3rd Battery for CD 30

[dmetznik]

Who has experience with adding a third battery to the CD30? I have a True Charge 20 that can handle a third battery. Where to install?

[Steve Laume]

This was electrical year for my boat. The water heater is long gone so I cut away a good deal of the shelf that the batteries and heater sat on. I can now operate the cockpit drain seacock with ease. I moved both house batteries up snug against the starboard bulkhead right behind the D/C panel. All my batteries are AGMs so I do not need to get at them to top off fluid. That said, I mounted an Altima, group 24, starting battery right on the centerline under the cockpit sole between the steering tube and the shaft stuffing box. I made a little wedge shaped platform with fiddles and glassed it to the hull right back against the rudder shaft tube. There is a lot of room under there. It keeps the weight low and centered. The down side is that the battery will gain the heat of the engine area and that I may have to move it to make getting at the stuffing box easier. I figured that if the battery was warmed by the engine that means it had already done it's job and I wouldn't be worried about the temperature influence. The stuffing box is enough of a pain already that unstrapping the battery and shifting it over would not add significantly to the job. I mounted an Echo charger up high on the starboard side in the little cupboard under the companion way. My smart regulator is there too. It is a nice dry cool well ventilated place for them. I did have to lengthen the Echo charger wire to the start battery but not by much. The house batteries are right on the other side of the bulkhead. I am very pleased with how this all worked out. I added a battery and gained space in my cockpit locker. It just can't get any better than that, Steve.