Power Distribution; Redeux

cprince

cprince

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May 22, 2008
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I have another one of my brilliant ideas. I want to make a battery bay under the center bench on my little 14foot tinny. I want to keep weight down to a minimum, so to that end, the batteries will be easy in and easy out. This will be a 12 volt setup only. I only have 6 connections listed, but I will likely go with a few extra for any future needs.

There are two things that I am looking for suggestions with; Where to get the clips that I have in my head (and in my diagram) that will accommodate the battery posts. The other thing is the power block; what I have crudely craw; does it exist? What is it called? Can they accommodate recommended gauge wire? (I am assuming 16 would be good?)

Is the amperage the same at the first post as it would be at the last post? Should I use fuses or breakers?

Thanks in advanced!
batt.jpg
 
cprince

cprince

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May 22, 2008
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Re: Power Distribution; Redeux

After further review... I have found two things;

The clip idea will not work safely. Clip like systems will likely heat up as it will not be a snug enough connection and the clip material, to "clip" effectively will likely be too thin. So I will design a tray that will slide in and out from under the bench. There will be a couple of quick connect type screw down battery leads. I will take the extra 3 minutes to screw down the posts to get a good connection. Slide the tray back under the bench (I will make a clip of some kind to keep the shelf secure and not roll back out) and close the door.

The block that I was designing exists!!! LOL!
"ST*Blade Fuse Block With Cover - 12 Circuit with Negative Bus"

This appears to be the perfect product for what I want to do. It will accommodate 30amp fuses and has both negative and positive bus! And they sell it here! http://www.iboats.com/Blue_Sea_Scre...26528897--**********.552280279--view_id.38108
 
SKEETR

SKEETR

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Re: Power Distribution; Redeux

I'd try genuinedealz.com they are a great inexpensive resource. Free delivery too. Depending on the size of your trolling motor I would consider something in the 8-10 guage wire for your primaries coming off the battery. 16awg is fine for your smaller electronics. For the larger guage wire I like copper terminals flux crimp and then torch some solder in to fill it up. Finnish it off with a nice wrap of silicone tape.
You are gonna have some amps with two batteries running parallel a surface mount 50a breaker is good safety precaution.
 
W

WaterWitch2

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drewpster

drewpster

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Re: Power Distribution; Redeux

You may want to consider dedicating one of your batteries for the trolling motor and the other for the rest of your accessories. Reason being that trolling motors use allot of battery power. If you use the troller heavily, you can run the single battery down and still have plenty for the other do-dads.
If you want a little added convenience you might want to use a "Power Station" type battery box. It consists of a battery box that has pos. and neg. studs with wing nuts on the outside of the box. The box also has an additional power plug on the outside. It can save you some building time.
I think I remember a neat little meter on the box to check battery strength as well. (easy in, easy out) Do a search for "power station battery box".
I think you will find that the trolling motor recommends a larger fuse than the fuse panel you selected will accommodate. That's another good reason to run the troller off its own deep cycle battery. You could then run all your smaller accessories off the fuse panel.
I am not sure how to answer your question about battery amps. If you connect your batteries the way you diagrammed them, then the voltage will remain 12 volts. (parallel) If you connect the batteries from pos to neg fom one to the other then the voltage doubles to 24volts. (series) An example would be how flashlight batteries stack end to end in a flashlight. (neg to pos)
The amount of amp available is stated on the battery. The amount used by a turned on accessory depends on the accessory.
 
cprince

cprince

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Re: Power Distribution; Redeux

Food for thought guys....

So;

1) Trolling motor needs a 60amp breaker/fuse
2) 8 -10 gauge is the way to go

@ drewpster - I am pretty well set on using two batteries mostly for the trolling motor. The others take up very little power and it would seem inefficient to dedicate a battery to them. I do not have an electric start or an alternator... so I will be removing and recharging every day I use the boat. But thanks for making me look at the amp draw of the TM. I thought that it was 30amp.... but that was likely my old 24lb thrust from WAAaayy back.

So... now the question is; Can I find a fuse/breaker block that can take a 60amp fuse? I will likely have to split the combined feed into two; one to the lower amperage breaker box and the other to the trolling motor's dedicated 60a breaker.

@ SKEETR - the surface mount 50a breaker you suggest (I may go 60a) ... would that be in line with the combined feed from the batteries? Or would that be one for each battery?

@WaterWitch2 - How has it held up - corrosion wise?
 
SKEETR

SKEETR

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Re: Power Distribution; Redeux

Just one is fine. They do make them with a reset button, a little more $, very handy for shutting off power instead of disconnecting @ batteries. You can still use the fuse box you were looking at but I would connect the troller's power to the load side of the 60amp breaker.

They do use alot of juice, I have completely drained my battery bank before and lost all electronics. Not a good practice as it is bad for your batteries. Once the trolling motor was shut down there was still enough juice to run a few things.

I don't believe you would need a 60amp breaker for a 24lb troller or even a 40lb for that matter. Usually the motor is sold with a recomended amperage for the breaker. Most important is you want the battery wire thicker than that of the motor feeds. You also need to consider distance when it comes to 12v power. I had no choice but to have my batteries aft due to planing problems. As a result I chose to upsize my wire to 4awg to make the 18' run up to my bus at the front of the boat and not have any line drop as a result.
 
cprince

cprince

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Re: Power Distribution; Redeux

Thank you for all the helpful info SKEETER. This is all so valuable to me...

What about ground? I have read a lot of differing opinions on how to properly ground stuff on my boat.

Should I tie ground to the boat itself? The reason I ask is that I am aware that running the TM off the same batteries as the fish finder and the radio can cause interference. I was told to avoid this, ground the battery (Negative pole) to the aluminum hull, the attach the TM ground (negative pole) to the hull.

This "Sounds" nuts to me... but what do I know?

Keep in mind; I will never be in salt water with this rig, so corrosion is not a huge issue.

Thanks to anyone with some input on this matter!
 
cprince

cprince

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May 22, 2008
Messages
148
Re: Power Distribution; Redeux

Getting lazy I think!

Good old search button works quite well.

NEVER ground to the hull of a boat.

I need a "true grounding buss bar".

I am going to guess that I will get two' one for the TM and one for the rest of the electronics.

Would this keep the noise from everything?
 
sundowner205

sundowner205

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SKEETR

SKEETR

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Re: Power Distribution; Redeux

I honestly havn't noticed any interference from my trolling motor but I have not wired my boat for sound yet. The fishfinder/gps seems uneffected. I used a 100a dual bus. Most accesories come prewired with inline fuses.
 
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