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Picture Of The Month



SD2OR with a trophy fall walleye

Topic: DIY Battery Box  (Read 101909 times)

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Lee

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  • Location: Graham, WA
  • Date Registered: Jul 2009
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How to make a watertight battery box

Step 1, collect all the parts you'll need:

Watertight box
Di-electric grease
Marine Goop
Marine Plug
Female slide connectors
In-line fuse (3 amp)
Negative wire
Battery
Liquid electrical tape (might be needed depending on your setup)
Gardening Pad (you can also use this for your transducer mount)




Step 2:

Put your battery in the box and figure out how best to fit things.  Don't start cutting right away, or you risk not having room.
Drill a hole that will fit your plug.  I recommend a smaller plug, but this is all I could find at a decent price (trolling motor plug
Once your hole is drilled, attach the wires to plug and add female connectors


Step 3:

Connect your fishfinder to the male side of the plug.  Connect your battery and the fishfinder, and make sure they work.  Once you're sure you've got a good connection, put Marine goop around the plug and fasten it down.


Step 4:

Cut foam to fit in and keep the battery snug.  You don't want it slamming around inside the box.  It could knock your plug loose or even break your box.


Finished Product:





I highly recommend coating ALL exposed electrical connections with dielectric grease.  If you get the small tube, you can fit the prongs of your fishfinder connections inside the tube and get a complete coating.
 


demonick

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demonick
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Ling Banger

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After I got mine done, I wish I would have left the lead from the box a little longer. Where I have it mounted on my T-13, I have to reach way in the front hatch to get access the plug.





"We're going to go fishing
And that's all there is to it." - R.P. McMurphy


OlySpec

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Way cool.  I plan to do the same on my PA.
Hobie Pro Angler
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— Winston Churchill


firebunkers23

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How to make a watertight battery box

Step 1, collect all the parts you'll need:

Watertight box
 Lee what brand box did you buy and what size is it how much did it cost and were did you pick it up at? I tried to read it from your picture but I cant quite see it.


demonick

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... Where I have it mounted on my T-13, I have to reach way in the front hatch to get access the plug.

Did you get a battery bag with your T13?  It hangs in the bow, and should have come with the boat. 
demonick
Author, Linc Malloy Legacies -- Action/Adventure/Thrillers
2021 Chanticleer Finalist - Global Thriller Series & High Stakes Fiction
Rip City Legacy, Book 6 latest release!
DomenickVenezia.com


Ling Banger

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... Where I have it mounted on my T-13, I have to reach way in the front hatch to get access the plug.

Did you get a battery bag with your T13?  It hangs in the bow, and should have come with the boat. 

The T-13 submarines through rough water, so I thought I'd move the weight mid yak. 




"We're going to go fishing
And that's all there is to it." - R.P. McMurphy


Lee

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 Lee what brand box did you buy and what size is it how much did it cost and were did you pick it up at? I tried to read it from your picture but I cant quite see it.

It's just the ghetto brand they sell at WalMart.  $8 or $9 bucks.  You can use any waterproof box, just make sure your battery and plug will fit inside.
 


ndogg

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I did something very similar except that I used a water tight fitting through my dry box, and a 2 prong trailer harness to connect my battery to the fish finder. 
I also keep a few spare fuses and a small tube of dielectric grease in the batter box, just in case I need it. 

 


Lee

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The plug shown is watertight.
 


polepole

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I've always wondered why you need a waterproof box for a SEALED Lead Acid battery.   ???

-Allen


bsteves

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I've always wondered why you need a waterproof box for a SEALED Lead Acid battery.   ???

-Allen

I think the intention is to protect the otherwise exposed connections.
“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh


Lee

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1.  Protect the battery and connections from exposure or damage
2.  You don't need to use dielectric grease inside the box, and that crap gets messy on female slide connectors
3.  Easy, quick-connect, for rigging prior to launch and putting things away after fishing
 


polepole

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I used to use a drybag for the battery.  Never had any issue with it needing physical protection.

Nowadays, depending on what kayak I'm in, the battery just lies on the floor of the kayak, no protection whatsoever.  Or it is in am OK battery bag hanging in the nose, which is definitely not waterproof although it is up and off the floor.  The batter is no worse for the wear.  I haven't seen any corrosion on the terminals that I'm aware of.  The only place I see a problem is that I do get corrosion that creeps up the wire.  Every year or year and a half, I need to trim back ~2 inches of wire otherwise the corrosion results in too much resistance to the point that the FF doesn't run.

I don't use dielectric grease on the battery side, hmmm, perhaps I should.  I only use dielectric grease on the FF connections. because it's a PITA to have to change the pins in a FF if they corrode.

It's pretty easy to connect/disconnect to the 2 terminals directly.

-Allen


goldendog

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Since the battery is already sealed, I saw no reason to do anything other than seal up the connections with marine goop. Going on 4 years now without any problems! I did at one time have a fuse in line. I ended up removing it because it wasn't really needed, and could present a corrosion problem.
« Last Edit: February 29, 2012, 11:52:09 AM by goldendog »
Fishing is much more than fish.  It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers.  ~Herbert Hoover