The battery upgrade to my Catalina 30 was very easy to do and I highly suggest it. I have two group 27 batteries wired in parallel and one sealed group 27 battery for a starting battery. Battery #1 is the start battery and Battery #2 is the house batteries.
The first thing that I did was to create a bracket for the new battery. I located this in the storage area under the quaterberth. I fiberglassed an angled wooden piece directly to the hull and then I screwed a plastic battery bracket onto the wooden bracket.
The next step was that I took battery #1 wire out of the factory battery area by chasing it down behind the nav station to the fuse panel. I then ran the hot wire down to the new location under the quaterberth. This is where the sealed group 27 battery goes because it is at a slight angle in my boat and it is a tight fit.
You will require a new 6' long negative cable. Drill a hole in the bottom of the factory battery box to lead the negative cable through there. Go ahead and run the cable from the factor battery box, under the nav station, and to the new location to the start battery (I used a coat hanger to run a piece of rope and then taped the rope to the battery cable and ran it under the nav station.
The next step is to mount all three batteries in place. You then run the hot lead to battery #2 to one of the hot posts on the group 27 batteries in the factory battery storage area.
After that you will use a short hot cable. Run it from the hot post of one battery in the factory battery box to the other hot post of the battery in the factory battery box.
The next step is to run the original factory negative cable to one of the batteries in the factory battery area. Run a short negative cable to the negative post of the other battery in the factory battery box. Finally hook up the negative cable that runs from the factory battery box to the new location of the start battery. Now you are in business.
You want to buy all three batteries at the same time so that they are similar. My two house batteries were two deep cycle group 27 batteries for marine use that I bought from Walmart. The start battery is a starting battery, sealed, from West Marine.
I highly suggest adding a battery monitor at this point. I put a Link 10 into my system when I did this upgrade and it is one of the best things that I have done. It definitely gives you peace of mind (it is mounted right by the ground fault electrical outlet on the Nav Station). I have never gotten below 90% of my house batteries and I had sat on the hook for three days using an inverter to run the laptop, the cabin lights, and the anchor light.
I have switched out the incandesent bulb in the cabin (the main brass light mounted over the table) with a Dr. Led Bulb. I do not have refridgeration right now but in the future it is a possibility. If I did I would start trying to find another location to put a third house battery. This is one area that Catalina could have improved the design by adding a bigger battey area.
I hope that this helps. If you have any further questions please feel free to ask them. I will try to get photographs at some point in time.
The first thing that I did was to create a bracket for the new battery. I located this in the storage area under the quaterberth. I fiberglassed an angled wooden piece directly to the hull and then I screwed a plastic battery bracket onto the wooden bracket.
The next step was that I took battery #1 wire out of the factory battery area by chasing it down behind the nav station to the fuse panel. I then ran the hot wire down to the new location under the quaterberth. This is where the sealed group 27 battery goes because it is at a slight angle in my boat and it is a tight fit.
You will require a new 6' long negative cable. Drill a hole in the bottom of the factory battery box to lead the negative cable through there. Go ahead and run the cable from the factor battery box, under the nav station, and to the new location to the start battery (I used a coat hanger to run a piece of rope and then taped the rope to the battery cable and ran it under the nav station.
The next step is to mount all three batteries in place. You then run the hot lead to battery #2 to one of the hot posts on the group 27 batteries in the factory battery storage area.
After that you will use a short hot cable. Run it from the hot post of one battery in the factory battery box to the other hot post of the battery in the factory battery box.
The next step is to run the original factory negative cable to one of the batteries in the factory battery area. Run a short negative cable to the negative post of the other battery in the factory battery box. Finally hook up the negative cable that runs from the factory battery box to the new location of the start battery. Now you are in business.
You want to buy all three batteries at the same time so that they are similar. My two house batteries were two deep cycle group 27 batteries for marine use that I bought from Walmart. The start battery is a starting battery, sealed, from West Marine.
I highly suggest adding a battery monitor at this point. I put a Link 10 into my system when I did this upgrade and it is one of the best things that I have done. It definitely gives you peace of mind (it is mounted right by the ground fault electrical outlet on the Nav Station). I have never gotten below 90% of my house batteries and I had sat on the hook for three days using an inverter to run the laptop, the cabin lights, and the anchor light.
I have switched out the incandesent bulb in the cabin (the main brass light mounted over the table) with a Dr. Led Bulb. I do not have refridgeration right now but in the future it is a possibility. If I did I would start trying to find another location to put a third house battery. This is one area that Catalina could have improved the design by adding a bigger battey area.
I hope that this helps. If you have any further questions please feel free to ask them. I will try to get photographs at some point in time.
