Sea Ray 180 - second battery location

[Sushiholic11]

I have a 1999 Sea Ray 180 and I am interested in upgrading the stereo. In order to do this I want to first add a second battery and an ACR.

Since there is not a lot of room to accommodate the second battery does anyone have pics of a similar setup?

Thanks!

Bob

 

[WazzuCMGrad]

I had a 2004 180; I seem to remember that you could fit a 2nd battery next to the 1st (more toward the bow), but you could also put one in a box next to the trim pump on the starboard side, then wire the two up if you wanted to be a bit better balanced.

I don't have any photos; sorry!

 

[Sushiholic11]

Oh ok. The stock location in '99 is on the Starboard side beside the trim pump. I will look at placing the second on the port side over the gas tank.

Thanks for your help.

 

[WazzuCMGrad]

Good point...it's clearly been too long for me. You're right about the fuel tank. In that case, I'd double up on the starboard side.

If you had a back-to-back lounger, you could put the 2nd battery under there and run cable down the gunwale. Sorry about any unintended confusion.

 

[Lazy Daze]

DO NOT put a battery near a fuel tank. Big no-no.

I used to have a '00 180 - same model as the '99. I'm assuming you have the jump seats in the back and not the sunpad, otherwise you probably wouldn't be asking this problem. I remember looking into adding a second battery, then got side tracked on something else, then traded the boat. I don't think there is enough room for a second one back there, but I could be wrong - it's been a while.

Another option - put a larger, deep cycle battery in place of the existing battery and carry a jump pack, just in case. There's even newer jump packs (just found out about these from someone else here) out on the market that aren't much bigger than a pack of jumbo playing cards. "Technically", you're not supposed to use a DC for starting, but especially since it's only used for little 4-banger, it'll be just fine.