Hi all,
First of all, I’m new to the forum (as a new boat owner) and look forward to interacting with and, hopefully, contributing to the forum in the future.
I’ve been restoring my grandfather’s 1997 Alumacraft Classic Deluxe which has a 1997 Mercury 40 HP ELPTO (4 cylinder) and am making good progress.
At this point, I’m looking to replace the trolling motor battery, the cranking/starter battery, as well as the onboard charging system. Both of the new batteries are AGM, deep cycle batteries, with the cranking battery being a dual pupose Optima Blue Top.
The problem that Im facing is that the cranking battery (and wiring) is currently located at the rear of the boat and the charging unit that I’m interested in (here) has leads that are only 6’ long which will not make it to the back of the boat.
So my perceived options are to either extend the leads from the charging unit and keep the trolling motor battery up front and the starter battery in the rear (which I’m afraid if the voltage gets thrown off by the new length, it could damage the battery) OR store both batteries up front (where the charging unit can reach them) but then extend the engine battery cables 15’ to reach the front of the boat.
Which is the lesser of two compromises? Alternatively, if there is an alternate approach that I haven’t considered, please let me know.
Thanks in advance!
First of all, I’m new to the forum (as a new boat owner) and look forward to interacting with and, hopefully, contributing to the forum in the future.
I’ve been restoring my grandfather’s 1997 Alumacraft Classic Deluxe which has a 1997 Mercury 40 HP ELPTO (4 cylinder) and am making good progress.
At this point, I’m looking to replace the trolling motor battery, the cranking/starter battery, as well as the onboard charging system. Both of the new batteries are AGM, deep cycle batteries, with the cranking battery being a dual pupose Optima Blue Top.
The problem that Im facing is that the cranking battery (and wiring) is currently located at the rear of the boat and the charging unit that I’m interested in (here) has leads that are only 6’ long which will not make it to the back of the boat.
So my perceived options are to either extend the leads from the charging unit and keep the trolling motor battery up front and the starter battery in the rear (which I’m afraid if the voltage gets thrown off by the new length, it could damage the battery) OR store both batteries up front (where the charging unit can reach them) but then extend the engine battery cables 15’ to reach the front of the boat.
Which is the lesser of two compromises? Alternatively, if there is an alternate approach that I haven’t considered, please let me know.
Thanks in advance!
