battery placement

[Slightly_Twisted]

Hey guys,

Has anyone with a cuddy moved their batteries into the cuddy?
If you did, where did you put them?

I'm starting to rewire the whole boat. I would like to move both batteries into the cuddy in the two red circled ares. I was hoping there is enough room to cut two access holes up top and drop one on each side.
Has anyone done that?

Thanks

[phatdaddy]

Not sure u have enough room under the bunks for a battery. There is room under the deck right outside of your cabin door. If your fuel tank is not there.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Yeah I didn’t think I had enough room I was just hoping there was.

In the center right before the step down is where the gas tank is. So mine from stern to cuddy step down goes live well, box storage/ fish box, then gas tank.

Other then putting then in the step down in the cuddy they may just have to stay in the stren.

Thanks for the reply!

[phatdaddy]

i would like to get mine out of the stern also. my fuel tank is right up against the splashwell, so boat seems a little stern heavy.

[Slightly_Twisted]

I may drill a few holes to get the depths and see if there is room. I have a bounch of others holes I’m filling in anyways.

[jvitiel]

I moved my batteries from the stern to the fish box just aft of the cuddy bulkhead (I have an '89). Made a nice difference.

I would be most interested in your findings if you decide to drill depth holes as those would be ideal locations for my planned trolling motor batteries.

[BillTex]

Keep the batts in the stern and get trim tabs...

[bradford]

Mine are right outside the cuddy door in a custom hatch inspired by Phatdaddy. Be sure to run 1 or 2 gauge cable. Also you can get a cheap but powerful hydralic crimper from harbor freight.

[Destroyer]

Mine are right outside the cuddy door in a custom hatch inspired by Phatdaddy. Be sure to run 1 or 2 gauge cable. Also you can get a cheap but powerful hydraulic crimper from harbor freight.

YES on the crimper!!! Love mine. Comes with several different dies so you can crimp many different wire gages.
YES on the battery placement. When I redid my V21's deck I found this HUGE void right between the captains and mates chairs, just before the bulkhead to the cuddy in the center of the deck. It will easily fit 2 batteries plus some misc stowage. It's an easy matter to buy and install a deck hatch.

[steplift20]

Personally I would keep them in the stern Their there already

[randlemanboater]

You may want to test how your boat floats with the batteries moved, I know I used to keep a spare battery in the floor compartment in the cabin sometimes and when I would put a fair amount of gear in there (like when we went to the Keys and I left it in the water for a week) the cockpit floor was sloped forward...no drainage when it rains.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Well holes were drilled and it looked ok...so I said go for it.

Cut a 12x7.5 inch hole in the area just forward of the cuddy bulkhead and
Bingo there is a perfect cavity for one battery maybe two if you wanted them on the same side. I’m going to cut the other side tomorrow and take some photos.

:sun::sun::beer:

[BillTex]

Well holes were drilled and it looked ok...so I said go for it.

Cut a 12x7.5 inch hole in the area just forward of the cuddy bulkhead and
Bingo there is a perfect cavity for one battery maybe two if you wanted them on the same side. I’m going to cut the other side tomorrow and take some photos.

:sun::sun::beer:
Weight forward will have a greater effect on attitude than weight in stern.
Measure 2x...cut 1x.

[jvitiel]

Well holes were drilled and it looked ok...so I said go for it.

Cut a 12x7.5 inch hole in the area just forward of the cuddy bulkhead and
Bingo there is a perfect cavity for one battery maybe two if you wanted them on the same side. I’m going to cut the other side tomorrow and take some photos.

:sun::sun::beer:

Awesome! Good to know!

[Destroyer]

Truthfully, I still don't like the idea of putting batteries in the cuddy on the hull. That area takes the most pounding from a wave. It lifts up the highest and drops the furthest.... add something heavy on the inside of the hull in that area and you are asking for a cracked hull IMHO.

