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From one battery to two


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How easy is it to install a leisure (aka: second) battery?

I currently have one battery for starting the outboard engine and for 'leisure' (ie: lights, etc.).

I have another battery on board as a spare and I'd like that to be a leisure battery that'll do all the non-starter stuff. I can also hook a small solar panel that I have to trickle charge it with a controller unit.

 

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In theory, once you have dealt with where to put the leisure battery, securing it and venting it etc., all you need to do is connect the cable which goes to the domestic fuse box to the 'new' battery positive terminal via an isolator switch and fuse and join the negative terminal of the new battery to the old battery negative.  Your lights etc. then run off the 'new ' battery.

Then you need to sort out how both batteries are charged.  That will mean connecting the new battery positive  to the old battery positive with either an ignition switch operated relay, a Voltage Sensitive Relay or a blocking diode. Blocking diodes are not really a good idea as the cause voltage drop and the 'new battery will take longer to charge.  the solar also needs to be connected up to the 'new' battery.

 

N

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The steering wheel is on the left (looking from stern to bow), and behind that is a locker space with the current battery and fuse box. I'm thinking of putting this other battery on the other side of the boat in another locker. My only concern is that it's beside the petrol canisters. There's a wooden board dividing the lockers and the future battery locker has a lid on it. The petrol tanks also have a separate lid protecting them.

Would that still be safe? I'd reckon so.

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Do you need to comply with The Boat Safety Scheme?  If you do the scheme guide is available on line  https://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/media/180428/bss guide 2005 complete web.pdf and will tell you about requirements for  battery siting and securing.  Alternatively find a friendly local examiner and pick his brain over a beer.  If you pick one that will do your next BSS exam then he's not likely to fail it at the exam provided you follow  his advice.

If you don't have to comply with BSS then I would only be worried about the possibility of sparks igniting the petrol vapour from the tanks but provided all the lids are on and the petrol tank vent is away from the battery box vent you should be OK.  In an ideal world you would only lift the battery box lid with the tanks on the bank!

N

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32 minutes ago, BEngo said:

the scheme guide is available on line 

The above is NOT the current guide. I don't know why that old link keeps being pasted but it's out of date. 

The current guide is here;

https://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/media/268789/ecp-private-boats-ed3_rev2_apr2015_public_final.pdf

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1 hour ago, BEngo said:

Do you need to comply with The Boat Safety Scheme?  If you do the scheme guide is available on line  and will tell you about requirements for  battery siting and securing.  Alternatively find a friendly local examiner and pick his brain over a beer.  If you pick one that will do your next BSS exam then he's not likely to fail it at the exam provided you follow  his advice.

If you don't have to comply with BSS then I would only be worried about the possibility of sparks igniting the petrol vapour from the tanks but provided all the lids are on and the petrol tank vent is away from the battery box vent you should be OK.  In an ideal world you would only lift the battery box lid with the tanks on the bank!

N

Also worth perusing the BSS guide about petrol storage lockers. 

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  • 1 month later...
22 minutes ago, ronnietucker said:

I think with some jiggery-pokery I can fit the two batteries into the one compartment.

Does the BSS require that batteries be in plastic containers with lids? Can you just strap the battery down with no container?

The battery must...

  • Be protected from movement (Box, straps, container, wedges etc). 
  • Have an insulated cover over the terminals such that a dropped spanner couldn’t make contact. 
  • Be ventilated to allow the escape of hydrogen gas. 

That’s about it I think

See sections 3.1.x

https://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/media/268789/ecp-private-boats-ed3_rev2_apr2015_public_final.pdf

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1 minute ago, WotEver said:

The battery must...

  • Be protected from movement (Box, straps, container, wedges etc). 
  • Have an insulated cover over the terminals such that a dropped spanner couldn’t make contact. 
  • Be ventilated to allow the escape of hydrogen gas. 

That’s about it I think

I know this is getting a bit picky now, but my batteries are in a locker with a lid on it. Would just strapping them down be OK?

To have a spanner drop and make contact you'd have to be holding the lid up (doesn't hold itself up) then drop the spanner on the thing. :D

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Just now, ronnietucker said:

I know this is getting a bit picky now, but my batteries are in a locker with a lid on it. Would just strapping them down be OK?

To have a spanner drop and make contact you'd have to be holding the lid up (doesn't hold itself up) then drop the spanner on the thing. :D

I’d say that’s fine, however we’ve found that sometimes inspectors interpret the rules in a most bizarre fashion. 

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1 minute ago, ronnietucker said:

I know this is getting a bit picky now, but my batteries are in a locker with a lid on it. Would just strapping them down be OK?

To have a spanner drop and make contact you'd have to be holding the lid up (doesn't hold itself up) then drop the spanner on the thing. :D

Yes, provided that by strapping down the batteries they cannot be moved in the event of, say you hitting a lock gate hard.

You only have to make it idiot proof,  not imbecile proof,  so it is permissable to drop spanners onto the batteries with the locker lid open.

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BSS reads...

NOTE – deck boards, locker lids, etc, made from or lined with insulating material may only be considered as battery covers where they will not be removed for any purpose other than gaining access to the batteries.

So the locker lid, if steel, must be insulated. 

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Thanks for the advice. 

I'll go with strapping it down for now. The battery is a big beast and if I put it in a container then it won't fit in the space.

The locker lid is made from hefty wood. There's no metal at all in the locker area.

Edited by ronnietucker
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1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

It used to be (maybe still is) that if the deck boards (ie lid in your example) did not have to be lifted for any reason except to access the batteries, then that met the BSS requirements and you did not need a seperate lid.

1

Definitely the case here as there are only two batteries and a small fuse box in that locker. On the outside of the locker is where the keys go to enable/disable the batteries.

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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

It used to be (maybe still is) that if the deck boards (ie lid in your example) did not have to be lifted for any reason except to access the batteries, then that met the BSS requirements and you did not need a seperate lid.

What, like I quoted two posts before yours, you mean? ;)

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On 10/8/2017 at 15:00, Alan de Enfield said:

It used to be (maybe still is) that if the deck boards (ie lid in your example) did not have to be lifted for any reason except to access the batteries, then that met the BSS requirements and you did not need a seperate lid.

 

 

If you fit those specially made 'rubber shoes' that thread over the wires and cover the terminals then that should satisfy the requirement I believe.  You can have a lid as well of course.

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