New Batteries Installed

[Bud Kennedy]

I had my new batteries installed a few days ago. Interstates all around is what I went for.  As you see from the Pictures, not a whole lot of room in my compartment so I was not able to upsize to size 31 like I wanted but you gotta use what fits.



This is the crank battery but does have some size limits caused by the oil tank




Here are the trolling batteries.  Discovered the trolling motor did not work and noticed the black wire from the circuit breaker had not been attached.  I quickly connected it and all is well.  Goes to show you that you still have to check the work of your mechanics just to be sure.  I would have been irritated to get launched and then find out the troller was not working.  After I saw the problem it was pretty obvious so it was not a big deal but nonetheless you still got to check on stuff.

[Donald Garner]

Bud tks for sharing this with us.  I made the same mistake you did once when I first got my Stratos.  I now have my batteries labeled and cables marked.  One of the things I did when I installed my new onboard charger was I added post connectors to the batteries.  I have the trolling motor cables connected to the upper posts by themselves.  The lower post I have only the on board charger cables and the cross wire hooked together.

Trolling motor batteries


On the cranking battery I added post connectors to the upper posts.  On these I have only the on board charger cable and the wiring harness wiring connected.  On the lower posts I only have the main engine wiring cables connected.

Cranking battery

[Bud Kennedy]

I still gotta go back into the compartment and organize the wiring a bit. One of those things I have been meaning to do but did not take the time.  With the weather being nice and cool lately it would be a good time to take care of this correctly.

[Oldfart9999]

Both look like neat installs.
Rodney

[TNDiver]

Thanks for the posts gentlemen.  I am about to set mine up and Don, I did not think about labeling the wiring.  I also like the idea of using the separate posts.  Makes sure you have a good connection. 

Bud, I found some 34 marine AGM batteries that are smaller than the 31's at OReilly auto parts.  I had to order them and they were about $150 each.  I believe they were only 10 inches in length and did not weigh as much either.

[Wizard]

Nice job, Bud. The back end of a 360 series Ranger is pretty tight in the battery area. If you have equipment with a memory, you might run a 1 or 2 amp trickle charger so the computer does not slowly drain the  battery. Especially true if you use an Optimax engine.

Wizard