New dual bank charger and AGM batteries

[Bruce]

My Wife is a teacher. She had a Jetta 1.8T that she kept for 10 years and 120K miles. Her car sits during spring, fall and summer breaks. After two years the factory battery failed. I replaced it with a battery from AutoZone that failed twice over the next year. So I bought her an Optima Yellowtop as it is marketed with "can repeatedly be brought back from deep power drains to full charge". I can't count how many times I had to recharge that battery after the car sat but it was still working great when we sold he Jetta more than 6 years after installing the Optima.

 

[Jim Robeson]

My Wife is a teacher. She had a Jetta 1.8T that she kept for 10 years and 120K miles. Her car sits during spring, fall and summer breaks. After two years the factory battery failed. I replaced it with a battery from AutoZone that failed twice over the next year. So I bought her an Optima Yellowtop as it is marketed with "can repeatedly be brought back from deep power drains to full charge". I can't count how many times I had to recharge that battery after the car sat but it was still working great when we sold he Jetta more than 6 years after installing the Optima.

That doesn't give me a real, warm fuzzy feeling about the Autozone battery I put in my truck a few months ago. Now, this is my primary vehicle and I use it all the time except when we go out to dinner or something. Hopefully it'll last for awhile. But the Interstate batteries that came with my boat were new 2 years ago and I have tried to maintain them with battery tenders during the winter and using the onboard charger during the warm months. I guess we'll see how good they do this year.

 

[Bruce]

The Autozone battery was not a bad battery. It was used incorrectly and replaced under warranty.

Starter batteries are damaged when they are deeply discharged. I have heard 10.5 volts is where it gets bad.

AGM batteries handle deep discharges well.

 

[Jim Robeson]

Thanks. Batteries are not my strong suit and is something I should read up a little more. I have no idea when someone starts talking about "this kind of group or AGM" etc... It's like when I built my homemade solar system I used a deep cycle battery when I should have used a couple of 6 volt golf cart batteries. Learn something new everyday on here!!

 

[ScarabMike]

Install has been completed. Im just waiting on the batteries to get delivered today. Pics to come very soon.

 

[ScarabMike]

First three posts updated with pics and instructions!

 

[Julian]

I love the creative idea of where to put the plug (in the cup holder)

 

[MikeyL]

First three posts updated with pics and instructions!

Nice photos and update. And I so agree with @Julian on the proper AC receptacle location.
Great QUALITY battery charger you got there, @ScarabMike !@ < LOL ! >
A couple of years from now, when you have experienced zero battery/charging problems, you will be so very glad you went thru all of this trouble.
Besides, it beats becoming a couch potato watching girls basketball this time of the year. Hehehe !
Great rest of the weekend to ya, Mikey Lulejian - Lake Oconee, GA where it got to 61 (!!!) today, and with rain coming in, supposed to top out @ high 60's (70?) tomorrow.

 

[ScarabMike]

@MikeyL You like Mikey?!!! I got the idea from a very wise dude on this forum,lol. Its badass man, Heavy though wow.

Ill pass on the girl's basketball, but Im all in for the college cheer leading competitions. I honestly pass my time watching you tube videos like Boat test, and Boats.com.

Tomorrow I will be in the water! It will be clear and 80 with a 0% of rain. woooooooohooooooo!

 

[razorxp]

Hi @ScarabMike how do you use to mount electronics (amp, charger) ? I see you have a piece of wood but how is that mounted to the boat? Any wood/carpet in particularly .

Thanks

 

[Stan Fisher]

Well deepest thanks to @ScarabMike for his tutorial and some offline Q&A! I got'er'dun finally..

I found that drilling out the cup holder for the receptacle was probably the most challenging. I couldn't find a step drill bit in 1-7/8" so had to drill out 1-3/8" and then drill about 50 perimeter holes and do some hack sawing and bending and grinding.. but I got it looking good and it fits. I went a little cheaper on the charger and opted for the 6 amp per bank little brother to Mike's Dual-Pro SS2 and went with the RS2 instead.. plus I mounted it on the port side next to the switch panel and instead of running the starboard leads across the engine compartment I just picked up the connections off the back of the switch and the ground of the orig battery. This way I didn't have to extend any leads. Now some purists may say you should run the charger all the way to the battery but I assure you that the 6 gauge cable looks like a direct connect to that charger. Besides it simplified things a tad and it does test out just fine.


Love it!!!

 

[ScarabMike]

@Stan Fisher Very clean my friend. Love it!! And your welcome!

 

[RFScarab]

Looking good! I strapped my charger lead up so that you pull the cup holder out and grab the cable. Cup holders are already loose in my boat in that they pull right out. Not sure if they should be that way. So I did it this way to avoid drilling the cup holder. Not as convenient being I pull out the cup holder then reach in the small hole to grab the lead/cable. So I may break down and drill the cup holder one day.

 

[Chiajake]

Looks good

 

[Stan Fisher]

Looking good! I strapped my charger lead up so that you pull the cup holder out and grab the cable. Cup holders are already loose in my boat in that they pull right out. Not sure if they should be that way. So I did it this way to avoid drilling the cup holder. Not as convenient being I pull out the cup holder then reach in the small hole to grab the lead/cable. So I may break down and drill the cup holder one day.

My cup holder was siliconed in as if the boat could be suspended by it.. I started to glue it back in with 3M 5200 but then realized how long that takes to set up and wasn't sure how hard that would make it to remove again in the future so I cleaned that all off and went with regular clear silicone.

 

[Nexus]

I'm looking to add a second battery to my 2019 195. The problem, I'm seeing, is that there's not a lot of room for the second battery. At least I don't think there is. The side (port) with the current battery doesn't look like it will accommodate a second battery. The other side (starboard) is taken up by the reverse bucket actuator (see pics). Before I start pulling out the battery and tray to trial fit, anybody able to fit a second battery on this model? I'd like to avoid putting it in one of the storage lockers if I can.

 

[Dough]

2015 thread....

 

[Nexus]

2015 thread....

I've only seen two dual battery threads mentioning the 195 Scarab. Both of them mention 2014-15 installs. The engine bay of the 2019 looks identical except for the actuator. Is there a thread specifically for the 2019? If so, can you point me to it?

 

[Dean P]

I've only seen two dual battery threads mentioning the 195 Scarab. Both of them mention 2014-15 installs. The engine bay of the 2019 looks identical except for the actuator. Is there a thread specifically for the 2019? If so, can you point me to it?

If you push the e-reverse module (it does not have to be in that exact spot) over could you fit a battery in there? Your pictures are to close. Try taking one similar to the post above showing both sides/compartment.

 

[Nexus]

Your pictures are to close. Try taking one similar to the post above showing both sides/compartment.

Took a while. The marina where I store it is not very close to my place.

If you push the e-reverse module (it does not have to be in that exact spot) over could you fit a battery in there?

Yeah, that might be an option. I think it might be a bit too forward as when you go full aft (I think), it just touches the transom. It may have to be moved anyway. I'll look into that option further. Thx.