battery placement

[BillTex]

Hold on your saying you are going to put on a 36 inch extension( 3 feet sea drive swim platform) off the transom and put on a 200 hp hanging plus a swim platform so you can stand on ?
To me it sounds dangerous Like it's going to rip your transom off But that's just me I would really like to know what the big guns think, I love the steplift too but I don't know if I like that idea

I didn’t want to be the first to say it...but I agree.

I think the OP bought the wrong boat.

The V20 is a great/versatile hull.We love ours. But it sound like you should be in a 23 Formula or similar. I think you are trying to make this boat something it is not.

Good luck, be careful

 

[Slightly_Twisted]

typo should have been 2 not 3.

So looking at putting a standard 18-26 in bracket on.

 

[phatdaddy]

Seadrive model is a great candidate for a bracket. Go to the gallery to page three look at Vicsv20. Same deck layout as twisted has. Also macojoes is on there also. His was an I/O hull.

Main drawback to moving batteries is size of cable required to get starting volts/amps back to engine

 

[Striper80]

I didn’t want to be the first to say it...but I agree.

I think the OP bought the wrong boat.

The V20 is a great/versatile hull.We love ours. But it sound like you should be in a 23 Formula or similar. I think you are trying to make this boat something it is not.

Good luck, be careful

There’s plenty of guys on this very sight that have done this conversion.

 

[BillTex]

There’s plenty of guys on this very sight that have done this conversion.

The OP was proposing a 36" bracket with a 200 hp engine hanging off it.

Who else has done that?

The Steplifts that came with an OE bracket had a small 4 cyl (135 hp?) and I am pretty sure it wasn't a 3' lg extension.

I would not do what the OP proposed...but that's me.

Be safe, Bill

 

[phatdaddy]

lot of that equation is motor choice.

 

[Slightly_Twisted]

It was a typo, like I stated it should have been 26 not 36.

 

[bradford]

I like your boat Twisted, good friend of mine has the same in pretty much barn find condition. If set up and done right it will be sweet.

 

[Slightly_Twisted]

Hey Jvitiel, Sorry I haven't been working on the boat the last few days. I did and few things today. and looked at what you asked. You could cut the side of the step-down to access that void. Maybe if you put some drew hardware in you could make a battery drew there. you have a good amount of room there, I have about 4-5 extra inches on top of the battery to work with.

Follow up question - do you see any reason why I couldn't cut the access hole in the side of the step down rather than the top of the deck? Harder to get to but I have milk crates bolted to the deck in the cuddy and wouldn't want to move them, even occasionally for battery access.

Bradford, Thanks!! yeah I'm hoping to do a 100% refit on this one, stringers, transom, the whole deal. I'm going to wait until the seadrive dies and then its game on!!

 

[jvitiel]

Awesome. For me, side access is the way to go and four inches is plenty of clearance for brackets, shelves etc. Thanks Twist! I appreciate your detailed due diligence on this. Now I have to start looking over how to lay out the trolling motor so that it doesn't interfere with my pulpit...

I look forward to hearing about the progress on your project. Good luck and please keep us updated.

 

[Slightly_Twisted]

Well I***8217;ve some time to work on the boat. Finished all the removal, just need to clean the boat up and start installing all the new wiring. There where soooooo many wires rusted off their connections no wonder why things didn***8217;t work! I also pulled the gas tank cover to one replace the ground wire and two inspect the tank. Looks good from what I can tell dry foam and no gas in the bottom.

I ran the main starting wires from the bow to the stern to make sure they were long enough, and I was able to use the 2 AWG I had already,, next will be the battery switch and the new fuse box when I have some time.


I was thinking about putting a new set of gauges in, but dont want to spend the money if I cant use them for multiple engines. Is it possible to do that? Buy a set now use them for the seadrive then use again for when I repower?

 

[randlemanboater]

Looking good.

I don't know that you will find any gauges that would work with your old school 2 smoke and a modern motor...I guess it depends on if you are planning to go modern with your next motor.

 

[Slightly_Twisted]

hey guys quick question.

I'm putting in 6 LED deck lights what terminal wiring is better? All wire will be individual run pairs to each light. From the switch to one of the following terminals.

something like this

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/terminal-strip-wiring-jpg.237958/

or using one like this

https://www.ebay.com/i/291855967186?rt=nc


I like the second one for WAY less connectors used.

thanks

 

[SkunkBoat]

hey guys quick question.

I'm putting in 6 LED deck lights what terminal wiring is better? All wire will be individual run pairs to each light. From the switch to one of the following terminals.

something like this

https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/terminal-strip-wiring-jpg.237958/

or using one like this

https://www.ebay.com/i/291855967186?rt=nc


I like the second one for WAY less connectors used.

thanks

assuming they are all going to be switched on/off together...

You could $ave money on wire and terminals if you run one set of + & - wires and tap your leds in parallel. LEDs don't draw much, probably #14 wire is more than enough for 6 leds.
unless your talking big LED floodlights then go #12 wire

This way you are only pulling one pair of wires and you don't have a mess of wires to deal with

 

[SkunkBoat]

I was thinking about putting a new set of gauges in, but dont want to spend the money if I cant use them for multiple engines. Is it possible to do that? Buy a set now use them for the seadrive then use again for when I repower?

A lot of new motors,even without digital controls, have a single all-in-one gauge Tach with leds for temp/ pressure/engine alarms...no need for extra gauges

 

[Slightly_Twisted]

Skunk,

If I did run a single pair what splice would you recommend?

thanks

 

[SkunkBoat]

I would spend the extra and get Anchor duplex marine wire 14/2. That keeps the red and black together ... easier and cleaner to run.

Depending on gauge of wire from LEDs (usually 18 or 22)...
if possible twist the LED to one end and insert in blue butt splice and crimp to other end. Continue down the line.

If LED leads are heavy, the twisted wires might not fit in a blue. They do make yellow/blue combos.

You could also twist all three together and just crimp them in a yellow splice.

Key is to seal out salt water.

I would n't use the T-Tap connectors that they use on trailers. TRAILER LIGHTS SUCK.

 

[BillTex]

I would spend the extra and get Anchor duplex marine wire 14/2. That keeps the red and black together ... easier and cleaner to run.

Depending on gauge of wire from LEDs (usually 18 or 22)...
if possible twist the LED to one end and insert in blue butt splice and crimp to other end. Continue down the line.

If LED leads are heavy, the twisted wires might not fit in a blue. They do make yellow/blue combos.

You could also twist all three together and just crimp them in a yellow splice.

Key is to seal out salt water.

I would n't use the T-Tap connectors that they use on trailers. TRAILER LIGHTS SUCK.

hey skunk...happy new year...

This all sounds great...can you provide links or pics so the electrically challenged can understand?
I have similar project in mind.

Thx, Bill

 

[SkunkBoat]

hey skunk...happy new year...

This all sounds great...can you provide links or pics so the electrically challenged can understand?
I have similar project in mind.

Thx, Bill

pix of 14/2 marine wire (DO NOT USE 14/2 NM-B "ROMEX" solid home electrical wire. In fact NEVER USE SOLID WIRE ON A BOAT)
butt splices are color coded for wire gauge that fits.
There are special splices that allow one end to fit a large wire than the other, they have color coded stripes on one end.(One might need this if you are twisting two wires together and inserting in one end of a splice that is joining to a single wire.)

Always crimp with proper color coded crimper NOT pliers.

 

[SkunkBoat]

You COULD get away with a single + and single - 14 awg stranded wire and you COULD use T-taps (Iwouldn't do it on a salt water boat)

This would be the fastest, easiest method to do it.