Actually, I have a bucket of "Lead" for bottom fishing. The boat lists to which ever side I leave it. When I am at the helm, it lists unless I am in front of the wheel.

My batteries are in the stock location. Sometimes I have 50 gals of Fuel on the starboard side of the fish hold. I just move the bucket to level thing.

[Al Gagnon]

I was tired of worrying about overnight use so I bought a 2000 watt Honda generator and I do not worry any more. I start the generator, hook to my shore power, turn on the shore power, recepticle breaker, battery charger, and go to sleep. Keep the generator at the back of the boat. In a picnh, the generator has a battery charging function. I still have the old Honeywell 1984 motor generator inverter. Thinking on replacing it with a new 2000 inverter. Probably this winter. It works good but will only kick on if the load is large enough and the appliance has a switch. It will not start my digital microwave, unless I use some sort of a extra load.

[Knot Now]

I was tired of worrying about overnight use so I bought a 2000 watt Honda generator and I do not worry any more. I start the generator, hook to my shore power, turn on the shore power, recepticle breaker, battery charger, and go to sleep. Keep the generator at the back of the boat. .

I put my generator on the bridge and I also have a "home" CO detector and it works...I have had the detector go off with generator on the deck.

[DOGHOUSE26]

[QUOTE=Knot Now;6959]I have a listing problem, but I just move my "Mother in Law" over to the other side. LOL

LMAO I like it! But what do you do about the smell, dry ice doesn't last forever ! My Doghouse has a slight list to the battery side as well, more noticeable when the boat is low on fuel. Now that I have a new Furuno 1K transducer on the starboard side, it might be balanced now.

I'm just running 4- 12v Delco RV batteries which last all night for me with or without the fridge on (but the fridge would run all night anyway). I get about 3 yrs out of each set. I would be a little concerned running a genset all night with or without gas detectors; I have a Honda 1000 I keep on the bridge for overnights in case we run the squid lights. You don't need the switches Wamei uses, Blackmans have the automatic solenoid switch which keeps everything separated so unless you leave your key in the on position you should be OK. Time Out Russ has converted to 6v and he swears by it; maybe he'll give his thoughts to us.