Catalina 30 battery location

[Tom McCarthy]

I have a 1988 Catalina 30 and am bothered by the location of the batteries (2) under the starboard settee. There appears to be no ventilation to the outside - is this something to be concerned about? At present, I am using a charger that uses alligator clips (to the battery terminals), but am installing a more state of the art charger which will be direct wired to the batteries and be mounted below the chart table on the bulkhead. That will require cutting through the bulkhead and the battery box for the shortest cable run. Any tips on this little chore and any comments on ventilating batteries would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Tom

 

[David]

Same Modification

I changed my batteries to gell cells and direct wired a permanent charger exactly as you described. Real easy. I mounted the charger on the bulkhead under the chart table, drilled a hole through the bulkhead into the top corner of the battery location so it was a direct run for the wires and it worked perfectly. Wired the charger through an existing gap to get the wiring to the panel over the chart table for power input.Happy to show you if you want to come to Blaine. If not I can send photos.DavidFour Feathers

 

[Chuck]

Ditto

I also have 1988 C30. When I bought it, it was already set up the way that you have indicated you want to do and the way that David has configured his batteries, the only difference is that mine are not gel cell. This system works beautifully with regular marine batteries and I've never had a problem with it. My charger is also located on the bulkhead and I also have two separate battery charge guages, one for each battery, mounted just under the wiring cabinet. I'm very happy with the system. Had it not already been there, I would have installed it myself.