Adding a third Battery - how did you run the Cabling

[FOB]

Like alot of owners with a C30, im in the process of adding a third battery. I got all the wiring down from searches on this forum.

I own a 1991 C30 MKII #5915

Im going to set it up where position 1 will be house (2 group 27's under the stb seat) and position 2 will be the back up battery under the rear quarter berth.

I read Bad Obsession's thread "Just added a third battery into my MKII"
( http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=537309&highlight=running battery cable )

and im having a hard time running the position 2, #4 AWG cable from the 1-2-A-O switch cable down, behind the distribution panel down below the nav station and aft into the quarter berth area. I don't have enough space between the hull and the mold of the nav station seat / floor.

Bad Obsession... and anyone else that has done this, how did you run the cable from the 1-2-A-O switch to the new battery location? i decided that im going to run the ground right from the engine where the original one is as it is a fairly straight run to from point A to B.

Thanks a lot!

 

[malexander]

I have a Cat 30, 1984. I changed all the #4 automotive wire to #2 marine cable. #4 seems to light for the length that it runs. I don't recall it being that difficult. If was to do it over though, I would have just gotten one of those portable battery jump starter gizmo's. In 3 years I'm pretty sure I have never had to use that battery anyway. Obviously the 91 must have a different set up than the Mark1's

 

[Bad Obsession]

In my configuration I drilled a hole in the side of the battery box, at the bottom part of the side near the nav station. I then used a coat hanger to run the battery cable (negative) from that area to the area underneath the quarterberth. After that I use the coat hanger from the area where the fuse panel is down to the quarterberth.

The coat hanger is the key to getting the wires to run....Just feed the coat hanger through and tape the wire to the end of the coat hanger. Pull the coat hanger all the way through and the wire is fed.

 

[Bad Obsession]

It is odd....there use to be a diagram with that posting but I don't know what happened to it.

This is a pretty simple process and once you feed the wires down you are in good shape.

 

[FOB]

Looks simple... but cant fit the wire thru!

It is odd....there use to be a diagram with that posting but I don't know what happened to it.

This is a pretty simple process and once you feed the wires down you are in good shape.

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Thanks for the reply Bad Obsession. I think i know the file you are talking about. You had posted it back when you added the third battery i found the exact same one on the C30 association page.

I have a wire fishing tool that im using to fish the cable... The hang up I seem to be running into is where you run the cable down from the 1-2-b-o switch straight down in-between the hull itself and the finish mold, seems its getting caught where it meets the curve at the NAV station heading down. I think that the gap between the mold and the hull is too tight at least on my boat.

Did you have a hard time getting it from the DC panel to the Aft area? That’s my biggest issue. once i can get that wire thru, then i will be in great shape.

Running the cables from the battery compartment to that area isn’t an issue for me as there is enough space as the water lines run that way as my pressure water pump is back under the aft berth.

 

[Bob S]

I did this a couple of years ago. I bought a wire electrician's snake and used a dremel tool to cut it about 20' long. I was able to snake it from the DP to the quarter berth almost following the same path as the water heater. As recommended, change all the #4 to at least #2. I doubled up the 2 #4's going to the port settee for the house bank. Don't forget to change the grounds to match.

 

[FOB]

I did this a couple of years ago. I bought a wire electrician's snake and used a dremel tool to cut it about 20' long. I was able to snake it from the DP to the quarter berth almost following the same path as the water heater. As recommended, change all the #4 to at least #2. I doubled up the 2 #4's going to the port settee for the house bank. Don't forget to change the grounds to match.

What do you mean that you doubled up 2 #4's? do you literally mean that you hooked up 2 #4 cables together on both ends? Essentially acting as a #2?


So an update on running my cable from the 1-2-a-o switch: the only way that I was able to run this cable from the DC to the aft area was to basically route it down towards the stb battery compartment, then turn it towards the aft birth. I don’t have enough space between the hull and the mold behind the nav station to go straight down then aft. So, looking at the DC panel, I had to go to go down a bit, to the left down under the stb battery compartment, I then had access to fit my arm thru a speaker hole, Then I connected a fishing wire to the cable and pulled it aft.

 

[Bob S]

I took the positive cables used for bank #2 and attached it on top tof the one already used for bank one. So yes they are doubled (2 lugs on each post)

 

[canavap]

Bad Obsession - Where exactly did you put the third battery? I want to do the same thing as you but I am concerned that I not get the battery too close to the diesel tank (yet have enough clearance from the panel lid. Any chance you have a pic or two you could share?

Thanks!

 

[Bad Obsession]

The battery is tucked away in the area close to the nav station. I only put a group 24 battery since it was an auxiliary battery. I don't have any pictures of the install right now. The group 24 is a sealed battery so it doesn't have to be totally level.

 

[shipwreck66]

I'm not sure what you are doing with your third battery, but I installed a third one, Group 31 which powers a 750 watt inverter, making all my house 110 plugs useful away from dock. I have a two station charger, one goes to the first house battery, which is wired to the second as normal, the second charging line goes to the group 31, which is totally independent of the "house" ,12volt electrical sysem, no fear of running it down. In my use, the diesel finishes the charge on the second house battery each time I go out. I'm sure someone won't like the way I set this up, but I can run all electrical devices on the weekend off that Group 31, fans, TVs, minifridge, radio, lights, etc, and never hear the sound of an engine that won't start in the morning from a dead battery.

 

[rbmcintire]

Don't overlook circuit and ignition protection when running the new cabling or updating wiring. Especially if the batteries are adjacent to the fuel tank located under the aft berth. Here's good info from Blue Seas' website:

http://bluesea.com/viewresource/98

 

[FOB]

Success... Running the Cables

Quick update. I managed to run the cable from the 1-2-A-O switch to the aft. The only way I was able to do this was to run it from the switch, to the stb battery compartment. I could then reach under the battery compartment through the speaker hole just in front of the compartment. I hooked up the fishing wire that I fished from the aft to that speaker hole, attached the cable and the fishing wire and pulled it aft. Also ran the ground from the stb battery compartment to the aft. I know this is a little over kill, but I ended up using 1 AWG cable. I had enough spare laying around to complete this cable run.

Thanks you for everyone’s input!