Changing Batteries Rant

[Irish Rover]

I changed the 2 x 100ah engine start batteries plus 3 x 210ah house batteries during the week. My main engines are under the bunks in the aft cabins and the bloody batteries are at the far end, so you have to climb over the engines to get at them. Unless you're a contortionist the only way to work is lying prone on top of the engine. Then you have to lift the 22Kg battery vertically out of a tight space and wriggle backwards shunting it along the top of the engine. Fitting the new one is a reverse procedure. I didn't do it myself, and the lad who did said please call someone else the next time you need to change batteries. There would have been plenty room to fit them, or bigger, outside the engine compartments with a cable run of approximately 1m longer and at the expense of a small amount of wardrobe space.
Then the 3 house batteries each weighing 56Kg. The original batteries were an American brand and are under a moulded GRP bench seat in the aft cockpit. Awkward, but not too difficult to get out. The base of the moulded battery locker had 3 moulded slots into which the batteries sat to stop movement. The original batteries were an exact fit for the slots with mm's to spare. Great except I couldn't find batteries with the exact same measurements, particularly width - originals 22cm and the closest I could find were Varta @ 27cm. The original batteries were secured on top with a s/s bar going across the 3 of them and bolted to the floor either side - all an exact fit, length and height wise, for the originals but useless for the replacements.
We found a way to do it in the end but why the hell can't boat builders have a bit of foresight and build in a bit of flexibility.
Rant over.

 

[geem]

I changed the 2 x 100ah engine start batteries plus 3 x 210ah house batteries during the week. My main engines are under the bunks in the aft cabins and the bloody batteries are at the far end, so you have to climb over the engines to get at them. Unless you're a contortionist the only way to work is lying prone on top of the engine. Then you have to lift the 22Kg battery vertically out of a tight space and wriggle backwards shunting it along the top of the engine. Fitting the new one is a reverse procedure. I didn't do it myself, and the lad who did said please call someone else the next time you need to change batteries. There would have been plenty room to fit them, or bigger, outside the engine compartments with a cable run of approximately 1m longer and at the expense of a small amount of wardrobe space.
Then the 3 house batteries each weighing 56Kg. The original batteries were an American brand and are under a moulded GRP bench seat in the aft cockpit. Awkward, but not too difficult to get out. The base of the moulded battery locker had 3 moulded slots into which the batteries sat to stop movement. The original batteries were an exact fit for the slots with mm's to spare. Great except I couldn't find batteries with the exact same measurements, particularly width - originals 22cm and the closest I could find were Varta @ 27cm. The original batteries were secured on top with a s/s bar going across the 3 of them and bolted to the floor either side - all an exact fit, length and height wise, for the originals but useless for the replacements.
We found a way to do it in the end but why the hell can't boat builders have a bit of foresight and build in a bit of flexibility.
Rant over.

Also, fitting engine batteries in the engine space likely reduces their life expectancy due to heat exposure.

 

[srm]

One big AWB I skippered had three large gel batteries under bunks, under the cockpit, in the aft cabins. They looked as if they would need 2 strong men to lift but hardly room for one man to get at them. Hard to see how they got in there unless they had been dropped in place by the factory before fitting the deck moulding.

 

[Alicatt]

With the charger/inverter throwing a wobbly last week, the prospect of changing 8 x 6V batteries was quite puckering. Originally the boat had an 8 x 6V battery bank giving a 24V domestic, however, on lifting the carpet in the galley to access the two hatches to get to the battery bank it was my delight to see just two huge 230Ah 12V batteries sitting there plus 2 100Ah start batteries, looks like there is just enough room to get a third 230Ah battery in the battery box, that is an option, though wife has asked about fitting solar panels to the boat...
After calling the guys that installed the Victron system I got it reset and back charging the battery banks. I spent a bit of a sleepless night trying to figure out what was wrong, as I had traced the shore power back to the input on the Victron Multiplus Compact, still don't know what tripped it off though which is worrying.
I wish folk would leave the blinking manuals with the boat when it changes hands
Back to the boat tomorrow and wade through some more electrical gremlins...