265 express battery question

[tilewave]

hello, 265 owners who have upgraded from a group 24 to 27 battery, question; is the existing battery tray large enough to house the 27 ? how invasive , if any, of an alteration did it take to get battery through the compartment ? thanks for the replies in advance

 

[Salinity Now]

I recently did the same thing with my new to me 2001 265. The stock trays will not hold 27 batteries, but the trays I bought at Bass Pro fit the exact same holes, but did stick off the aft end of the battery shelf about 1-2"s, but even still the batteries (Interstate 27 Maint Free) are nice and secure strapped in place as before. As far as fitting in the top opening, it was slightly tighter but still easily done (granted you have to turn the battery almost 90degrees down, posts facing aft I think); but again a few try's and you're a pro at it, no worries at all.

Now that I think about, I think I'm gonna mount one if the extra 24's on the port side with an old tray and leave in there as an emergency spare, just charge it solo on occasion, guess it can't hurt, it's only 50#'s.

Goodluck, sure is an awesome boat, just need more time and opportunity to use it!

 

[Enough Already]

I did the upgrade last year as well. You will obviously need larger trays but they will fit. On mine, on the starboard side, I had to cut a small notch in an aft support member in order to get the bigger tray to lay flat. Like Salinity, on the port side, I installed an extra group 24 tray and strap to hold my spare deep cycle when I go out on night trips. I'm not a battery expert but also make sure you put the right batteries in there. Larger 27s are OK but GW and Yamaha say for the older motors, do not use the AGM or specialty batteries or you will have charging issues. I put in Deka M6 group 27s and very happy so far.

 

[tilewave]

thanks for the replies.. after doing some research, i found alot of contradiction. to keep it this year, i am going to stick with group 24's : on starboard i will put 1 starting & 1 deep cycle. and port, 1 starting. i will see how this works for me & maybe upgrade to 27's in the future !

 

[drbatts]

I have three group 27s in my 265. I have starting battery for the starboard engine and a seperate house(deep cycle) on the starboard side. its a tight fit , but they fit. I then have the charger and the port engine battery on the port. I have thought about putting a fourth "backup house" battery on the port side. I think a few other members have also done this.

 

[Salinity Now]

Do you guys have your "house" battery on stbd isolated from the other stbd battery? Mine came set up in parallel on stbd, set up to the #1 side of the dual switches, and port single battery is set up to #2 side of the switches, solo.

So effectively (as I understand) the stbd side is not truly isolated for house vs starting batteries, but instead hooked up in parallel increasing overall amps and charging simultaneously.

Any thoughts?

 

[tilewave]

i think i am going to get into the habit of taking a portable battery charger out with me when i go offshore as a "just in case".

 

[mronzo]

After reading this I may upgrade to 27s next time
I buy batteries. I thought they'd fit in new trays
but was unsure if they'd go through the holes!

 

[duconce]

I put 2 31s and a 27 in mine so they fit, put AGM on the port and deep cycle on the starboard. Hope I never have to take that AGM out, that sucker is heavy and a tight fit going in.

 

[Bill_N]

Do you guys have your "house" battery on stbd isolated from the other stbd battery? Mine came set up in parallel on stbd, set up to the #1 side of the dual switches, and port single battery is set up to #2 side of the switches, solo.

So effectively (as I understand) the stbd side is not truly isolated for house vs starting batteries, but instead hooked up in parallel increasing overall amps and charging simultaneously.

Any thoughts?

My stbd side is rigged in paralell also. I have a Group 27 cranking/deep cycle battery on both sides and a Group 24 deep cycle on the stbd side house circuit. Seems to work well for me as I haven't had any starting issues.

 

[Salinity Now]

The thing that gets me wondering if someone has changed the set up is I have all power cables for the house wiring (coming off the 40amp circuit breaker on the stbd side) going to the selector switch; from the selector switch the cables run to the battery (outboard of the two in parallel).

So as far as I can tell, everything is running off the batteries in parallel, nothing is truly "isolated" as a dedicated house battery?

 

[fishingFINattic]

I did something a little different, I added a fourth group 24 to the port side.

This accomoplished two things:
1 - leveled the boat during rest correcting a slight starboard list
2 - made this a completely dedicated backup battery.

I wired it with an on/off switch in parrallel with the port side battery and charge it with a 3rd bank from the battery charger.

When I head offshore or on an overnighter I turn the switch it on so I can be sure I have a good charge when I get to my location, and then turn the switch off so nothing drains this battery.

I have had some extended multiday trips to local islands and drained down all three batteries, just switch this battery on and I have power to start both motors with no issues.

Tim