Battery Box Rant

[Griffinroydonald]

I have been chasing some electrical problems in the wiring for my boat and made the following discovery. I purchased Attwood battery boxes with the meters and 12 volt outlets thinking these would be an easy addition to the system. These were stored in a hard mount under the v-berth and protected from direct contact with water. The only moisture was what entered the compartment from condensation. The terminals and cables held up great for two years and when I recharged the bank for a weekend out I was not having contact on all batteries. I found the fuse holders for the outlets rusted apart. The company cut a corner and did not use stainless steel for these parts. The holders corroded and failed. I was shocked to find that the company would not do enough research and use marine grade materials for the production of these Battery Boxes. I will save the extra money and use on another project next time. People using this type of box may want to open and inspect these fittings before putting your bank on a charger. These were purchased at the local Walmart and were not cheap. I liked the led meters and that was the selling point for me. I checked the meters after finding the rust and the meters do not work. I thought I would get a better service life than just a few seasons. Sorry for the rand but wanted it to also be a warning for others.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Good input, thanks.

 

[kenn]

Did you try contacting Attwood? There's a remote chance they had a bad batch of fuseholders and would mail you some replacements. Worth a try, right?

There's also the chance that your battery emitted some corrosive gases that accelerated the corrosion.

Personally, i just use the simplest battery-box, good basic terminals, and my meter, LEDs and accessory stuff are on the DC panel.

 

[Ross]

Fuse holders should be made of spring bronze. Steel has no place in a battery system.

 

[Griffinroydonald]

I have stripped out the fuse holders and will replace with marine grade parts asap. I wanted the led's to monitor each battery bank and the round battery switch to control which bank to be used. I will try to contact the maker. I have a meter in the wall panel that shows volts but not charge left as the led"s did. I will be adding solar power for charging this summer and am happy with the small generator I am now using as it also has 12 volt output. Check your Boxes for steel contacts and holders as they have no place on a boat.

 

[tricyclerob]

I recently bought what sounds like the same box, I'll have to check on the brand.
It had the sockets, the level meter and outside posts to connect your cables to.

It also had stamped metal fuses, but what I noticed was the battery cables that run from the battery posts to the studs for outside cable attachment on the outside of the box are only clamped not soldered. And poorly clamped at that.

I discarded all of the sockets, meter, and internal wires and ran my cable inside the box directly to the battery.
All the extras were poorly designed junk.
rob j

 

[Griffinroydonald]

The bells and whistles were very pretty to look at but were not servicable. I was unable to resolve the issue with Attwood and will inspect anything else wearing their brand before purchase. I hope this post saves someone else a few bucks and some stress.