| Marine Batteries: Installing a Starter Battery |
From "Shipshape Boating"
episode DSSB-106 |
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During this episode of Shipshape Boating, host John Greviskis will show you how to install a starter battery for your boat.
The particular boat he'll be installing and wiring a battery on will be a 1976 21-foot Seabird project boat, which has a newly-installed deck. The original was wood that had some rot, which was replaced with a synthetic material that would have more durability and be able to stand up to wear and tear. Among the many great accessories that were added to the boat was a fiberglass console (figure A), which will house the battery that Greviskis will show you how to wire and install. Getting Started Note: Be sure to check with the owner's manual for your boat to see exactly what type of battery the boat runs. For this particular on-air boat, Greviskis needed a starting battery that needs 1,000 marine-cranking amps. - A starting battery is designed specifically for one thing on your boat, and that is to turn over your power plant or ignition (figure B). There are several companies that make marine starting batteries. The starting battery supplies the major surge of power that's needed to start any boat.
Note: You don't use a starting battery to power boat accessories such as radios or refrigeration units -- only to "start" the boat. - Traditionally, how the battery would be housed is in a battery box or tie-down but for this project, Greviskis chose to house the battery in an open-style tie-down that has a stainless-steel frame (figure C) that is mounted to the deck of the boat and bolted with a steel cover, which is open for easy access to the battery terminals.
Since a battery has some substantial weight and because you don't want it to slide around, if you chose not to go with a battery box and with the open-frame style, you'll want to consider through-bolting the battery frame onto the deck. - Once you've determined where you will house your boat battery (the center console for this project), you'll need to mark where the mounting hardware ill go (figure D) with a pencil.
- Remove the mounting hardware and start the process of drill the pilot holes. For the boat Greviskis worked on, he used 1/2" drill bit. Once all of the drilling is complete, you'll want to use a stainless-steel toggle bolt (figure E) to through bolt the battery housing frame. This particular bolt has a plastic sleeve with a steel toggle that can be arranged vertically and inserted in the drilled hole. This way you don't have to use self-tapping screws, which can splinter fiberglass.
- Arrange the toggle bolt into a vertical position, drop it down through the drilled hole, slide the plastic sleeve that resides on top of the bolt, secure it on the topside of the hole, break the rest of the plastic sleeve free and insert a 1/4-20 stainless-steel machine screw (figure F).
- Tighten the screw down and the battery housing frame will be secured.
Now that the mounting frame has been through bolted, it's time to install the starter battery. You will need a couple of pieces of hardware to install the starter battery: - J-Bolt (figure G) -- This particular tool inserts into the base of the battery so you can bring in the tie-down mount over top of the battery and secure the entire frame. How you do this is with the use of a nylon washer, a flat washer and a stainless-steel nyloc washer (figure H)
- 1/2" Socket with a 3/8" Drive -- Use this tool to secure the washers. Be sure to secure the bolts evenly on both sides.
In the next segment, Greviskis will show you how to install a house battery and discuss accessory batteries.
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