Moving Battery Bank

[BlackoutATX]

While the RZ4 is under construction and missing its engine (long story) I've decided to move my battery bank. I'm running 4 group 31 AGM batteries. Since I upgraded batteries about 2 years ago, these have been located in the rear compartments. 1 on the port with the crank battery and 3 on the starboard side. Needless to say this was a very tight fit. While getting in there and poking around the past few days, I just don't like it. I've decided to move them to the main storage area where the amps are. Along with the batteries will be the NOCO 4 bank charger and the liquid lumens box. Because of all of these electronics, I'd like to take this opportunity the clean up the amps and other electronics in there as well. But I have a few questions...

1) what is the best way to secure these? standard battery boxes? Can they be screwed directly to the floor?

2) Anyone have a good tutorial on making an amp rack? I'd like to do this at the same time.

3) What is the best way to wire this up? The simplest way in my mind would be to run a +/- from the bank back to the distribution block next to the crank battery. But it seems like an awful waste to run the power all the way back to the distribution block and then back to the amps. Maybe not. The rear location is of course where the other accessories are ran to.

4) If any of you have large banks like this, I'd love to see some pictures of your setup. I'm not really decided on where to place the batteries in this area.

Any and all help on this is appreciated.

[chpthril]

Are all 4 batteries being relocated?

1) as long as you know theres is nothing critical below or you are not too close to the outer edge of the floor.
2) I dont have a prepared tutorial but can answer specific questions.
3) No simple answer here. Depends the switch type, where batteries are located and where the loads are located. To move your batteries, will likely require some serious large cable runs.

[BlackoutATX]

Are all 4 batteries being relocated?

1) as long as you know theres is nothing critical below or you are not too close to the outer edge of the floor.
2) I dont have a prepared tutorial but can answer specific questions.
3) No simple answer here. Depends the switch type, where batteries are located and where the loads are located. To move your batteries, will likely require some serious large cable runs.

1) I'm thinking of lining them up against the inner, walkthrough side of the compartment. I can't imagine there being anything under there.
2) I think the main question I have is how to secure the the rack itself to the wall. There is already the factory area where both amps sit. Can I just tap into that platform?
3) This is the factory switch with the ACR. Even though it might not be the most efficient method. I think the easiest way is to simply run the bank back to the switch. The amp wires going back are 4AWG. We'd be talking about roughly 20-22ft here.

[chpthril]

Close to the inside of the walkway wall you will not pop through the bottem.

On a 2015, there is a glassed in board that was large enough for the factory setup. If you need more realestate then that, you can secure a larger wall to the factory glassed in wall.

With the dual circuit plus switch, you will need appropriate gauge cable from the batteries back to the switch then back up to the amp, which could be the existing amp cabling.

[BlackoutATX]

Close to the inside of the walkway wall you will not pop through the bottem.

On a 2015, there is a glassed in board that was large enough for the factory setup. If you need more realestate then that, you can secure a larger wall to the factory glassed in wall.

With the dual circuit plus switch, you will need appropriate gauge cable from the batteries back to the switch then back up to the amp, which could be the existing amp cabling.

Great! Thats what I was thinking on the factory board. As always Mike you are a great source of knowledge on here. I think running back to the switch is the easiest option. What size cable would you recommend to run from the battery bank back to the switch? 4 x group 31 going about 21 ft? I actually already have some 4AWG cable that was used for an invertor. Do you think thats large enough?

[jslayde1]

Sorry...

Give us the story on the engine when you get a chance!

[BlackoutATX]

Sorry...

Give us the story on the engine when you get a chance!

Once the process is over I can give more details. Long story short, water made its way into the engine somehow. This happened in SEPTEMBER. Boat is still not fixed. At this point I'm waiting on insurance.

[BlackoutATX]

Well today I removed the batteries from their current spots and loaded them into their new NOCO boxes. I can already tell I'm really going to like the way this all looks when its done. Nice and clean. I'm losing a little storage space. But oh well.

On a side note, these NOCO boxes are nice and $9 a piece. I could probably have saved some space by building a custom box. But I doubt I could have done it for cheaper. So for now I'm going to roll with these.

Now I'm going to start trying to figure out how to wire all this up where it makes sense. I think I have a few options. Just not too sure which way is right just yet.


IMG_0632.jpg

[freeheel4life]

So this may be a crazy thought, but is the cooler at walkthru an insert or is glassed in?? I know new rz2 it was a removable plastic piece because I had to deal with the drain in one last summer.
IF it's a removable plastic insert could you mount them there and custom make a new insert that would go over them?? Cooler would be real shallow after if functional at all, but you may not care since you have the place on the water, and maybe a working fridge in the cruiser.
Wouldn't be the easiest as far as serviceability but you wouldn't lose storage.

[BlackoutATX]

So this may be a crazy thought, but is the cooler at walkthru an insert or is glassed in?? I know new rz2 it was a removable plastic piece because I had to deal with the drain in one last summer.
IF it's a removable plastic insert could you mount them there and custom make a new insert that would go over them?? Cooler would be real shallow after if functional at all, but you may not care since you have the place on the water, and maybe a working fridge in the cruiser.
Wouldn't be the easiest as far as serviceability but you wouldn't lose storage.

The cooler on the RZ4 is removable. I actually thought about this. We honestly hardly ever use the built in cooler. I always end up putting a large RTIC in the middle of the boat. It gives us a lot more space for drinks and doubles as a little table/seat. But, I'm worried about putting all that wait up in the nose. The RZ4 already sits so low and I feel like if I get a few adults up there the chances of taking a wave over the nose drastically increases. With each of these group 31s weight in at around 70lbs, I wouldn't want to be in that situation all the time.

The compartment with the amps where they currently sit is actually pretty huge. With the lids on these battery boxes, I can still put things on top of them. So honestly i'm really not losing a ton of space. I also usually use that area to store all the USCG required orange jackets. So now I can just move those to the rear compartment where the batteries used to be. So I think its going to work out pretty nice.

That being said, I'm now considering wiring the amps and luquid lumens box directly to the batteries. This way I don't have to run such a massive cable back to the rear. But I'm still not sure on this. I'll keep everyone posted and report back. I'm sure someone on here has considered doing this.

I'll also say, not once have I regretted having this much juice on the water. its awesome. Anyone thinking about doing this should go for it.