Remember that the hull is designed and braced to take an incoming soft (water) shock against it, not outgoing hard (solid) heavy weight shocks.

Physics tells us that a free falling object accelerates at 9.81 meters per second per second. (9.81m/s^2) So a 25 lb battery (11.33 KG) falling 2 feet (.6096m)
[Think of a 2 ft high chop] has the impact force of roughly 67.69 Joules or 49.93 Ft. Lbs. Put two batteries together and you have the equivalent of roughly 100 ft. lbs pounding on your hull in a 2 foot drop. More as the wave height height increases. And every wave causes that pounding.

The furthest I've gone forward is the area between the captains and the mates seats, and even then I tried to insulate the batteries from the hull itself with several inches of wood over foam that the batteries sit on. Just my two cents. :head:

[Slightly_Twisted]

Not Sure if this will work trying to post from my phone.

[bradford]

Cool, always wondered how deep it went there, even if it wasnt used for batteries nice to know you could put some hatches there.

[Slightly_Twisted]

The cavity runs the full length of the step down. I think Im going to try and build some fishing gear drew storage in front of where I cut the two holes.

Destroyer,
Im not going to lie I agree with you, and was thinking the same thing. I would have liked to have put them in between the the captains and passenger chair. My set up goes from stern forward live well, storage locker, fuel tank. I didnt have much choice where I could move them. Im going to add a bracket and wanted the weight forward, but couldnt impact the storage locker or fuel tank. Where its mostly a family boat my wife wants as much storage space as possible. I think what Im going to do is build a platform so it spreads the force over as much area as possible. I have some industrial rubber flooring Im going to fix to the bottom of the platform and then again on top of the platform under the battery. Hoping this off sets the pounding, since we are on the lake 90% of the time we just have to deal with boat produced chop.

Bradford, Ill take some better pictures with a measuring tape to give a better idea of the space.

[steplift20]

I don't get the pictures The ones on the side in the cabin I understand that even though I wouldn't want my battery's sitting on the hull skin and the other pics with the two hatches I can't figure out where you cut them, so you have four hatches you cut?

[Slightly_Twisted]

No just the two holes. I tried to get a close up view to show how deep they are.

[phatdaddy]

Nice find, twisted. I cut an inspection hole in mine, but on the outside of the stringer, thats why I thought it was too shallow. Im thinking now, cut some holes like u did, epoxy up
The edges, use the cut outs as hatch lids and gain some storage. Can u post some pics with your camera in the hole facing forward & aft

Thanks

[Slightly_Twisted]

Ok here we go should be able to see much better now.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Ok so the whole thing is rectangular. The bottom slants away so the measurement to to the top of the slant. That is not how the battery will sit just dropped it in to show the fit.

[jvitiel]

Awesome !

Totally solves my trolling motor issue (unless I go 36v). Thanks !

[Slightly_Twisted]

No problem, I did forget to mention that the cavity space is equal dimensions on both sides.
At least in my boat!

[steplift20]

I would not put the battery's up there, I would put in a hatch and use it for storage for something light, I don't like the weight and corners of the battery's resting on the hull , that's just my opinion

[jvitiel]

So how much room is there between the top of the battery and the underside of the deck? Obviously don't want to just drop the battery into a hole with an uneven bottom - will need to fabricate a base with a built in angle to compensate.

I'm thinking maybe a sandwich made up of 1/2" rubber mat on the botom, 3/4" plywood, expanding foam to make up the angle and a 3/4" plywood top for the battery to sit on. That means that a minimum of 2" of clearance in the shallowest corner. Is there enough?

Could probably get away with a 1/4" mat and 1/2" ply for a total of 1.25" if need be..

Follow up question - do you see any reason why I couldn't cut the access hole in the side of the step down rather than the top of the deck? Harder to get to but I have milk crates bolted to the deck in the cuddy and wouldn't want to move them, even occasionally for battery access.

