On New Years Eve 2004, we decided to find a nice quiet anchorage to ring in the new year. We started the engine and headed out to our local sailing area. As soon as we reached the river, we pulled out the sails and turned off the engine. Within 10 minutes, we began to notice some problems. The stereo suddenly malfunctioned and kept turning itself off. Then the autopilot began spontaneously rebooting. It dawned on us that the batteries were dead and a quick check of the Link 20 confirmed this. Since it was already very late afternoon, we realized we needed to get the engine started quickly. It would be difficult to be stuck out on the empty waterways after dark and even harder to find a tow boat. Fortunately, we had a jump start kit that had just enough power in it from the last time it had been charged to get us started. After a few tense minutes, we got the engine started and headed back to the marina to plug into shore power for the night.
A check of the battery compartment showed us that the standard batteries had boiled completely dry and battery acid had leaked out into the compartment. Despite regular maintenance with distilled water, the batteries were somehow completely dry. It’s not clear whether it slowly dropped below the critical level or whether the battery charger went awry. In either case, we decided to take the opportunity to upgrade the batteries to more robust golf cart batteries. A little research helped us find and decide to go with the Trojan T-105 6volt golf cart batteries, which are 225ah each. With 4 of these batteries, each pair tied in series, we will have a total of 450 ah. We found the batteries locally at a cost of about $62 each.
As far as getting the old batteries out, my husband and a friend of ours were able to get them out without too much difficulty. They're very heavy, but luckily there is a rope handle on each end. They had to dig around to get access to each of the handles, then each took a side and lifted. They did have to maneuver them about a bit within the storage area to get them out, since the space is tight. We briefly considered using a halyard to crank them up and out, but hand lifting was pretty quick and we abandoned the idea.
The good news is 4 of the new batteries fit very well in the battery compartment. In fact, they take up less room than the stock batteries. The height was not a problem, which we thought might be the case. We modified the tie down boards by ripping them in half and added some new wedges made from 2x4s to secure the batteries properly. The tie downs were placed so that the caps for the batteries can be easily accessed for maintenance. For wiring, we used the same configuration we already had. The only modification was to tie each pair of batteries in series with a short run of battery cable.
We read in West Marine catalog that the 6v batteries are not optimized for starting; however, it also says that starting will not damage them. We may add a starting battery sometime down the road, but these should be sufficient until then. We have given serious thought to replacing the charger, but so far so good with current charger. The batteries do not seem to be losing water. However, we will be keeping a very careful eye to make sure it does not become a problem again.
There are two models of Trojan T-105 batteries. We used the terminals on the top of the battery, which are like any other battery. Here is a link to the Trojan site and the battery where you can see the post. http://www.trojanbattery.com/Products/P ... Name=T-105
Anyone wanting to do this upgrade will find that the actual replacement is a quick process. Modifications to the tie downs and wedges takes a little more time, due to measuring, cutting, painting, drilling and securing.
Here is a picture of the finished project, showing how they fit in the compartment, the tie downs, and wiring.
Lesson learned: Always check battery strength before leaving the dock. Don’t just assume they are fine.[/img]
