Moving batteries on a 222

[jbukie]

I have a 2003 222 fisherman. The batteries are in the stern of the boat and i'd like to try and move them forward. It would be nice to get some weight out of the stern.

I was thinking about taking out the freshwater holding tank and turning that into an area for the batteries. Has anybody tried this? Any ideas on if it is possible?

I don't really use the freshwater, it would be one less tank to winterize. My only concern is might this be too far forward and would the batteries get bounced around and damaged or should marine batteries be able to handle it?

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

 

[richie rich]

on a smaller boat, the weight change may be an issue, so I would call GW and ask if it poses any problems......if you do relocate the batteries the extra bounce can possibly cause the battery acid to leak a little unless its a totally sealed unit, so maybe an AGM type battery would be better in the forward area.

 

[jbukie]

good thought on the agm batteries, would those be a problem with a yamaha 225 4 stroke. I thought i remember reading that the yam 4 strokes won't charge anything but a lead acid battery?

 

[richie rich]

Not sure why that is....if the battery meets Yamaha specs in terms of reserve capacity, cca and mca it should be OK....those motors put out about 50 amps and the regulator maintains the proper voltage.....unless the AGM requires a higher than normal amperage to charge and maintain, I don't see an issue.....what does the Yamaha owners manual say? Also check with the battery manufacturer to see if this battery requires something diferent from a standard lead/acid unit.

 

[Bama96]

I have run all my Yamaha 4 strokes on Cabelas AGMs with no problem.

 

[jbukie]

is there any place to get the cabela AGMs on long island? Also, does anybody know the battery requirements of the yam f225. CCA?, RCA? etc

 

[richie rich]

you should have the battery requirements in your Yamaha owners manual......if you don't have one, go on Yamaha's website for motors/outboards etc....they have manuals on file....just plug in your make, model and year and it should be listed.

 

[jbukie]

Any ideas on what it would cost to have a professional move the batteries and wire them accordingly?

 

[richie rich]

You're looking at about 40-50 feet of 1awg cable to go midship on your 22, plus connectors....that stuff is $10 a foot roughly, your cost. Add in the battery boxes at 25 each, and you're at $450-550....that would be around 750 at a dealer plus 2 hours of installation......thats getting you close a $1000 for a Tech to do the job, ie, B.O.A.T

The copper is what kills you

 

[Grady_Boy]

good thought but,

I have a 226 and my batt are located in the rear. I wanted to also move the batt's in order to insure that they didn't get wet when a big wave came on however; my uncle and grandfather advised me against it. The reason that the batt's are in the back is to keep them from getting beat up. If they are placed in the front they are much more likely to crack or leak due to the bow rising and falling.

 

[G8RDave]

AGM's are no problem with Yamahas. AGM's have the same charging reguirements as wet cells. For the 225 Yamaha recommends 512 CCA, 665 MCA, 182 minutes of reserve capacity and a 100-120 amp hour rating.

I have the Sears Platinum AGM's which are rebadged Odyseys. Great batteries with a great waranty and should be easy for you to find locally.

 

[Jambo]

Installing batteries on Tournament 225

I just removed the two batteries from the 225. I needed to turn the batteries on their side to remove through the battery access door on the stern transom. I see no other way. With lead acid batteries, their is a risk of leakage when not vertical. I suppose if the caps are tight on the battery, the sideways insertion is just momentary and okay (it also requires some serious arm and hand strength to get this done). Does anyone have advice or tips on this? I suspect this is one of those "just do it quickly and be done" things. Thanks.

 

[DennisG01]

Re: Installing batteries on Tournament 225

I just removed the two batteries from the 225. I needed to turn the batteries on their side to remove through the battery access door on the stern transom. I see no other way. With lead acid batteries, their is a risk of leakage when not vertical. I suppose if the caps are tight on the battery, the sideways insertion is just momentary and okay (it also requires some serious arm and hand strength to get this done). Does anyone have advice or tips on this? I suspect this is one of those "just do it quickly and be done" things. Thanks.

Are you 100% sure they can't slide straight out? But, if you need to, no big deal. If they leak, no big deal. Wipe it up with paper towels (or a rag that you don't care about since the acid will eat the fibers), flush with water and baking soda.

 

[Jambo]

NEw batteries, turned on their side, slipped right in. They dropped to their proper vertical position perfectly. No leaks, all good. Thanks for the confidence.

 

[Parthery]

You are lucky.

Older 225 owners like me with dual batteries have to remove the oil tank to get the port side battery out. A nuisance and if the oil tank is full, messy.

 

[Doc Stressor]

I had a conversation with a Yamaha tech about AGM batteries maybe 8 years ago. He told me that the reason they recommended only flooded cell batteries had to do with the alternator output rating. AGMs have much less internal resistance than flooded cell batteries. So when a nearly discharged AGM battery takes on a charge during engine operation, the alternator operates at maximum output. At least on the older engines, the alternators were not rated to operate at their full amperage output for more than a short period of time. Thus, the recommendation against AGMs was to protect their warranty liability.

He told me that this would only be an issue for AGM batteries that had become deeply discharged.

I don't know if the newer engines still have this issue. Given the popularity of AGM batteries, it seems likely that this issue would have been fixed.

True gel batteries are not acceptable because they can be damaged by the high voltage output of an outboard alternator.