[BillTex]

Awesome !

Totally solves my trolling motor issue (unless I go 36v). Thanks !

Absolutely! In no time at all you can stick the trolling motor right through the large holes that will be in the hull...you could troll from inside the cuddy!
Brilliant...

[jvitiel]

Absolutely! In no time at all you can stick the trolling motor right through the large holes that will be in the hull...you could troll from inside the cuddy!
Brilliant...

Yea pretty sure a properly bedded and secured battery won't be much of a risk in my situation. But thanks for your kind guidance. I'll let you know next time I'm in RI -maybe we can hook up again..

[BillTex]

Yea pretty sure a properly bedded and secured battery won't be much of a risk in my situation. But thanks for your kind guidance. I'll let you know next time I'm in RI -maybe we can hook up again..
It was a word of caution to the OP...as many have noted on this thread what he is proposing is somewhat risky.
That is a heavily concentrated load at the end end of the lever arm, without proper bracing this could be a disaster. In any case I wouldn want all that weight (somewhat) permanently mounted up in the bow area.
Sometimes we have to accept that the designers actually knew what they were doing.

The comment on your trolling motor was a joke...hope you enjoyed the bourbon.

Merry Christmas to All!

Bill

[steplift20]

Maybe if the boat was used only in fresh water lake I might feel differently about the battery's upfront sitting on the hull because the pounding would be absent but in the ocean that's a differant story Good luck It does look good

[phatdaddy]

Not speaking for twisted or jv, but I envisioned a cleat attached to the stringer on either side with a shelf spanning the void. Very similar to the shelf in the stern.

As far as the weight, I believe others who have mounted trolling motors on the bow have set the batteries in the step down

[Slightly_Twisted]

thanks for all the advice guys.

The plan was NEVER to have the batteries sitting on the hull it's self. At first i was going to build a large dispersion shelf that sat on the hull, but after reading what you all have said i'm going to change it up a bit.

in the photo i'm going to glass in a platform for the battery to sit on.
One side attached to the stringer, one side attached to the bulkhead, and the third side to the side of the set down. the photo is NOT correct because I don't have a photo with one of the bulkhead in it, but you guys get the idea.

This will make sure there is no weight on the hull skin.

[jvitiel]

hope you enjoyed the bourbon.

Merry Christmas to All!

Bill

I did indeed! Merry Christmas !

[jvitiel]

thanks for all the advice guys.

The plan was NEVER to have the batteries sitting on the hull it's self. At first i was going to build a large dispersion shelf that sat on the hull, but after reading what you all have said i'm going to change it up a bit.

in the photo i'm going to glass in a platform for the battery to sit on.
One side attached to the stringer, one side attached to the bulkhead, and the third side to the side of the set down. the photo is NOT correct because I don't have a photo with one of the bulkhead in it, but you guys get the idea.

This will make sure there is no weight on the hull skin.

Looks like a good plan. Will be very interested in seeing updates. Thanks for all the pics..

[BillTex]

Let’s take a step back; what is the motivation for moving the batteries away from the stern anyway?

Maybe I’m missing something...but I just don’t see a good reason.

Unless you have hung an over weight engine on the stern why do you want to do this?

Thx, B

[Slightly_Twisted]

In about a year ish when I repower. I’m going to hang a 36 in set back bracket with a swimming platform and a 200 hp off the transom. I need to rewire the boat now to get a number of basic functions working. With the current under deck setup the only place for the batteries is the transom. With the planed extra weight in the stern I’m trying to offset it as much as possible. I’m doing it now one because I already have everything I need and two I don’t want to have to move the batteries latter rewiring the boat twice.

