6V Golf Cart Battery Upgrade

[solstice]

Confirmed, 12"depth.

Good luck with your installation.

Thanks for your help! Appreciate it...

[jbd3]

We did the conversion 4 years ago with an added start battery in the port settee, an 80 amp alternator, a Link monitoring system, a backup generator stored aft (Honda 2K), and as of yesterday, about 300 watts of solar. Can you tell I'm electrically obsessed? As I was playing with the solar panels yesterday, I noted the Charles was pumping max amps (30) with the fan running into a full bank of 520 AH. 14.7 volts was higher than I have seen previously and the batteries were bubbling vigorously. Since my wife had Achilles tendon surgery we haven't left the dock yet this year so I was worried we had a shorted cell or an over zealous charger. I found a very loose nut on the positive charger tab 50A fuse that, one tightened, seemed to restore normalcy. This setup has worked very well for us

[Karla]

Advice on using a block and tackle arrangement with rope and the boom to remove the heavy 12 volt batteries would be welcome.

Thanks,

Karla
Carpe Diem
Catalina 350
Hull 464

[Karla]

We have been researching replacing all of our original batteries that are now 8 years old, knowing they are at the end of their lifespan. Then sure enough this weekend, Gus added more water to the batteries before heading out for a beautiful sail, and we were not able to start the engine and had to call towboat to get us back to the dock. We have a dedicated starting battery... We wish to go to the 4 golf cart battery configuration. From what I've read the Trojan T105 is a good replacement. I found the batteries at a local golf cart store. I will need to purchase the cables that connect the batteries from Batteries Plus who only carry a Duracell battery with different dimensions than the Trojan T105.

What type of cables and terminal connections are recommended. Looking at the T105 Data sheet there are 4 different terminal configurations. We will also need to replace our dedicated starting battery so advice on that would be welcome.

This will be our project this weekend.

Karla
Carpe Diem
Catalina 350
Hull 464

[Guinevere]

We just removed our two old 4Ds this spring.

It wasn't too bad to lift one end of the battery at a time out of the seat enclosure and get it on the sole.

Then used the spinnaker halyard clipped through the battery handles.

Brought the halyard back through the port deck organizer (block) and used the port winch.

The admiral worked the winch and my arm and hand acted as a crane boom to guide the halyard with battery out the hatch and over the side.

Worked great but no extra arms were available to get a quick picture!

Bob
Guinevere
#243

[KenKrawford]

Here's a diagram showing how I laid out my golf cart batteries and dedicated 12V starting battery. I combined all 4 golf carts to form 1 large house bank. I used welding wire (either 0 or 00) for the jumpers between each battery and standard copper lugs crimped on the ends.

[Karla]

Thanks. I am printing out all of the advice and pictures for the Captain. Any advice on the dedicated start battery? The one we added when we bought Carpe Diem has lasted all this time.

Karla

[KenKrawford]

I just bought a group 27 battery for starting. I use it once a year just to make sure it works. I always have had enough left in the house bank to start the engine.

[roostermt]

I know it's an older thread but can anybody comment on how their power usage has been (at anchor...etc) with the 6 volt upgrade.

I will be needing to upgrade power requirements on the new to me 350 and wondering if the 4-6 batteries will be enough for an extended cruise.

We will be at the new to us boat Tomorrow outfitting for the season, and I;m sure I will have many questions...

Thanks.

[TBOT422]

Roostermt,

Welcome aboard and congratulations on your 'new' C350. I would need more information to answer your question correctly, but a set of 4-6V batteries will provide roughly the same amount of storage capacity as the 2 original 12V 4D batteries in the C350. Maybe a little bit more but insignificantly more. My cruising experience on the C350 is that 4-6V or the original 12V 4D pair provides about enough capacity to run the fridge, anchor light, etc. for about 1-1/2 to 2 days without running the engine. After that point you will need to be plugged into shore power or run your engine or generator about 3-5 hours per day if you don't have solar panels or a wind generator or some other energy source. If your 'extended' cruise is simply sailing or motoring from marina to marina, then you don't need anything more because you can be plugged in overnight each day. If you plan to anchor out in remote areas, then you need additional ability to recharge the battery banks. That could be solar, wind generator on on-board diesel generator as well as simply running the engine as you motor or motor sail to another location.

I hope that helps and Welcome Aboard

[wolfe10]

Answers in SOLID LETTER CAPS:


1. why is a golf cart battery needed and not a regular marine battery? or a gel cel marine battery?
Is there something specific to the 350 that requires this? GOLF CART BATTERIES ARE NOT "NEEDED" BUT ARE ONE OF THE LEAST EXPENSIVE WAYS TO GET TRUE DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES. THEY ARE ALSO LIGHTER TO HANDLE, SINCE THEY ARE BASICALLY 1/2 THE WEIGHT OF A COMPARABLE 12 VDC BATTERY. SAID ANOTHER WAY, EASIER TO LIFT TWO HALFS THAN ONE BIG ONE

2. my mechanic is asking what series the original batteries are i.e. series 26 or 27. Do you know? OUR 2003 350 USES TWO 4 D BATTERIES AS ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT.

