Catalina 385 / Golf Cart Batteries?

May 28, 2015
275
Catalina 385 Long Branch, NJ
Its time to upgrade my 4D batteries on my 2016 Catalina 385. I had really wanted to convert the 2 4Ds to 4 6V Golf Cart Batteries but the pre-fabricated battery boxes the 4D batteries sit in appear to be about 1 inch too short to accomodate Golf Cart battery dimensions. While the standard 4D batteries are exactly 2X the length of Golf Cart batteries (20.5" vs. 10.25"), the standard 4D is actually about 19.25" at the base (the extruding handles and top add about 1"-1.25"). Golf Cart batteries seem to be exactly the same length at the top and the base.

Has anyone successfully fit Golf Cart Batteries into the Catalina 385 battery storage area? If so, what brand and what did you have to do to have the existing battery base accomodate them?

TIA
 
Jun 11, 2004
1,621
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
If you have any extra width in the box you might be able to fit a DIN 6 volt like a Trojan TE35 or US battery 100DIN XC2. 9-5/8 long but 7.5 wide and 10-5/8 high so height might actually be your problem compared to a 4D.
 
Last edited:
May 28, 2015
275
Catalina 385 Long Branch, NJ
If you have any extra width in the box you might be able to fit a DIN 6 volt like a Trojan TE35 or US battery 100DIN XC2. 9-5/8 long but 7.5 wide and 10-5/8 high so height might actually be your problem compared to a 4D.
Thank you for the suggestion ... I need AGM so I looked at the Trojan T105. Its listed as 10.3" long so I think it will be too long. The box is about 19.5" long and 8.375" wide. Height would be very close but I think the way its engineered I might be able to accommodate the height.
 
Jun 11, 2004
1,621
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
Interesting ... that one might work ... I have to measure for height and check price/availability ... how did you find that?
I had been curious about 6 volt sizes and saw the DIN 6 volt golf cart battery size on Trojan's web site. I had never seen that size reference before so did an internet search for the Trojan TE35 and I remembered one came up that said AGM. When I saw you said AGM I searched for the TE35 AGM and that came up.

It's funny that I can't find the TE35 AGM on the trojanbattery.com site but it does come up at trojanbatterysales.com. The DIN size appears to be for the european market but hopefully if you want it yu can find it somewhere in the US.

Here is another site that has a couple of 6 volt AGM's in the DIN size.
 
May 28, 2015
275
Catalina 385 Long Branch, NJ
I had been curious about 6 volt sizes and saw the DIN 6 volt golf cart battery size on Trojan's web site. I had never seen that size reference before so did an internet search for the Trojan TE35 and I remembered one came up that said AGM. When I saw you said AGM I searched for the TE35 AGM and that came up.

It's funny that I can't find the TE35 AGM on the trojanbattery.com site but it does come up at trojanbatterysales.com. The DIN size appears to be for the european market but hopefully if you want it yu can find it somewhere in the US.

Here is another site that has a couple of 6 volt AGM's in the DIN size.
I sent an email to Trojan Sales to see about pricing and availability. I have to make my decision by tomorrow (my distributor does bulk purchasing on the first of the month). So we'll see if I get an answer tomorrow. If not, I will spend the next five years figuring out my battery compartment and looking to see if DIN sizing comes to the US market.

Thank you so much!

Kev
 
May 28, 2015
275
Catalina 385 Long Branch, NJ
@Monterey385

Honest question: Why?
Its a good question as well as an honest question ... right now we have lead acid batteries (original Catalina issue) and when we come back to dock from a long day sailing or after several days on the mooring, especially on hot humid nights, the gassing of the batteries recharging sets off our carbon monoxide alarms. Its happened about 3 times in 3 years so I resolved when it was time to replace my batteries I was moving away from batteries that vented during recharge. While I'm sure I could find CO alarms that would not be sensitive to battery gases, the real area of my concern was my family's lungs to be brutally honest.

I spent a number of hours with my local Napa dealer. I'm not ready for Lithium, Gel was too expensive, and Wet cells had the gassing issues ... so I settled on AGM to reduce gassing and one of the benefits was that I picked up a not-insignificant amount of Amp-Hours. I'm not counting on the additional Amp-Hours nor the ability to discharge a greater percent of the capacity ... but if I get both of those and no gassing ... its worth far more than the additional cost ... especially when amortized over 5 years.

NAPA's prices for the exact same battery with a different label on it was very competitive ($495 each for 2 4Ds). I had originally wanted Golf Carts but my battery box bases, which are molded to the boat, are about 0.5" - 1.0" to short and I don't want to refabricate the very nice battery holders as Catalina did a really nice job with them.

I have to order tomorrow ... am I missing anything you would have worked through? @Stu Jackson , you and @Maine Sail have taught me so much over the last 5 years ... I am always grateful when I can get your input.