[steplift20]

Hold on your saying you are going to put on a 36 inch extension( 3 feet sea drive swim platform) off the transom and put on a 200 hp hanging plus a swim platform so you can stand on ?
To me it sounds dangerous Like it's going to rip your transom off But that's just me I would really like to know what the big guns think, I love the steplift too but I don't know if I like that idea

[fixit]

thats awsome, i thought about that but lacked the nuts to start cutting holes.
with a 350mag/bravo 1 in my boat im always looking for ways to get weight forwards.

and yes i have trim tabs already

[bgreene]

The most important issue seems to be how to secure the battery rather than moving the weight.

I'd suggest securing to withstand constant pounding in 3' seas.........meaning more securely set and braced than needed. " Overbuilt" as the saying goes..

[BillTex]

Hold on your saying you are going to put on a 36 inch extension( 3 feet sea drive swim platform) off the transom and put on a 200 hp hanging plus a swim platform so you can stand on ?
To me it sounds dangerous Like it's going to rip your transom off But that's just me I would really like to know what the big guns think, I love the steplift too but I don't know if I like that idea
I didn’t want to be the first to say it...but I agree.

I think the OP bought the wrong boat.

The V20 is a great/versatile hull.We love ours. But it sound like you should be in a 23 Formula or similar. I think you are trying to make this boat something it is not.

Good luck, be careful

[Slightly_Twisted]

typo should have been 2 not 3.

So looking at putting a standard 18-26 in bracket on.

[phatdaddy]

Seadrive model is a great candidate for a bracket. Go to the gallery to page three look at Vicsv20. Same deck layout as twisted has. Also macojoes is on there also. His was an I/O hull.

Main drawback to moving batteries is size of cable required to get starting volts/amps back to engine

[Striper80]

I didn’t want to be the first to say it...but I agree.

I think the OP bought the wrong boat.

The V20 is a great/versatile hull.We love ours. But it sound like you should be in a 23 Formula or similar. I think you are trying to make this boat something it is not.

Good luck, be careful

There’s plenty of guys on this very sight that have done this conversion.

[BillTex]

There’s plenty of guys on this very sight that have done this conversion.

The OP was proposing a 36" bracket with a 200 hp engine hanging off it.

Who else has done that?

The Steplifts that came with an OE bracket had a small 4 cyl (135 hp?) and I am pretty sure it wasn't a 3' lg extension.

I would not do what the OP proposed...but that's me.

Be safe, Bill

[phatdaddy]

lot of that equation is motor choice.

[Slightly_Twisted]

It was a typo, like I stated it should have been 26 not 36.

[bradford]

I like your boat Twisted, good friend of mine has the same in pretty much barn find condition. If set up and done right it will be sweet.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Hey Jvitiel, Sorry I haven't been working on the boat the last few days. I did and few things today. and looked at what you asked. You could cut the side of the step-down to access that void. Maybe if you put some drew hardware in you could make a battery drew there. you have a good amount of room there, I have about 4-5 extra inches on top of the battery to work with.



Follow up question - do you see any reason why I couldn't cut the access hole in the side of the step down rather than the top of the deck? Harder to get to but I have milk crates bolted to the deck in the cuddy and wouldn't want to move them, even occasionally for battery access.


Bradford, Thanks!! yeah I'm hoping to do a 100% refit on this one, stringers, transom, the whole deal. I'm going to wait until the seadrive dies and then its game on!!

[jvitiel]

Awesome. For me, side access is the way to go and four inches is plenty of clearance for brackets, shelves etc. Thanks Twist! I appreciate your detailed due diligence on this. Now I have to start looking over how to lay out the trolling motor so that it doesn't interfere with my pulpit...

I look forward to hearing about the progress on your project. Good luck and please keep us updated.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Well I***8217;ve some time to work on the boat. Finished all the removal, just need to clean the boat up and start installing all the new wiring. There where soooooo many wires rusted off their connections no wonder why things didn***8217;t work! I also pulled the gas tank cover to one replace the ground wire and two inspect the tank. Looks good from what I can tell dry foam and no gas in the bottom.