3. my mechanic is also saying that I could put 3 marine 6v gel cells and 1 12 volt starter in the same space - that sounds inaccurate to me-I thought they had to be redundant configurations (2 6V each) PLUS a 12V starter - your thoughts? NO WAY TO USE AN ODD NUMBER OF 6 VDC BATTERIES. YES, THEY HAVE TO BE USED IN PAIRS. SOME HAVE ADDED AN EMERGENCY START BATTERY JUST FORWARD OF THE ORIGINAL BATTERY COMPARTMENT. AGM'S WORK BEST HERE-- SEE BELOW

I am thinking that all the 350 owners did the same thing for a good reason I just dont know what those reasons are for:

1. using specific Trojan golf cart batteries 6V each- not marine batteries
2. replacing the existing 2 batteries with 4 6volt golf cart batteries and added a 12V starter in addition - not replace existing 2 batteries with 3 6V marine and 1 12V marine starter

I LIKE LIFELINE AGM BATTERIES. HAVING WET CELL BATTERIES UNDER CUSHIONS INSIDE THE CABIN DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO ME. WITH AGM'S, NO ACID SPILLS OR VAPORS. CHECK, BUT I BELIEVE YOU CAN GET 4 OF THEIR GPL-4CT IN THE ORIGINAL COMPARTMENT. THAT GIVES YOU 440 AMP-HRS @ 12 VDC WITH NO SPILL/NO HYDROGEN OR SULFURIC ACID VAPOR.http://lifelinebatteries.com/products/m ... s/gpl-4ct/

THEN AN ADDITIONAL SMALLER 12 VDC BATTERY FOR EMERGENCY START IN THE NEXT COMPARTMENT FORWARD.

BRETT

[cuthbert]

My two pennies on replacing the batteries...

Do not go with lead acid 4Ds.

If you leave the charles charger on all/most of the time it tends to have a quiescent charge output of a couple of amps and that leads to the battery levels dropping over 2-4 months so you need to be consistent on checking and topping up, or the alternate is to go with a sealed gel mat type of 4D.

I have tried 4Ds both lead acid and AGM, but now I think the best and easiest solution from the standpoint of getting the new batteries in and performance is to go to your local Costco and buy 4 x 6V golf cart batteries and a standard battery for any small Honda compact (I think they are sized 4L or 51R but the rating is 500 CCA more than enough to start the Universal engine)

IMG_0319.JPG (109.38 KiB) Viewed 9990 times

everything fits in the existing space. The 4 golf carts form a single 420A/h bank on switch position 1 and the starter battery is on switch position 2. The first time I did the golf cart upgrade I made the two interconnecting 0 gauge cables a bit longer than needed so I took a dremel to part of the protruding plastic on the top of the batteries. But the photo was 4 years ago I had one cell fail this year so junked all 4 golf carts and this time measured exactly and remade the interconnecting cable so everything drops in "as is" and tidied up on the colors. The only changes needed are some trimming of the underside of the two standard battens/dunnage that comes with the boat and making two small interconnecting cables to put two 6V in series for a 12V pair and two short 0 gauge cables to link the hot and ground 12V pairs. The advantage of taking this route over 4Ds is that you can go the full 50% (recommended max drain) down on the 400 or so amp hours of the house bank and you always have a 100% ready to go starter battery in case something fails or if you forget and go four days without charging.
With 4Ds I was always saving one battery to be sure of getting a start if needed, so I couldn't get full use of the battery bank. I didn't want to add more complexity by adding a starter battery in the main seat storage area adjacent.

I tend to not go past two days without a charge (only once had two full days of wind when sailing the coast - no engine) as the fridge is like all 350's running a much higher duty cycle than I would like. Also I run the engine every day post day 2 for 45 mins to get hot water for a shower if I'm anchored or mooring out. I have a small suitcase generator (Yamaha 2k output) it makes it easy to charge up the phones/computer/run microwave/charger as if on shore power with a short cable to the AC input on transom, so battery performance is almost a moot point.

When in the slip I charge the batteries back up with the selector switch on "both" as the charger isn't that smart when it comes to charging one drained bank and one full charged starter battery and then I leave the charger off if the boat is not being used.

[JohnNorton]

Has anyone tried a WEGO to start their diesel engine ? I have used one to start a car; may be an option to installing a starter battery.

[KenKrawford]

Has anyone tried a WEGO to start their diesel engine ? I have used one to start a car; may be an option to installing a starter battery.

John, I considered one of those devices when replacing my starting battery this year. Ultimately I liked the convenience of having the battery "hard wired" to the engine with just a turn of the battery selector switch.

[roostermt]

So now on the boat looking at the Batteries. 2 4d Replaced in 2016. I'm thinking about adding 2 6V Trojans to the Port Setee as well as a Isolated start.

Anybody have a picture if they put 6V in that setee... Did you use a shelf?

I know I'm a power hog, so need a bit more battery storage.

[TBOT422]

Rooster,
That is exactly the configuration that the previous owner of our boat created. No shelf, the battery hold down is a piece of aluminum angle with a long bolt through the base of the settee that I believe you can see in the picture below (repeated from an earlier post in this thread).

Battery2.jpg (31.48 KiB) Viewed 9926 times

[roostermt]

Thanks TBOT422

I had seen that picture but could not make sense of it. Now I understand.

Thanks.

[Amnesia]

Sorry, don't have any pictures immediately handy, but I added (in addition to 4 6V batteries replacing the 2 12V 4d's) 2 6V batteries under the Port Setee as well as a 12V starting battery. Yes I built a shelf out of Starboard, then strapped battery boxes onto the shelf.

Mike
Amnesia
C350 #169