I ran the main starting wires from the bow to the stern to make sure they were long enough, and I was able to use the 2 AWG I had already,,:sun: next will be the battery switch and the new fuse box when I have some time.


I was thinking about putting a new set of gauges in, but dont want to spend the money if I cant use them for multiple engines. Is it possible to do that? Buy a set now use them for the seadrive then use again for when I repower?

[randlemanboater]

Looking good.

I don't know that you will find any gauges that would work with your old school 2 smoke and a modern motor...I guess it depends on if you are planning to go modern with your next motor.

[Slightly_Twisted]

hey guys quick question.

I'm putting in 6 LED deck lights what terminal wiring is better? All wire will be individual run pairs to each light. From the switch to one of the following terminals.

something like this

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/terminal-strip-wiring-jpg.237958/

or using one like this

https://www.ebay.com/i/291855967186?rt=nc


I like the second one for WAY less connectors used.

thanks

[SkunkBoat]

hey guys quick question.

I'm putting in 6 LED deck lights what terminal wiring is better? All wire will be individual run pairs to each light. From the switch to one of the following terminals.

something like this

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/terminal-strip-wiring-jpg.237958/

or using one like this

https://www.ebay.com/i/291855967186?rt=nc


I like the second one for WAY less connectors used.

thanks

assuming they are all going to be switched on/off together...

You could $ave money on wire and terminals if you run one set of + & - wires and tap your leds in parallel. LEDs don't draw much, probably #14 wire is more than enough for 6 leds.
unless your talking big LED floodlights then go #12 wire

This way you are only pulling one pair of wires and you don't have a mess of wires to deal with

[SkunkBoat]

I was thinking about putting a new set of gauges in, but dont want to spend the money if I cant use them for multiple engines. Is it possible to do that? Buy a set now use them for the seadrive then use again for when I repower?

A lot of new motors,even without digital controls, have a single all-in-one gauge Tach with leds for temp/ pressure/engine alarms...no need for extra gauges

[Slightly_Twisted]

Skunk,

If I did run a single pair what splice would you recommend?

thanks

[SkunkBoat]

I would spend the extra and get Anchor duplex marine wire 14/2. That keeps the red and black together ... easier and cleaner to run.

Depending on gauge of wire from LEDs (usually 18 or 22)...
if possible twist the LED to one end and insert in blue butt splice and crimp to other end. Continue down the line.

If LED leads are heavy, the twisted wires might not fit in a blue. They do make yellow/blue combos.

You could also twist all three together and just crimp them in a yellow splice.

Key is to seal out salt water.

I would n't use the T-Tap connectors that they use on trailers. TRAILER LIGHTS SUCK.

[BillTex]

I would spend the extra and get Anchor duplex marine wire 14/2. That keeps the red and black together ... easier and cleaner to run.

Depending on gauge of wire from LEDs (usually 18 or 22)...
if possible twist the LED to one end and insert in blue butt splice and crimp to other end. Continue down the line.

If LED leads are heavy, the twisted wires might not fit in a blue. They do make yellow/blue combos.

You could also twist all three together and just crimp them in a yellow splice.

Key is to seal out salt water.

I would n't use the T-Tap connectors that they use on trailers. TRAILER LIGHTS SUCK.

hey skunk...happy new year...

This all sounds great...can you provide links or pics so the electrically challenged can understand?
I have similar project in mind.

Thx, Bill

[SkunkBoat]

hey skunk...happy new year...

This all sounds great...can you provide links or pics so the electrically challenged can understand?
I have similar project in mind.

Thx, Bill

pix of 14/2 marine wire (DO NOT USE 14/2 NM-B "ROMEX" solid home electrical wire. In fact NEVER USE SOLID WIRE ON A BOAT)
butt splices are color coded for wire gauge that fits.
There are special splices that allow one end to fit a large wire than the other, they have color coded stripes on one end.(One might need this if you are twisting two wires together and inserting in one end of a splice that is joining to a single wire.)

Always crimp with proper color coded crimper NOT pliers.

[SkunkBoat]

You COULD get away with a single + and single - 14 awg stranded wire and you COULD use T-taps (Iwouldn't do it on a salt water boat)

This would be the fastest, easiest method to do it.

[Striper80]

You COULD get away with a single + and single - 14 awg stranded wire and you COULD use T-taps (Iwouldn't do it on a salt water boat)

This would be the fastest, easiest method to do it.

Never, ever use those if you want your wiring to last.

[Destroyer]

ANY time you are doing wiring on a salt water boat remember the simple rule "S&S".. Solder and seal. Solder your connections and then seal them with the kind of heat shrink tubing that has a sealant inside of it so that it shrinks and seals at the same time. :head:

[Slightly_Twisted]

Well the cold up here has really slowed down the work.
I’ve been inside soldering wiring harnesses for the new deck lights.
This week was the first time I’ve been able to get outside.

So I went a little over kill on the wiring. The lights and bilge are soldered, two coats of liquid electrical tape, heat shrink tubing, then electrical tape over top. I pretested every connection to make sure I only ran the wires once.
Today I soldered the new led lights on. Four white deck lights, two on each side. And four blue lights hidden in the rod boxes. I’ll get photos of the blue ones when I put in the rod boxes.

Finished the new control panel, the large wooden space will get a flush mount 7 inch fish finder once I order one.


Stay warm

[Slightly_Twisted]

Hey guys quick question.

I just finished rewiring the dash and had one question The purple wire that is the "accessory" wire. Is that the wire you connect to the gauges to have them light up?

[phatdaddy]

I think that gives u power downstream of the key switch for whatever you want to be energized when the key is in the on position. The gauges themselves will have different inputs for illumination. Usually you only want them lit up at night, so i run mine with my running lights, others put a seperate toggle for that, not dependent on the key switch.

[SkunkBoat]

I seem to remember that the original gauges had purple wire daisy chaining the illumination power from one to another.
That diagram would indicate that it was powered by the key switch and so the gauges were illuminated whenever the key was on. I remember that my old Merc tach was only lit if the motor was running.

Phat is right that it doesn't necessarily need to be on the key. You could power the gauge light from the Nav/Anchor switch.
However, that would mean your gauges are lit even if you are anchored with the motor off or drifting with the motor off. So you would be drawing power for no good reason while your motor is off.

I would say that its up to you as to which gauges you want lit and when.

[Slightly_Twisted]

So it’s been a long time since I’ve had a min to take pictures and write an update. Thangs have taken way longer then I would have liked but I’m still meeting the time line to get the boat out in two weeks.so the wiring is all done except for the new bow lights need to be mounted and sealed. Tons of new teak cup holders and phone, key, junk boxes. The doors to the batteries are on I just need to clean them up and make them look better.

[Slightly_Twisted]

Few more. I***8217;m working on a anchor pulpit, will mount a kicker engine bracket, and clean her up there is fiberglass dust EVERYWHERE!


The last thing I did was go way out of my comfort zone and removed and replaced all the zippers for the encloser. I found out I***8217;m not good at sewing! But I should work I just have to test them on the boat.

[jvitiel]

Looks awesome. Lots of well thought storage and love the battery boxes. Will be interested to hear how you feel about the new weight distribution when running..

[jvitiel]

What are the batteries sitting on?

[Slightly_Twisted]

I made a mold of closed cell foam then topped it with a 2x12. Drilled a few holes and poured some two part foam in. Once is was dry and stabilized I used some stainless steel L channel and screwed the 2x12 to the bulkhead and stringer. On top of the 2x12 I used some shop flooring pad under the battery box. The pourable foam underneath will conform to the hull so there is no way it could damage the outter hull, but it will also hold up the side near the step down. I didn’t screw in that side.

[jvitiel]

Good plan. Thanks for the insight..